Rating the Films: Martin Scorsese
Submitted by ash_campbell on Thu, 12/04/2003 - 13:36
Tags:
- ****
- Raging Bull (1980)
- Taxi Driver (1976)
- ***1/2
- Goodfellas (1990)
- The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
- ***
- Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
- The Departed (2006)
- The Color of Money (1986)
- **1/2
- Gangs of New York (2002)
- Mean Streets (1973)
- *1/2
- Casino (1995)
- 1/2*
- Cape Fear (1991)
Author Comments:
Scorsese is an interesting example of being over-revered by critics and under-appreciated by the general public. He has a strong pull towards gangster themes, New York locations, and embattled leading characters. His films are almost always a tutorial for artistic achievement, even when he takes on terrible projects. Here’s how his films rate.
I've rated the films from a zero (horrible!) to four (wonderful!) star scale, with the links going to my reviews. As usual, I've only included films I've seen.
A bit rough on the Casino. Why? It's the only S movie I've watched twice in a row, and I find it's a fantasicly depressing, lonely film about high-level crime (as compared to the low-level gangsters that usually populate his films). The final shot of DeNiro is one of S's finest, I think.
It feels tired to me, especially in comparison to Goodfellas, which is alive. Casino feels worn-out (which may be the point) and the characters are all retreads of better Scorsese films (check out Pesci's two performances especially). I also think the ending in Casino is pretty lame, though Pesci's death scene is brutal, probably the emotional highlight in an otherwise uncompelling film.
I know there are several Listologists that consider Casino to be underrated, so it's kinda refreshing to see a counterpoint here. I just dug up my own old mini-review from a couple years ago, and I liked Casino quite a bit (not that I needed to find the review to remember that). My review was a vague wishy-washy mess though. :-)
While it's been years since I've seen it, I would say the general wearniess of the film is part of the point. I find the tired, empty look of DeNiro's eyes to be more of a emotional kicker than the scene you mentioned.
All this talk just makes me want to see it again.
well thought i liked it more than you it seems, i also had gripes with casino. Pesci & De Niro were on top form as was Sharon stone but i felt it repeated itself alot. the narration though novel, went over some of same points, then you had sotn'es character who after a while got on my nerves. It just tended to drag.