Xixax Film Forum

The Director's Chair => Martin Scorsese => Topic started by: Keener on April 25, 2003, 08:49:16 PM

Title: Taxi Driver
Post by: Keener on April 25, 2003, 08:49:16 PM
Somebody got to make the topic...might as well be me ! A true classic for me. My stepdad told me about it in 1999 when I was but the tender age of 14. After renting it, I immediately fell in love with it. It was one of the first great films I saw,  having prior been a typical viewer of current Hollywood crapfests. Good memories. I like to think this is the movie that sent me over as a film lover.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Recce on April 25, 2003, 11:36:43 PM
Indeed it is. Did you know that the MPAA freaked out over all the blood in the last scene, so they had them make it more orangish in post. That's why it looks so fake. Like it really accomplishes anything. Stupid MPAA. They should burn in hell.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Ghostboy on April 25, 2003, 11:46:05 PM
Yeah...this movie is something else. A huge inspiration. I first saw it when I was thirteen, when it got that remastered re-release in the mid nineties. I had always been aware of it, but it was thanks to Pulp Fiction (the movie that awakened me cinematically) that I actually sought it out.  Perfect timing.

Anyone who doesn't have the Special Edition DVD...go get it and check out the documentary. Its really insightful.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: pipo on April 26, 2003, 10:19:10 AM
Quote from: RecceIndeed it is. Did you know that the MPAA freaked out over all the blood in the last scene, so they had them make it more orangish in post. That's why it looks so fake. Like it really accomplishes anything. Stupid MPAA. They should burn in hell.
Schrader is still trying to find out where the original negatives are to re-make it well, but they are still "missing" , maybe at the basement of some "church of the last days".
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Keener on April 26, 2003, 10:53:23 AM
It's really silly what the MPAA will make a movie do. Regardless, I love the movie. I love in the DVD how they show the effects used to make the shoot out scenes work. It was really interesting but perhaps the most interesting part was the hole in the ceiling used to film the amazing look over scene.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on April 26, 2003, 03:50:42 PM
Taxi Driver is a movie that is good. :)
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Recce on April 26, 2003, 11:33:42 PM
Quote from: ShanghaiOrangeTaxi Driver is a movie that is good. :)
Wow...Deep, man...deep.

Yeah, for those of you who don't have the DVD and haven't seen the documentary mentionned earlier in this thread, apparently, they cut through the floor to get the shot from above with the cops coming into the room, but they weakened the supports for the entire building and it started caving in on itself, so they had to brace it. All for one shot. SCORSESE RULES!!!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: pipo on April 27, 2003, 10:05:37 AM
That's the way it should be, no barriers for giving the best, that shows how much love Scorsese has doing his films. I wonder if the house owner ever knew about this.lol
I saw too that he replaced the actor playing the role of the revengeful husband sitting behind de Niro.  He did it great, he convinced me and made me angry and cicken-hearted at the same time.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Keener on April 27, 2003, 12:04:25 PM
Another thing I love is how he had several disagreements with the film crew who didn't understand his angles. They thought he was insane...little did they realize those unique angles are what made the movie so classic.

Same thing happened with Tarantino on Reservoir Dogs. Nobody thought the breakfast scene would look right the way he explained he was going to film it. Now they all see how gorgeous it works and fits.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Cecil on April 27, 2003, 12:51:24 PM
Quote from: KeenerAnother thing I love is how he had several disagreements with the film crew who didn't understand his angles. They thought he was insane...little did they realize those unique angles are what made the movie so classic.

same thing happened to me when i shot 90 and 180 degree shots in a scene (yeah thats right, its upside down). but whether or not this will be "classic" is yet to be seen
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: pipo on April 28, 2003, 02:12:03 PM
Not only that, but the reason why (money-time-fun) Scorsese did the job second unit could have had done was really a proove that it works way better when even those little insignificant details are made by the same (dreamer) director.  I loved the CUs of the cab driving alont the wet-night lighted streets. Maybe a good reason to change something.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Sigur Rós on July 21, 2003, 04:33:33 AM
I fuckin' love this film. I've never seen a better De Niro.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on July 21, 2003, 07:04:14 AM
QuotePulp Fiction (the movie that awakened me cinematically)

exactly the same here. it was a friday night and watched it on TV.... blew my little 14 or 15 year old mind.


As for Taxi Driver, well, it's one of my favourite movies ever. Simple as that :) It talks a lot about my personal obcessions, fears and moods..... great acting, great script, great directing, great music. Scorsese's best.  8)
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lucinda Bryte on August 25, 2003, 04:38:11 PM
I didn't like Taxi Driver much...

Flame me please...

I want to love this movie but I can't!

Why?!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ***beady*** on August 25, 2003, 04:52:49 PM
Dunno why you didn't like. But I loved it. And it was one of my happiest moments when I had to study it in my film class. I don't even need to say that De Niro and Scorsese are wicked. But I shall.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alethia on August 25, 2003, 04:54:38 PM
Quote from: Lucinda BryteI didn't like Taxi Driver much...

Flame me please...

I want to love this movie but I can't!

Why?!

diff'rent strokes i guess.  i'm not a fan of casino, and many others think it is brilliant.  taxi driver is wonderful tho, by the way.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on August 25, 2003, 04:58:17 PM
Quote from: Lucinda BryteI didn't like Taxi Driver much...

Flame me please...

