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Top 10 Martin Scorsese Movies
By Andrea Miller | Friday, February 12, 2010 | Listed | () Comments | Add a Comment

Scorcese Films

The cinematic contributions given to the world by the impressively-eyebrowed auteur cannot be overstated. From his seminal concert flicks to his contribution to, and some would say creation of, the modern gangster genre, Martin Scorsese has had an indelible effect on the business of making movies.

Finally picking up an Oscar® for 2006’s The Departed, after losing out on his six previous nominations, he followed his award-winning Southie crime-drama with Shine a Light, a Rolling Stones rock doc, in 2008 and has re-teamed with his present-day muse Leonardo DiCaprio for the ‘50s-set twisty thriller Shutter Island. (Click here to check out an interview with co-star Emily Mortimer.)

After being in the biz for over 40 years, he’s certainly amassed a glowing, robust CV, making it a rather arduous task to pick out his best efforts. Undeterred, we pressed on and offer our picks of his Top 10 Films. Share YOUR choices for the best Scorsese movies in the comments below!

Top 10 Scorsese Films

10. The Last Waltz (1978)
Starring: The Band (Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko, Levon Helm, Richard Manuel), various famous musical guests
The lowdown: This beautiful, elegiac concert film perfectly captured the beloved (largely) Canadian band’s swan song and showed that Scorsese could do gritty drama with the same steady hand that captured heartfelt performances by Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young on that fateful Thanksgiving Day. An excellent look at what good music sounded and looked like at the end of the ‘70s.

9. The Aviator (2004)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly, Alec Bladwin
The lowdown: Scorsese does the biopic thing and casts DiCaprio as millionaire flying enthusiast, movie producer and eventual recluse Howard Hughes in this gripping tale of a driven, ultra-ambitious man who descends into madness. Also, that plane crash scene – chilling in theory and mega impressive in execution.

8. Gangs of New York (2002)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Jim Broadbent
The lowdown: Daniel Day-Lewis’ scenery-devouring performance as Bill the Butcher more than makes up for DiCaprio’s patchy accent in this early-19th century tale of revenge and legacies gone awry. Hellishly violent but infinitely watchable, Scorsese’s look at a young America overrun by gangs netted 10 Oscar nominations for good reason.

7. Casino (1995)
Starring: Sharon Stone, Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, James Woods
The lowdown: Known as one of the last movies where Sharon Stone looked proper hot and one Joe Pesci would likely be proud to include on his resume, if you don’t count 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag that is, Casino showed two mobsters going head to head over a gambling empire in this ‘70s-era look at greed, murder, deception and, of course, money, in a no-holds barred way that only Scorsese could provide.

6. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey, Harvey Keitel
The lowdown: A difficult, controversial, though triumphant and certainly untraditional look at Jesus Christ’s life and death as he suffers as a man and tries to resist temptation while being called upon by God to lead. Sublime performances by Willem Dafoe and Barbara Hershey and angry criticism from Christian groups meant Last Temptation undoubtedly became a Scorsese must-see.

5. The Departed (2006)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon
The lowdown: The acting talent in this one alone meant that it would get special attention come Oscar time but Scorsese finally broke his losing streak with this hard-hitting, intelligent, and at times tense-funny look at a crime ring in Boston being infiltrated by undercover cops. Jack Nicholson puts his Cheshire cat grin to excellent use as Papa Mobster Frank Costello and both Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon give strong performances as moles who find their loyalties split between work and their new pseudo families.

4. Mean Streets (1973)
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, David Proval
The lowdown: As Johnny Boy, a baby-faced Robert De Niro plays the loose cannon/sketchy friend to the hilt and shakes up the small-time crooks running Little Italy in this Scorsese oldie. Torn between climbing the wise-guy ladder, remaining loyal to his outsider friend and keeping his epileptic girlfriend a secret from his crime lord uncle, Harvey Keitel was the central force of this low key, though moving, crime-drama.

3. Raging Bull (1980)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty
The lowdown: De Niro gives an Oscar-winning performance as real-life boxer Jake La Motta, a hot-headed beast in the ring who treats everyone around him as if his gloves are still on. Giving new meaning to the term self-destructive, Raging Bull follows a talented though cripplingly insecure man whose emotions burn brightly on the surface and whose momentous highs were quickly matched by crushing lows. A study of a man who struggled with the concept of what it meant to be one.

2. Goodfellas (1990)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
The lowdown: Held up as the one to beat when compared to every subsequent gangster movie that has tried to recreate the slickness, tension, violence and unchecked machismo, Goodfellas is quintessential Scorsese. Ray Liotta gives a star-making performance as Henry Hill, a young kid who aspired to have all the swagger, hot girls, fast cars and endless parties that wise guys enjoyed and found out that living the good life had a steep price. Classic.

1. Taxi Driver (1976)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, Albert Brooks
The lowdown: The Mohawk that launches a thousand philosophical, sociological and cinematic discussions belongs to one disturbed individual named Travis Bickle, whose moniker is still used as a shorthand for unhinged misanthrope. A disturbed Vietnam vet who sees nothing but sin, decay and abject sleaze in the streets of New York drives a cab for a living, favouring the seediest parts of town, and lashes out violently at a world in which he's never seemed to belong. A fascinating nightmare that grips from the first scene and doesn’t let go.

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What films would make YOUR Scorsese Top 10? Share below and bring home some classic Marty titles with THESE DVDs and Blu-rays.



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