With a career spanning more than 50 years and more movie genres than you can conjure up, director Martin Scorsese is practically unstoppable in Hollywood. Some Martin Scorsese films—including the movies ranked here—are amongst the best Martin Scorsese movies ever made and make great downloads using your Amazon Fire Stick.
His collaborations with the likes of talented actors like Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and Leonardo DiCaprio have produced outstanding box office results. He also directed numerous documentaries and even a couple music videos. In fact, Scorsese has delivered so many classics that many saw his directing Oscar win—for 2006’s The Departed, after receiving five directing nominations in prior years—as a consolation prize. (He has received 2 more directing nominations since, but not another win.)
The latest Martin Scorsese film, The Irishman, is set to debut at the New York Film Festival this month. After that, it will have a nearly four-week theatrical run before heading to Netflix. Apparently, The Irishman is 3 1/2 hours long. If the reception of Martin Scorsese’s past work is any indication, however, people are more than willing to sit through it all. Even some of his lesser movies are still quite good.
To prepare for The Irishman, check out this list of 10 Martin Scorsese movies ranked by us but open to debate.
Table of Contents
Best Martin Scorsese Movies, top 10 ranked Travel movies
1) Goodfellas
Stream: Max Go
Rent/Buy: Amazon
Movieclips Classic Trailers/YouTube
Martin Scorsese’s mafia masterpiece film portrays mobster Henry Hill’s rise and fall. It’s gripping, suspenseful, and filled to the brim with an all-star cast. They elevate the material to such a level that, for many, this mafia movie even eclipses The Godfather.
2) Taxi Driver
Stream: Netflix
Rent/Buy: Amazon
In Taxi Driver, a PTSD Vietnam War vet takes a night shift driving a taxi around New York City. As a result, his job gives him a front-row seat view of the city’s seediness. Warped by his own delusions, he radicalizes himself, and he attempts to take out a presidential candidate and a pimp. Martin Scorsese expertly ramps up the tension in the film, and Robert De Niro’s all-consuming, largely internalized performance cements Taxi Driver as an all-time classic.
3) Raging Bull: A Martin Scorsese Best Movies Classic
Stream: Amazon Prime
Rent/Buy: Amazon
Movieclips Classic Trailers/YouTube
Coming in at No. 3 among the Martin Scorsese movies ranked here, Raging Bull is a 1980 biopic about Italian-American boxer Jake LaMotta, whose personal life often eclipsed his professional one. This film gave Scorsese his first Oscar nomination for directing. In addition, Robert De Niro won the best actor Oscar for his performance, and Joe Pesci scored an Oscar nod for his role. Since then, Raging Bull has become even more beloved among audiences as a classic.
4) The Color of Money
Rent/Buy: Amazon
YouTube Movies/YouTube
Paul Newman reprises the role he played in the 1961 film The Hustler in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money. Newman plays a pool hustler who takes on a much younger client. Not only does this film fail to escape the shadow of its predecessor, but it also fails to live up to Scorsese’s other works.
5) Gangs of New York
Stream: Netflix
Rent/Buy: Amazon
Martin Scorsese takes this crime film to 19th century New York City. In Gangs of New York, a standoff between Protestants and Catholics leads to a young boy losing his father. The boy then vows to take revenge on his father’s killer. The narrative is all over the place, but it features a strong performance from Daniel Day-Lewis. The street fight seen was exceptionally well made.
6) The Departed
Rent/Buy: Amazon
Warner Movies On Demand/YouTube
Martin Scorsese made his remake of Infernal Affairs to Boston as the Irish mob and the Massachusetts State Police place a mole in each other’s ranks. Fueled with plenty of tension, it’s easy to see why the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally gave Martin Scorsese his first directing Oscar for this film. (It’s simultaneously easy to remain annoyed that it didn’t happen sooner.) I think it was also one of Ben Affleck’s better performances, and who doesn’t love Jack Nicholson?
7) The Last Temptation of Christ
Rent/Buy: Amazon
Based on the 1955 novel, The Last Temptation of Christ stars one of our favorie actors William Dafoe and depicts a version of Jesus of Nazareth who faces his own set of temptations from Satan—including being shown a life where he marries Mary Magdalene—as he nears the end of his life. Both the source material and the film were highly controversial, but it’s a strong entry in Martin Scorsese’s unofficial trilogy of films that grapple with faith. (Kundun and Silence are the other two.)
Check out William Dafoe as the Joker.
8) The Wolf of Wall Street
Rent/Buy: Amazon
The Wolf of Wall Street is a personal fave having spent some time working for Wall Street. The movie depicts New York stockbroker real life character Jordan Belfort’s rise to the top and subsequent downfall. Scorsese shows all the rowdiness, sex and drugs that surely happened in real life with a great performance from Leonardo DiCaprio. Take the lunch scene with Matthew McConaughey for an example. It’s over-the-top, but sometimes that’s just what that particular story needs.
9) Casino
Stream: Starz
Rent/Buy: Amazon
In Casino, the inner-workings of Las Vegas corruption are on full display. No wonder Donald owns multiple casinos. Martin Scorsese takes viewers through the eyes of a fixer, his ex–sex worker wife, and a member of the mafia who make their way toward the top before their inevitable fall. The film is good on its own merits. But when you look at Scorsese’s whole filmography, it holds a number of similarities to Goodfellas, which came out a years before and why this makes the list of Martin Scorsese Best Movies.
10) The Aviator
Stream: Netflix
Buy: Amazon
Movieclips Classic Trailers/YouTube
The Aviator tells the story of billionaire, director, and aviation enthusiast Howard Hughes’ often tumultuous life. The biopic gives a close look at Howard’ relationship with some of the women who affected his life, as well. In Martin Scorsese’s hands, the larger-than-life figure is given plenty of nuance. Seeing it today reminds me of another billionaire that makes daily news, who has had multiple women in his life and has been in show business for a while…the similarities are actually quite striking.
Martin Scosese Best Movies Featured Video
Even though Martin Scorsese is famous for his use of music, one of his best traits is his deliberate and powerful use of silence. Take a glimpse at fifty years of this simple technique from one of cinema’s masters. SPOILERS for Shutter Island (2010), Superman (1978) and Man of Steel (2013)
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Best way to download the movies- Amazon TV Fire Stick
For bringing this idea to my attention, credit goes to John Pozer: https://twitter.com/Pozervision
Written interview with Scorsese about silence (& other things): http://1.usa.gov/1lAq00I
Video interview with sound designer Randy Thom: http://bit.ly/1qOkbwQ