I want to love this movie but I can't!

Why?!

Please expand on why you didn't like it. What didn't you like about it?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lucinda Bryte on August 26, 2003, 05:20:08 AM
Quote from: MacGuffin
Quote from: Lucinda BryteI didn't like Taxi Driver much...

Flame me please...

I want to love this movie but I can't!

Why?!

Please expand on why you didn't like it. What didn't you like about it?

Well I saw it a long time ago (i.e. 3-4 years ago) and I was young then so maybe I just didn't understand it?

I just remember thinking that it jumped around too much. And the ending sucked.  :?:

I rented it the other week but I never ended up watching it. Maybe I should rent it again.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: SoNowThen on August 26, 2003, 09:14:07 AM
How old are you?

Cuz I watched it in my mid-teens and thought it was just okay.

Then, when I was twenty, living on my own in a big city, and working the night shift, I re-watched it. That's when it became my favorite movie ever (barring my optimistic days, then it's behind Magnolia).

It has a kind of lonliness, and rage, and sick sexuality about it. Thinking you could "help" others when you can't even help yourself. The story, acting, and shots are all perfection to me.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: chainsmoking insomniac on August 26, 2003, 09:24:43 AM
Indeed.  I hate to sound cheesy, but many of the shots in it are pure poetry, and with the VO narration (which I typicaly frown upon) it really did become something of a visual poem (to me anyway.)
Also, I read something about DeNiro acquiring a cabbie license and driving around, chillin with other drivers...and that just elevated him in my eyes, not to mention the film itself because it showed how much passion and dedication everyone invested in the film.  That's how every movie should be made IMHO.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Pubrick on August 26, 2003, 10:27:08 AM
(https://xixax.com/images/avatars/165493793f4b73183372a.jpg)

Quote from: chainsmoking insomniacThat's how every movie should be made IMHO.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lucinda Bryte on August 27, 2003, 05:11:49 AM
Quote from: SoNowThenHow old are you?


I'm eighteen.

There are certain movies I watch and when I get done with them, I'm not sure if I liked them or not because I have to take it all in. Then when I watch it again (usually by the second or third time) I fall in love with it.

When I watched Mulholland Dr. for the first time I turned it off after the man behind Winkie's scene because it was boring and weird. Then I watched it the whole way through and felt really stupid, heh.

Then when I watched it again I started putting the pieces together and really liked it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: chainsmoking insomniac on August 27, 2003, 09:41:00 AM
Quote from: P(https://xixax.com/images/avatars/165493793f4b73183372a.jpg)

Quote from: chainsmoking insomniacThat's how every movie should be made IMHO.

This av's staying up for a while.   :)
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ©brad on August 27, 2003, 04:13:41 PM
keep the avatar, change that username.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on August 29, 2003, 12:22:24 PM
Quote from: SoNowThenIt has a kind of lonliness, and rage, and sick sexuality about it. Thinking you could "help" others when you can't even help yourself.

More to the point: helping others when they don't want it and insisting they need it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: nix on September 08, 2003, 12:12:34 AM
Taxi Driver... too good... too influential... mustn't think about Taxi Driver when I sit down to write... help me... :(  :puppydogeyes:
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: chainsmoking insomniac on September 08, 2003, 08:18:04 AM
Quote from: ©bradkeep the avatar, change that username.

nah, the username fits me to a T.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on September 21, 2003, 05:39:10 AM
When I saw this film for the very first time, the number one thing that pulled me into its world was the score. I've recently debated with someone who actually really disliked the score. As far as I know, he's the only idiot.. er.. one. Anyone here detest Herrmann's final score?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lucinda Bryte on September 30, 2003, 07:55:18 AM
I still think I am missing something. Usually I am so good at understanding films but...

It seemed like Taxi Driver had no story whatsoever and it was just about his isolation from society and then it ended. It just seemed like the film had no point. I DO like how it was shot though.

Someone please prove me wrong.. Or agree with me or something. I just keep hearing how great this film is and I watched it again and I either didn't get it, or didn't like it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ShanghaiOrange on September 30, 2003, 09:10:28 AM
Lucinda Bryte, you are a wonderful human being and have alot to live for. I love you!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ©brad on September 30, 2003, 09:42:20 AM
Quote from: Lucinda BryteI still think I am missing something. Usually I am so good at understanding films but...

It seemed like Taxi Driver had no story whatsoever and it was just about his isolation from society and then it ended. It just seemed like the film had no point. I DO like how it was shot though.

Someone please prove me wrong.. Or agree with me or something. I just keep hearing how great this film is and I watched it again and I either didn't get it, or didn't like it.

well first off, u shouldn't feel as if u have to luv the movie just because its a staple in film enthusiasm 101 or whatever. u don't have to luv the canons, but u can find things in them that r redeemable. as u said, u like the way it was shot.

im hesitant to recite one of the umteenth papers ive written on taxi driver and scorsese. (ill be happy to forward them to u, or better yet, link u to professional pieces on the film that do it far more justice than i could) point being, u need not fret over not liking the film simply b/c u feel that u have to.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alexandro on September 30, 2003, 09:57:56 AM
Quote from: Lucinda BryteI still think I am missing something. Usually I am so good at understanding films but...

It seemed like Taxi Driver had no story whatsoever and it was just about his isolation from society and then it ended. It just seemed like the film had no point. I DO like how it was shot though.

