What is the best Martin Scorsese film of all time?

IvaBigWun · 17-08-2015 09:22PM #1

Some say he is the best director of all time. Few would argue he deserves a place in the all time top ten. But what is his best ever?

I was rewatching Casino on Netflix Germany last night when I remembered that some film critics thought at the time of release that it was better than his masterpiece Goodfellas. And some still do!

It gave me an idea to do a "poll off" between the two, but let's go one better. Let's have one with all of Marty's major films and see what happens.

My choice? Im afraid I'll have to be predictable and go with Goodfellas.

The script, the cast, the soundtrack, the direction.

And of course that tracking shot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpvNjbtF9Hg

Poll to follow. When voting please state what your choice was here and why so we can have some discussion on it. Thanks .

IvaBigWun · 17-08-2015 09:28PM

Poll added.

e_e · 18-08-2015 12:50AM

Taxi Driver but Goodfellas is a close second, his last great film.

RobbingBandit · 18-08-2015 12:57AM

Goodfellas, after the Lufthansa heist is the best movie montage ever. Tommy shooting Spider is funny.

Akabusi · 18-08-2015 12:57AM

Goodfellas heads my list with Casino second and maybe Shutter Island third. I have enjoyed most of his films and always look forward to a new film of his.

Capajoma · 18-08-2015 01:08AM

It's the obvious choice but for me it's Goodfellas, I'd have Casino second.

Celly Smunt · 18-08-2015 01:10AM

Everything about goodfellas just works amazingly, from the soundtrack to the casting.

Looper007 · 18-08-2015 02:01AM

I love me some Goodfellas but I went with Taxi driver just for the sheer intensity of De Niro's performance and real sleazy and nihilistic feel to it. Plus it's one of the greatest scripts ever written. For me Scorsese never made a bad film up to Casino after that things get a bit more sketchy for me. I'm not a massive fan of his DiCaprio era though.

Alonso77 · 18-08-2015 02:03AM

Has to be Taxi Driver!

Decuc500 · 18-08-2015 09:43AM

I went with Raging Bull, it's a work of art.

Of his later films, Bringing Out The Dead is underrated and one of his best.

brevity · 18-08-2015 11:24AM

Decuc500 wrote: »

Of his later films, Bringing Out The Dead is underrated and one of his best.

Came in to post this. I really love this movie, the characters, the scenes and the bleakness make for a great experience.

jassicarobert · 18-08-2015 11:32AM

Ten best The Greatest Martin Scorsese Movies of All Time
Raging Bull (1980)

8.3/10
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. (129 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Add to Watchlist

Image of Goodfellas
2.
Goodfellas (1990)

8.7/10
Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy. (146 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Add to Watchlist

Image of Mean Streets
3.
Mean Streets (1973)

7.4/10
A small-time hood struggles to succeed on the "mean streets" of Little Italy. (112 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Add to Watchlist

Image of The King of Comedy
4.
The King of Comedy (1982)

7.8/10
Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin wants to achieve success in show biz by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy. (109 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Add to Watchlist

Image of Casino
5.
Casino (1995)

8.2/10
Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire. (178 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods
Add to Watchlist

Image of Hugo
6.
Hugo (2011)

7.6/10
Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. (126 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley
Add to Watchlist

Image of The Departed
7.
The Departed (2006)

8.5/10
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston. (151 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Add to Watchlist

Image of The Last Temptation of Christ
8.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

7.6/10
The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross. (164 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Paul Greco
Add to Watchlist

Image of New York Stories
9.
New York Stories (1989)

6.4/10
A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12 year old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales. (124 mins.)
Director: Woody Allen, Francis Coppola
Stars: Woody Allen, Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Marvin Chatinover
Add to Watchlist
“ "Life Lessons" ” - smith-d-c

Image of Bringing Out the Dead
10.
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

6.8/10
Haunted by the patients he failed to save, an extremely burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three fraught and turbulent nights. (121 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames

jassicarobert · 18-08-2015 11:32AM

Ten best The Greatest Martin Scorsese Movies of All Time
Raging Bull (1980)

8.3/10
An emotionally self-destructive boxer's journey through life, as the violence and temper that leads him to the top in the ring, destroys his life outside it. (129 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent
Add to Watchlist