Someone please prove me wrong.. Or agree with me or something. I just keep hearing how great this film is and I watched it again and I either didn't get it, or didn't like it.

Maybe it would help if you read Roger Ebert's review of Taxi Driver...is on his site under the Great Movies section...
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lucinda Bryte on October 02, 2003, 07:22:33 AM
Hello person, I love you too!

And yeah it's not so much that I feel like I have to like it (well actually it sort of is) ... I just feel like I am out of the loop BECAUSE I don't like it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Crash on October 09, 2003, 10:51:16 PM
Sigur wrote:
Quotefuckin' love this film. I've never seen a better De Niro.

i'd have to say that i liked de niro alot in Casino and his most bodacious cameo in the Godfather!! rock on buddy boy!![/quote]
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Just Withnail on March 16, 2004, 11:19:03 AM
Quote from: CrashSigur wrote:
Quotefuckin' love this film. I've never seen a better De Niro.

i'd have to say that i liked de niro alot in Casino and his most bodacious cameo in the Godfather!! rock on buddy boy!!
[/quote]

No way you can call his genious turn in Godfather pt.2 a cameo, it deserves more than that.


Taxi Driver is to me is a story of how a superhero would function in the real world. It's the most realistic superhero flick, ever. Not that I rank it alongside X-Men and Spider-Man (or worse: Daredevil and the Schumacher Batmans) - no way in hell will I belittle this genious piece of art to that, but it bears many recemblance's with the genre. It's the classic origin story: We meet the guy with the special gift; he doesn't sleep at night. He utilizes his powers for something trivial and unimportant; driving a cab. Whilst doing this, he slowly discovers wrongs waiting to be made right, so he decides to use his "powers" to serve the common good. He's Peter Parker with a mohawk  :wink:  :twisted: Hell, in the end he even makes his own cosume (mohawk and army jacket) as well as a personalized arsenal, before embarking on his final battle. What it also shows is how the superheroes of fantasy could never work. To elevate themself from the scum of humanity in order to defeat its evils, you'd have to distance yourself from it completely, anything else would be hypocrisy. Travis recognizes that there are evils to defeat everywhere, and thus he isolates himself from society completely. This would never work in reality, which is why it doesn't work in Taxi Driver. Taking his date to a porn flick is probably the best example of this.

BUT with the genious of Scorsese behind the camera and DeNiro in front, this is of course not comparable to any superhero flick, this is a classic merger of direction, performance and story. The movie that comes once in each directors career, where his directing abilities meet the script that perfectly articulates them. It's a masterpiece.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on March 16, 2004, 12:53:28 PM
Quote from: Withnail
Quote from: CrashSigur wrote:
fuckin' love this film. I've never seen a better De Niro.

i'd have to say that i liked de niro alot in Casino and his most bodacious cameo in the Godfather!! rock on buddy boy!![/quote][/quote]

No way you can call his genious turn in Godfather pt.2 a cameo, it deserves more than that.


Taxi Driver is to me is a story of how a superhero would function in the real world. It's the most realistic superhero flick, ever. Not that I rank it alongside X-Men and Spider-Man (or worse: Daredevil and the Schumacher Batmans) - no way in hell will I belittle this genious piece of art to that, but it bears many recemblance's with the genre. It's the classic origin story: We meet the guy with the special gift; he doesn't sleep at night. He utilizes his powers for something trivial and unimportant; driving a cab. Whilst doing this, he slowly discovers wrongs waiting to be made right, so he decides to use his "powers" to serve the common good. He's Peter Parker with a mohawk  :wink:  :twisted: Hell, in the end he even makes his own cosume (mohawk and army jacket) as well as a personalized arsenal, before embarking on his final battle. What it also shows is how the superheroes of fantasy could never work. To elevate themself from the scum of humanity in order to defeat its evils, you'd have to distance yourself from it completely, anything else would be hypocrisy. Travis recognizes that there are evils to defeat everywhere, and thus he isolates himself from society completely. This would never work in reality, which is why it doesn't work in Taxi Driver. Taking his date to a porn flick is probably the best example of this.

BUT with the genious of Scorsese behind the camera and DeNiro in front, this is of course not comparable to any superhero flick, this is a classic merger of direction, performance and story. The movie that comes once in each directors career, where his directing abilities meet the script that perfectly articulates them. It's a masterpiece.[/quote]

If you ever run for president of the world, I'll vote for you.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Just Withnail on March 16, 2004, 04:51:05 PM
Aww. Thanks  :-D
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Bruce Lee on March 25, 2004, 07:00:09 PM
If this film was personified i would make love to it until my happy sack fell off.
This is what eyes and ears were invented for.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: SoNowThen on March 25, 2004, 08:26:33 PM
:yabbse-thumbup:
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ElPandaRoyal on March 26, 2004, 04:29:23 AM
Quote from: Bruce LeeIf this film was personified i would make love to it until my happy sack fell off.
This is what eyes and ears were invented for.

You, sir, are the most interesting pervert I've ever seen in my whole life. And believe me, i have seen pervs...
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: meatball on July 20, 2004, 04:33:48 PM
So, is there going to be another special edition DVD for this with Scorcese commentary, etc. now that he's releasing special editions for his other films?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on July 20, 2004, 04:41:00 PM
Quote from: meatballSo, is there going to be another special edition DVD for this with Scorcese commentary, etc. now that he's releasing special editions for his other films?

http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=4794
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: brockly on January 20, 2005, 12:10:50 AM
De Niro And Scorsese Discuss Taxi Driver Sequel
Screen legend Robert De Niro has reunited with iconic director Martin Scorsese to work on a sequel to their classic movie Taxi Driver. The Oscar-winning actor, who starred as disturbed Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle in the 1976 film, has confirmed the movie veterans are mulling over script ideas for a follow-up to the gritty original. Apart from his comedy turn in Meet The Parents and its recent sequel Meet The Fockers, De Niro has starred in a series of flop films - and critics are hoping Travis Bickle's resurrection will restore his reputation as one of the greatest dramatic actors of all time. De Niro, 61, says, "I was talking with Martin Scorsese about doing what I guess you'd call a sequel to Taxi Driver, where he is older."
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on January 20, 2005, 01:05:05 AM
Quote from: brocklyDe Niro And Scorsese Discuss Taxi Driver Sequel
This is a TERRIBLE idea. Anyone else have thoughts about this?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: ono on January 20, 2005, 01:15:02 AM
Taxi Driver SPOILERS
I always assumed Bickle died at the end.  I mean, WTF?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on January 20, 2005, 01:28:45 AM
Quote from: wantautopia?Taxi Driver SPOILERS
I always assumed Bickle died at the end.  I mean, WTF?
Yes, this is why I think it's a terrible idea. Because there's people out there who firmly believes this.. even though without a sequel, we'd never know for sure.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: UncleJoey on January 20, 2005, 04:03:23 AM
This is probably the worst idea I've heard in years.  Both of those guys are just so much better than this. I'm sure it won't happen, but I'm ashamed of DeNiro for even making the idea public. I'd rather see 10 sequels for Showtime than even hear a rumor about a Taxi Driver sequel.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Ghostboy on January 20, 2005, 04:11:09 AM
Being that this bit of new was copied and pasted from IMDB's celebrity news section, it's most likely actual source is a British Tabloid, which are known to misconstrue, misrepresent and misquote their subjects. It's one paragraph of extrapolated conjecture based on one sentence from DeNiro, so I'd take it with a grain of salt.

That said, I'm against the idea in theory too, but there's no doubt it would be interesting.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: lamas on January 20, 2005, 05:02:38 AM
SPOILER


why did you guys think Bickle died?  thought the last scene was a hokey dream sequence did ya?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Gold Trumpet on January 21, 2005, 07:13:16 PM
Actually, I don't mind the idea. I don't believe it will happen, but I don't mind it. The movie is not the masterpiece for me everyone says it is. I never got the feeling in the film of a Vietnam vet going through torture after being reassembled back into life. People say it's that. I thought anyone could have been Travis Bickle. The film never really tried to clarify. Only Scorsese did in interviews and I thought he was trying to be topical with that connection.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alethia on January 22, 2005, 09:48:58 AM
Quote from: The Gold TrumpetThe movie is not the masterpiece for me everyone says it is.

BURN THE WITCH!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: meatball on January 22, 2005, 03:38:47 PM
I agree with you, Trumpet. It isn't all about being a vet. I think what people connect with in Travis Bickle is the torment he's going through inside of himself.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on January 22, 2005, 03:54:54 PM
Quote from: MeatballI think what people connect with in Travis Bickle is the torment he's going through inside of himself.
or, um, loneliness?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: meatball on January 22, 2005, 04:13:50 PM
Quote from: cinephile
Quote from: MeatballI think what people connect with in Travis Bickle is the torment he's going through inside of himself.
or, um, loneliness?

Which leads to torment?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cine on January 22, 2005, 04:29:04 PM
Quote from: Meatball
Quote from: cinephile
Quote from: MeatballI think what people connect with in Travis Bickle is the torment he's going through inside of himself.
or, um, loneliness?

Which leads to torment?
people may feel torment for their loneliness, but when you say "the torment he's going through inside of himself", i figured you were referring to his bitter hatred for the people around him and how much they disgust him as human beings.. since, thats the focus of the entire story....
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: meatball on January 22, 2005, 06:48:59 PM
Right.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alexandro on January 22, 2005, 07:14:27 PM
de niro mentioned the possibility of a taxi driver sequel "20 years later" back when he was at Inside the Actor's Studio...when he said that, Lipton almost starts drooling and said: "would't that be intersting?", and some members of the audience applauded...but I always thought it was a shitty idea, mainly because both de niro and scorsese havent't worked in those kind of economical conditions in decades, and because their sensibilities have changed. I don't mean to say they "sold out" or anything, just that it would be impossible to repeat the kind of atmosphere taxi driver has...
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: tpfkabi on January 22, 2005, 10:56:27 PM
do you even think Travis Bickle would live for 20 more years after the events of Taxi Driver?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Gold Trumpet on January 23, 2005, 03:59:37 AM
Quote from: MeatballI agree with you, Trumpet. It isn't all about being a vet. I think what people connect with in Travis Bickle is the torment he's going through inside of himself.

You agree with part, but may disagree with my further thoughts that I think the film hardly even clarifies what really alienates Travis Bickle in the first place. As a tour de force through his mind as it free falls into insanity, its a great film. And I'd still argue for the film on that basis, but it seems an easier accomplish to tell that story then it is to tell how he really became that way. Its the same problem I had with The Believer a few years back when the film focused on the irony of a Jew waving the Nazi Flag instead of going in depth to say what made him that way. Also, there are also some more genuinely disturbing (and talented) films to have come about since then that deal with subjects similiar to Taxi Driver. I'd qualify I Stand Alone as an even more harrowing and intoxicating film about loneliness and torment gone to extremes.