Image of Goodfellas
2.
Goodfellas (1990)

8.7/10
Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy. (146 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco
Add to Watchlist

Image of Mean Streets
3.
Mean Streets (1973)

7.4/10
A small-time hood struggles to succeed on the "mean streets" of Little Italy. (112 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval, Amy Robinson
Add to Watchlist

Image of The King of Comedy
4.
The King of Comedy (1982)

7.8/10
Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin wants to achieve success in show biz by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy. (109 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Diahnne Abbott, Sandra Bernhard
Add to Watchlist

Image of Casino
5.
Casino (1995)

8.2/10
Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire. (178 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci, James Woods
Add to Watchlist

Image of Hugo
6.
Hugo (2011)

7.6/10
Set in 1930s Paris, an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station is wrapped up in a mystery involving his late father and an automaton. (126 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Asa Butterfield, Chloë Grace Moretz, Christopher Lee, Ben Kingsley
Add to Watchlist

Image of The Departed
7.
The Departed (2006)

8.5/10
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston. (151 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg
Add to Watchlist

Image of The Last Temptation of Christ
8.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

7.6/10
The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross. (164 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Paul Greco
Add to Watchlist

Image of New York Stories
9.
New York Stories (1989)

6.4/10
A middle-aged artist obsessed with his pretty young assistant, a precocious 12 year old living in a hotel, and a neurotic lawyer with a possessive mother make up three Gotham tales. (124 mins.)
Director: Woody Allen, Francis Coppola
Stars: Woody Allen, Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette, Marvin Chatinover
Add to Watchlist
“ "Life Lessons" ” - smith-d-c

Image of Bringing Out the Dead
10.
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

6.8/10
Haunted by the patients he failed to save, an extremely burned-out Manhattan ambulance paramedic fights to maintain his sanity over three fraught and turbulent nights. (121 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames

Faith+1 · 18-08-2015 12:14PM

Has to be Goodfellas. The opening scene alone trumps the others.

bucketybuck · 18-08-2015 12:17PM

Casino could have been better than Goodfellas, but there are a few elements that drag it down for me. Still a fantastic film but my vote has to go to Goodfellas.

deadybai · 18-08-2015 12:23PM

Love Scorsesse my top 3 are:

1. Goodfellas
2. Taxi Driver (really hard to put this at two but it just proves what a masterpiece Goodfellas was)
3. The Departed

I dont see why Raging Bull and The Wolf of wall street are often considered excellent movies (Especially WOWS). Thought Raging Bull had brilliant acting but was just a good film nothing spectacular. In fact I remember seeing Wolf of Wall Street and being dissapopinted in it.

IvaBigWun · 18-08-2015 12:27PM

bucketybuck wrote: »

Casino could have been better than Goodfellas, but there are a few elements that drag it down for me.

What are they? Im interested as I watched it just this week.

Im not disagreeing with you, am just curious.

Dirty Dingus McGee · 18-08-2015 01:52PM

I loved The Wolf of Wall Street one of the most enjoyable film's I've seen in the last few years.

The Aviator wasn't on the shortlist but it's another brilliant film.

The Departed is probably my favourite of his films .

I never really go the King of Comedy, to be honest I found it to be quite boring.

e_e · 18-08-2015 02:48PM

IvaBigWun wrote: »

What are they? Im interested as I watched it just this week.

Im not disagreeing with you, am just curious.

To me Casino is just Goodfellas except longer, more needlessly violent and with everything turned up to 11. Not even the soundtrack works half as well and Sharon Stone plays one of the most infuriating characters I've ever seen in a movie.

It has an interesting opening hour all about the inner workings of the character's business and them becomes really really redundant. Pretty much the same issue I had with Wolf of Wall Street there, Scorsese on autopilot.

This is comedy gold though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdbkhW_6yAc

Looper007 · 18-08-2015 06:00PM

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I loved The Wolf of Wall Street one of the most enjoyable film's I've seen in the last few years.

The Aviator wasn't on the shortlist but it's another brilliant film.

The Departed is probably my favourite of his films .

I never really go the King of Comedy, to be honest I found it to be quite boring.