And also, on second thought, maybe I wouldn't sign a petition to see a sequel made. My first initial "Yes" was because I believed the original could have been improved upon in so many ways but I don't trust Scorsese to really improve upon the original the way I see it. He's treating his first as gold and even though he won't be thinking he's just cashing in, its more than likely a sequel would be another story of Travis Bickle's torment and loneliness, a true remake than anything else. Remember The Color of Money.....
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: AntiDumbFrogQuestion on January 27, 2005, 11:39:06 PM
this is a worse idea than "More American Graffiti"

ie Ron Howard with a moustache
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: SHAFTR on May 11, 2005, 08:51:55 PM
more bad ideas

Taxi Driver: The Game
Source:  IGN
From gritty slice of 70s art film zeitgeist to a controller in your hand.
by David Adams

May 11, 2005 - With The Godfather and Scarface already set for video game treatment, perhaps it was inevitable that someone would do the same for another landmark in unflinching American film, Taxi Driver. Majesco announced today that the famous 1976 film, which starred Robert De Niro in the iconic role of unstable cabbie Travis Bickle, will be the basis for a new game set for release in spring 2006.


The Taxi Driver game is in development at Papaya Studio. While Majesco is not yet announcing game details or specific platforms, the company confirmed with IGN that Taxi Driver is not slated for next-generation systems.

The original Martin Scorcese film, which also featured Jodie Foster, Harvey Keitel, and Cybill Shephard, among others, is as loved as it is notorious for its disturbing story of violence and perversity -- not to mention psychotic alienation. Majesco intends to celebrate the film's 30th anniversary with the game release.

"We look forward to developing a game that remains true to the spirit and style of the movie, and embodies a total entertainment experience," comment Majesco's Ken Gold.

"We're excited to be working with Majesco on a game for Taxi Driver," said Mark Caplan at Sony Pictures Consumer Products. "We're confident they, together with Papaya Studio, will create a game that successfully makes the transition from film to the video game world."

Expect to hear plenty more on the Taxi Driver in the coming months. (And if Five Easy Pieces or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ever become games, we'll let you know, too.)
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alethia on May 12, 2005, 07:03:56 AM
*sigh*
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Gabe on May 19, 2005, 06:56:26 PM
Quote from: SHAFTRmore bad ideas

(And if Five Easy Pieces or One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ever become games, we'll let you know, too.)
Also remind me if that 2001 game ever comes out. . I'm dying to nuke some Aliens!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: cron on May 19, 2005, 10:08:33 PM
is nothing sacred
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Gabe on May 19, 2005, 10:22:27 PM
Jesus has TOYS NOW!

YiiiPee!
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: nix on May 21, 2005, 01:29:14 PM
Lets start the speculation about what this game will be like...
Totaly intteractive?

Will you be able to visit porn theaters and piss off the candy girl?

Shop for Kris Kirsofferson records?

Clean the come off of the backseat of your cab?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on May 21, 2005, 02:19:32 PM
Quote from: nixLets start the speculation about what this game will be like...

http://xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=6921
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on July 06, 2006, 11:04:39 AM
'I was in a bad place'
Paul Schrader was 26 and destitute when he wrote Taxi Driver. As the film is re-released, he tells Geoffrey Macnab why he's still proud of his violent movie - and why he lied about it to the FBI
Source: The Guardian UK

Seemingly against his wishes, the American writer and director Paul Schrader is in town to edit his latest feature, The Walker. The film was largely financed with British money, and so Schrader is obliged to complete post-production in the UK. On one level, however, the timing is fortuitous: Schrader will be in town for next week's 30th anniversary re-release of Taxi Driver, the film he scripted for Martin Scorsese and which made both their names.

Schrader, who is 59 and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a reputation as an intense and driven figure. But on the evening I meet him, he is in a surprisingly relaxed groove. Not even the prospect of a new computer game based on Taxi Driver seems to upset him. After Sony announced plans for "a total entertainment experience", he and Scorsese scrambled unsuccessfully to have the project stopped in its tracks.

But when they went back to their original contracts, Schrader discovered they had sold "all their rights to all media, known and unknown, now and in the future". That was their Faustian bargain to get the movie made.

Talking to Schrader about the origins of Taxi Driver is a disarming experience. On the one hand, he waxes nostalgic about a movie he is still clearly immensely proud of. On the other, he is forcing himself to rake over one of the most troubled moments in his own life. Schrader used to say "Travis Bickle is me", an unlikely claim, given that at the time he wrote the screenplay, he was a budding writer, protege of New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael, and a cinephile with a passion for Robert Bresson. (Travis, by contrast, was an alienated out-of-towner whose movie tastes inclined only as far as Times Square porno flicks.)

"At the time I wrote it [Taxi Driver], I was in a rather low and bad place," Schrader says. "I had broken with Pauline [Kael], I had broken with my wife, I had broken with the woman I left my wife for, I had broken with the American Film Institute and I was in debt." For several weeks, he drifted around LA, living and sleeping in his car, eating junk food, watching porn. Eventually, when his stomach began to hurt badly, he went to the hospital and discovered he had an ulcer.

"When I was talking to the nurse, I realised I hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks ... that was when the metaphor of the taxi cab occurred to me. That is what I was: this person in an iron box, a coffin, floating round the city, but seemingly alone." He claims he wrote the script, which he dashed off in under a fortnight, as self-therapy, to "exorcise the evil I felt within me".

Taxi Driver was set in New York, but this wasn't a city Schrader knew especially well. His screenplay was riddled with geographical errors. When they were preparing to shoot, Scorsese used to make sardonic remarks to him: "Sixth Avenue doesn't run downtown. What are you going to do? Have them change the traffic?"

But whatever their reservations about his street knowledge, Scorsese and De Niro were entirely in synch with Schrader as to who Travis Bickle was. They didn't spend long hours discussing Travis's motivations. Schrader simply gave De Niro his jacket and boots and left him to get on with it.

Taxi Driver was released in the US in February 1976. Three months later, Schrader accompanied the movie to Cannes, stopping en route in Paris to interview his idol Robert Bresson. "He asked me, 'Do you think your film will win the big prize?' I said, 'Yes.'" Schrader was right, and Taxi Driver went on to win the Palme d'Or despite jury president Tennessee Williams's reported revulsion at its violence.

Schrader tells a lovely story about an evening he spent in Cannes. He and Scorsese were having drinks on a hotel terrace, winding down at the the end of the day. "I was there with Marty and [Francis Ford] Coppola. Then Fassbinder came by with somebody. Then Sergio Leone came by. I remember thinking, wow! This is the fucking greatest thing I've ever been at in my life. Here I am with all these movie gods, sitting on the terrace discussing movies in the middle of the night in the Mediterranean."

Ask him today if he or Scorsese feel any responsibility for the toxic effect Taxi Driver subsequently had on its youthful star Jodie Foster, who was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of 12-year-old prostitute Iris, and he strikes an evasive note. On March 30 1981, John Hinckley Jr, who had become obsessed with the film and had been stalking Foster, attempted to assassinate US president Ronald Reagan in a bid to impress her; in some subliminal way it was as if the US public and media blamed her for it. "She [Foster] was a strong girl. She refused to do interviews about the film for a long time, which was smart," he says, and then changes the subject.

The day Reagan was shot, Schrader, Scorsese and De Niro were questioned by the FBI. "I was scouting locations in New Orleans. It came over the radio that a white kid from Colorado had made the assassination attempt. I said to the driver, it was one of those Taxi Driver kids."

By the time he got back to his hotel, the FBI were waiting. "I've got a lot of respect for the FBI that day because they were really on it." They wanted to know whether Schrader had had contact with Hinckley. "They said, 'Have you heard from him, and if you have, have you heard any other names from him?'"

Schrader now admits that he lied to the Feds. His office had received one or two letters from "this kid in Colorado who wanted to know how he could meet Jodie Foster". He told the secretary to throw the letters out. "I knew that if I told the FBI, 'Yeah, I got a letter from him [Hinckley] once but I threw it out,' I would be fucked, my secretary would be fucked. We'd have to be endlessly answering questions about a letter we've thrown out and don't remember. So I just said, 'No, I have never heard of him.'"

Contrary to internet rumours, there are no plans for a Taxi Driver sequel. Arguably, Scorsese and Schrader have already made it, with Bringing Out the Dead (1999), about an ambulance driver in New York - although Schrader felt the film went awry when Nicolas Cage was cast in the lead instead of his preferred choice, Ed Norton.

The writer acknowledges that Taxi Driver is "a young man's film" and could even be considered juvenilia. Its racial politics in particular remain problematic. In his original screenplay, the pimp (eventually played by Harvey Keitel) was black and in the final reel shoot-out, Travis killed only black people. "In the original script, it was just a racist slaughter," Schrader remembers. "There was genuine concern. [The producers] came to me and said, 'We've really got to change this. There could be a riot.' It would have been socially and morally irresponsible if we had incited that kind of violence."

Schrader points out that there is a difference between making a film about a racist and making a racist movie. He also dismisses the idea that Taxi Driver is pro-vigilante or - as some have called it - a fascist parable. Nor is Travis' sexuality as straightforward as it may have appeared. There is, Schrader contests, a strong homoerotic element to the storytelling. "If you look at this character, in this film I've just finished (The Walker), he is now gay. From Taxi Driver to American Gigolo to Light Sleeper, he has been working his way there. I've finally got him out of the closet!"

He has at least partly renounced "the new brutalist" side of the movies he made in the 1970s. "I killed more screen characters in the first four films I wrote than I have since," he says. "I realised I had to stop writing violence." His next film is "about a man who once was a dog who meets a dog who once was a boy," he explains to my bafflement.