I'm sorry the King of Comedy is a better film then the three films you mentioned above. It probably has De Niro's best performance too.

shazzerman · 18-08-2015 07:11PM

Looper007 wrote: »

I'm sorry the King of Comedy is a better film then the three films you mentioned above. It probably has De Niro's best performance too.

I'd agree. For a long time I would put The King of Comedy at the top of the Scorsese pile, but having viewed Taxi Driver again recently I think he has never made a better film - a film that truly caught the zeitgeist, and all down to a small group of people at their absolute best (Scorsese, De Niro, Schrader, Herrmann - albeit I think he "borrows" liberally from his Vertigo score, and Chapman).

I would be in the Casino is better than Goodfellas camp as well: Schoonmaker's masterpiece, Scorsese's direction simply staggering, and a couple of great performances. And...the last half dozen Scorsese pics have one huge problem...they are too camp! The tone, Marty, the tone! Sort it out.

Dirty Dingus McGee · 18-08-2015 07:45PM

Looper007 wrote: »

I'm sorry the King of Comedy is a better film then the three films you mentioned above. It probably has De Niro's best performance too.

Didn't like it at all.Thought it really dragged on it had no real excitement or edge or even a good story to it.It just bored me to be honest.

Agent Coulson · 18-08-2015 10:50PM

I have a soft spot for Cape Fear.

His best is probably Goodfellas.

IvaBigWun · 20-08-2015 09:48PM

e_e wrote: »

This is comedy gold though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdbkhW_6yAc

As someone who has recently just watched the original that is hilarious.

Looking at the results here and Goodfellas is running away with it. Other polls Ive done on Film have been two or three horse races, but definitely not this time.

20-08-2015 10:27PM

Outside of the obvious ones, the Aviator always flies under the radar (:o) in terms of discussing his great films imo.

Chain Smoker · 21-08-2015 01:09AM

Raced into the thread and voted the King of Comedy, but Raging Bull is probably his best film now that I've given it half a second of thought with Taxi Driver coming in second.
Find it hard to gauge what I think of Goodfellas, I'm not sure if it's the fact he's done very similar stuff or that it has been so clearly channeled by other films since, and I'm not sure whether those are valid reasons for me to think less of it either.

The three people who voted for Gangs of New York had better come in here and explain themselves though, was an interesting attempt but it fell short in almost every way, dreadful film.

gizmo555 · 21-08-2015 01:14AM

The Last Waltz, of course!

MakeEmLaugh · 21-08-2015 01:15AM

Goodfellas may be more fun to watch, but Raging Bull is his best achievement.

10. Who's That Knocking at My Door?
9. The Departed
8. The Wolf of Wall Street
7. The Last Waltz
6. The King of Comedy
5. Casino
4. Mean Streets
3. Taxi Driver
2. Goodfellas
1. Raging Bull

.ak · 21-08-2015 08:38AM

I suppose it's too soon to call his recent movies, i.e; Departed and Wolf of Wall Street, as his best stuff... but I do think they are up there, particularly WoWS. It's such a great story, and the movement and direction is flawless. You don't want it to end. Reminds me very much of Goodfellas in the way it's arranged, but obviously more light hearted in context.

deadybai · 21-08-2015 09:40AM

MakeEmLaugh wrote: »

Goodfellas may be more fun to watch, but Raging Bull is his best achievement.

Why though?

shazzerman · 21-08-2015 12:19PM

deadybai wrote: »

Why though?

One of the reasons is that Goodfellas portrays these disgusting, amoral characters and tries to force us to actually admire them (as Scorsese seems to - or at least, he is romanticising the characters above the other "poor schmucks" who don't become murderous gangsters to get on). Raging Bull portrays another set of horrible characters, but he is able to maintain a distance between them and the audience so that we can be more critical of them and not fall into the trap set by the cinematic style of the later film.

Here's one way the cinematic style is complicit in getting us to admire these low-lifes: that bravura tracking shot of Henry and Karen. It shows Henry as a character completely in control of the space he moves through - and that kind of power, Scorsese's choice of camera movement here tells us, is to be admired. Bravura cinema; dodgy ethics.

What is the best Martin Scorsese film of all time?

What is the best Martin Scorsese film of all time? 162 votes

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