Schrader is a very different personality and film-maker to the 26-year-old who wrote Taxi Driver, but his continuing pride in the movie is self-evident. "The film holds up because it is true. It is true to who we were," he says. "The reason it holds up is that it is the real deal. Scorsese, Bob (De Niro) and I were in that place at that time."
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Ravi on October 25, 2006, 12:46:35 AM
Aussie Taxi Driver? (http://www.dvdactive.com/news/releases/perth.html)

"Harry Lee, a part-time security guard and taxi driver wants nothing to do with the fast-paced, status-driven society that has left him behind so he sets off for his idea of paradise, the Western Australian city of Perth. His attempt to migrate is complicated when he takes on a job ferrying prostitutes. The situation becomes increasingly volatile when he takes an unhealthy interest in one Vietnamese prostitute, which awakens within him a dark and dangerous attempt at personal redemption."
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Ravi on May 24, 2007, 04:34:51 PM
2-disc Region 2 Special Edition in August (http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/3350003/Taxi-Driver-Special-Edition/Product.html)
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Flannery on June 04, 2007, 04:40:46 PM
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced a collector's edition of Taxi Driver which stars Robert DeNiro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, and Harvey Keitel. This two-disc limited edition will be available to own from the 14th August, and should retail at around $24.96. The disc will include a newly remastered 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras will include a video introduction by Martin Scorsese, an audio commentary by Writer Paul Schrader, a second commentary by Professor Robert Kolker, a Producing Taxi Driver featurette, a Martin Scorsese on Taxi Driver featurette, a Martin Scorsese Tribute featurette, and a Making Taxi Driver, God's Lonely Man documentary.

I've been waiting for this for quite a while.  Too bad it doesn't include the Scorsese/Schrader commentary from the Criterion laserdisc.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on August 03, 2007, 07:15:17 PM
(https://xixax.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdvdmedia.ign.com%2Fdvd%2Fimage%2Farticle%2F798%2F798654%2Ftaxi-driver-2-disc-collectors-edition-20070621044648229-000.jpg&hash=830dc0103ddd2e29e971ba7c0b8e31196506de99)

From IGN.com's review:

The commentaries here are some of the better we've seen on a disc in quite some time, and with a film this rich in substance and subtext, there's quite a lot to discuss. Schrader tackles the movie from a more structural and behind-the-scenes perspective, sharing old stories of the film's production as well as discussing the film as a complex narrative -- pointing out motivations, flaws, inspirations, inaccuracies, etc. He does so with candor and charm and makes for a great listen, whereas Kolker approaches the film as a critic and film historian, digging deeper than even Schrader likely did in writing the film to mine the movie for metaphor. Kolker discusses not only the themes of the story and how they are translated visually, but also examines the direction of the film, the camerawork and the acting for insights into how Taxi Driver relates to the human experience on a much deeper level. This is, perhaps, the most interesting -- if slightly more snobbish and arguable -- of the two tracks.

A 15-minute conversation with director Scorsese serves as a kind of visual, mini-commentary, and he does a good job in a short span of time discussing not only the film in general, but the challenges inherent to making it work and even getting the film made in the first place. His respect for Schrader and DeNiro is incredibly evident, and it's an all too brief glimpse at a legendary director and his most laudable work. This piece is bookended nicely with the "Producing" featurette -- a 10-minute chat with producer Michael Phillips who provides some insight onto the challenges of getting a film this bleak greenlit in the mid-1970's.

"God's Lonely Man" is, in a way, a shorter rehash of both two-hour commentaries in a single featurette. Both Schrader and Kolker focus on the film's theme of isolation, Kolker finding it within the film and Schrader highlighting how the film was written in a post-divorce state of loneliness in New York. "Influence and Appreciation" highlights a number of actors and filmmakers recounting their experiences with Scorsese while discussing the breadth of his work, as well as the director as a person. Participants include De Niro, Schrader, Kolker, Michael Phillips and even director Oliver Stone.

"Taxi Driver Stories" is fairly self-explanatory and actually serves as one of the more amusing -- and occasionally moving -- featurettes on the disc. A real-life "Taxi Cab Confessions," this collection presents a group of 1970's taxi drivers gathered together to tell stories about their experiences, as well as to shed some insight into the complex system of the New York taxi service. Meanwhile, the following two "Travis' New York" featurettes highlight the incredible differences between the Manhattan of 1976 and the Manhattan of today in both video and pictures with several notable New York officials -- including Ed Koch -- talking about New York then and now. The change, of course, is stunning.

Finally, the hour-long making-of featurette goes into much more detail about the minutiae of making the movie than most making-of featurettes do. It starts out with recent interviews with the cast (the whole cast) and Scorsese and Schrader, and then moves on to things like the special effects in the shootout at the end, Herrmann's score, and the way the movie was received by audiences. There's a ton of content in this hour-long documentary, which is well worth your time to give it a viewing.

Overall, the amount of insightful, fascinating, worthwhile content on this disc is staggering. A "must buy" if only for the extras alone.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alexandro on February 15, 2010, 07:09:08 AM
I suppose this should go here:

FUNNY OR DIE from HOLLYWOOD ELSEWHERE
by Jeffrey Welles

   
Someone working for the Copenhagen film magazine Ekko allegedly reported today -- get this -- that Martin Scorsese is open to the idea of remaking Taxi Driver with Lars von Trier as some kind of creative partner. Or vice versa.

Can't be real. Has to be bullshit.

The report, allegedly emanating from the Berlin Film Festival, says Scorcese and von Trier are in attendance, and that the two men had discussed the possibility of a remake. And it gets more twisted. The Ekko story allegedly says that Robert De Niro would again play the title role -- presumably a reference to Travis Bickle.

In an initial reaction, von Trier's Zentropa producing partner Peter Aalbek said he could "neither confirm nor deny," but that an official announcement would be made soon.

The 67 year-old Scorcese is in Berlin for the world premiere of his new psychothriller, Shutter Island. I don't know what von Trier is doing there, if he's there at all. This whole thing could be a total figment of someone's imagination. It's such a repulsive idea, it's embarassing to even float it as a joke.

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/2010/02/worst_remake_id.php

Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: matt35mm on February 15, 2010, 08:07:27 AM
Haha, I fucking LOVE the idea!  I want this to happen.

I don't know who the hell Jeffrey Wells is, but I'm glad that the idea repulses him.  I can tell right now that that's a good sign.  Also: most of the people who commented underneath his post.  What is with the closed-mindedness?  All but a couple of them immediately reject that there could be anything potentially interesting about it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alexandro on February 15, 2010, 08:34:56 AM
My guess is all those guys are mostly middle aged hollywood types who look back with irrational nostalgia to the old marty flicks.

A Taxi Driver sequel by Scorsese would surely be doomed to failure, but a rework like this with a nutcase like Von Trier...I mean that's impossible to not to be interesting.

However, it does sound like bullshit and it would not be strange that is all part of some marketing ploy in favor of Shutter Island.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: matt35mm on February 15, 2010, 08:59:10 AM
I just looked up who Jeffrey Wells is, and he's the guy who called Antichrist a "fartbomb," (http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2009/05/antichrist_fart.php) and said that it was a major embarrassment for the actors and a "career-killer" for von Trier, which showed the absolute least amount of insight and sensitivity to the interests of other people.  He didn't like it--fine.  But he extended that opinion to an idiotic prediction.

I would like to see Scorsese direct it.  If anybody else was going to direct it, they might as well just make some movie not officially related to Taxi Driver.  But for Scorsese to go back to something that had so much SOUL after years of making stuff that looks too good on paper (i.e. "respectable"), well, I'd be very interested.  With von Trier's involvement, it just can't end up like Scorsese's recent works.  Scorsese could use some crazy in his work.  Von Trier crazy.  I want to see Scorsese get uncomfortable, and I want to see him fight.

I don't see how it makes sense as marketing for Shutter Island, though.  I just don't see how this rumor would affect one way or the other whether someone's gonna watch this thing.  Of all the reasons to go see Shutter Island, what does this have to do with any of that?  And who else cares about this news, really, other than a small handful of movie nerds?
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Alexandro on February 15, 2010, 09:12:03 AM
Well, any noise is good noise for a movie.

Precisely, outside of the movie nerds, there is a whole lot of people who don't really connect the name Scorsese with anything in particular, except films. Stories like this don't just make some noise, but remind a lot of people who is this guy and what has he done. In any case, shit like this stirs up some conversation around and people hear about scorsese, di caprio, de niro and everyone else involved which indirectly helps shutter island.

jeffrey welles is a weird madman who loves movies but more often than not gets hung up on small details and idiosyncrasies, which affects his judgement in hilarious ways. he also seems to be undecided as if he's a supporter of one of a kind artists or a player in the hollywood traditional landscape. in any way his blog is some entertaining shit. between movie "reviews" and festival and preproduction reports he also finds time to rant about fat latino people who talk loudly during movies and the baldness in kevin spacey's head. I would highly recommend it.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Reel on March 31, 2010, 12:27:53 AM
Hey wasn't there a very explicit piece of porno in the movie theater scene that they cut out for the dvd? I think I remember it being there when I first saw it on vhs. It was naasty
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Pozer on March 31, 2010, 12:32:51 AM
id say that's the jizz of it, yeah.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: I Love a Magician on May 23, 2011, 10:32:26 PM
saw a showing of this in nashville over the weekend; a lot funnier than i remembered, camera movements are great but a lot rawer than i remembered
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Lottery on August 06, 2013, 02:36:19 AM
Today I discovered that De Niro asked Scorsese to make a sequel and this is what Schrader had to say:

QuoteDeNiro suggested that to Marty and I about 15 years ago and I told him it was the dumbbest idea that I've ever heard. I told him that character had died not more than 6 months after that movie was over. He was on a death trip and was gonna succeed the next time.

From:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jr8ai/i_am_paul_schrader_writer_of_taxi_driver/

Totally awesome.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Pubrick on August 06, 2013, 03:14:32 AM
15 years ago is about the time when De Niro went full retard. so yeah, story checks out.
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: MacGuffin on November 15, 2013, 02:52:27 PM
Robert De Niro talks Taxi Driver sequel
Source: Total Film

While a Taxi Driver sequel has oft been mooted over the years, it has never looked as though it might really come to fruition. However, it is a prospect that still interests Robert De Niro today...

"I had that idea," said De Niro, when the prospect of revisiting Travis Bickle was raised in a recent interview with The Guardian.

"I talked to Marty [Scorsese] and Paul [Schrader] and we did take a shot at something, whether it was an outline or a script, I forget. But somehow we didn't feel it was right and it didn't take off.

"But I'd like to see where Travis is today. There was something about the guy – all that rage and alienation, that's what the city can do to you. I mean Marty and I are from New York, and even we can feel alienated."

It has of course been hypothesised that Travis actually dies at the end of the original film, and the closing sequence that sees him back behind the wheel is actually just a fantasy.

"Well, that's an interesting theory," responds De Niro. "I know that was not the intention, but it's as valid as anything." Consider the door left open...
Title: Re: Taxi Driver
Post by: Drenk on November 15, 2013, 04:51:59 PM
I  :bravo: to the last three messages. It's beautiful.