Martin Scorsese is a fantastic filmmaker who’s brought many brilliant films to screens all over the world. In this article, we list what we believe to be the best Martin Scorsese movies.

Scorsese has produced screen magic with Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, and Raging Bull, among many others. His cinematic canon is wide and deep and we believe this list demonstrates that.

So whether you’re doing research on him, or ready to sit down and watch one of these movies tonight, this list of the top Martin Scorsese films will be just what you need!

It should be noted that we’ve included the films in a rough ranking order. But with a filmmaker like Martin Scorsese, the work is so good that it’s really hard to form an exact order.

So, without further ado, let’s jump right in and list the best Martin Scorsese films!

The Best Martin Scorsese Movies

Let’s start off with an absolute cinema classic, Taxi Driver.

Taxi Driver (1976)

Special Collector’s Edition is digitally remastered and includes a never-before-seen making-of documentary featuring interviews with the creators and stars of the film.

Robert De Niro stars with Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and Albert Brooks in the all-too-real story of a psychotic New York cabby who is driven to violence in an attempt to rescue a teenage prostitute.

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival (1976) and nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture (1976), Taxi Driver stars Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s classic film of a psychotic New York cabbie driven to violence by loneliness and desperation. Co-starring Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and Cybill Shepherd.

Winner of the prestigious Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival (1976) and nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture (1976), Taxi Driver stars Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese’s classic film of a psychotic New York cabbie driven to violence by loneliness and desperation. Co-starring Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle, and Cybill Shepherd.

Taxi Driver is the definitive cinematic portrait of loneliness and alienation manifested as violence.

It is as if director Martin Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader had tapped into precisely the same source of psychological inspiration (“I just knew I had to make this film,” Scorsese would later say), combined with a perfectly timed post-Watergate expression of personal, political, and societal anxiety.

Robert De Niro, as the tortured, ex-Marine cab driver Travis Bickle, made movie history with his chilling performance as one of the most memorably intense and vividly realized characters ever committed to film.

Bickle is a self-appointed vigilante who views his urban beat as an intolerable cesspool of blighted humanity.

He plays guardian angel for a young prostitute (Jodie Foster), but not without violently devastating consequences.

This masterpiece, which is not for all tastes, is sure to horrify some viewers, but few could deny the film’s lasting power and importance. –Jeff Shannon

Goodfellas (1990)

The life and times of Henry Hill, who grew up idolizing the wise guys in his neighborhood and eventually became one of them.

With his friends Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito, Henry lived the dream life of taking whatever he wanted and answering to no one – until everything caught up with him.

The UHD disc of Goodfellas is based on the same 4K scan of the original camera negative that was used to generate the 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray.

This new version is something of a landmark for Warner Brothers because Goodfellas is its first “deep catalog” release in what remains a fledgling format.

All of Warner’s previous 4K discs to date are 21st Century films completed on digital intermediates, but Goodfellas is entirely a product of the analog era, which constitutes the bulk of cinema history.

This makes it an informative preview (along with such Sony titles as Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II) of how older titles originated on film and completed photochemically may fare in the brave new world of 4K and High Dynamic Range.

Before turning to the UHD of Goodfellas, let me take a short detour to discuss calibration.

The gold standard of calibration has been set by the Imaging Science Foundation (or “ISF”), which was created in 1994 to establish standardization in electronic imaging.

Calibrators trained and certified by the ISF are routinely retained to adjust and confirm the accuracy of the displays used in post houses and DI suites, and they are also hired by home theater installers and enthusiasts to provide the same services for consumer equipment. ISF calibration requires several key components.

These include a colorimeter for measuring a display’s light output, color values, and wavelengths; and a signal generator to feed the display standardized test patterns that can be measured by the colorimeter.

Top-quality colorimeters are expensive devices that cost more than the average home theater, and their proper use depends on an intimate understanding of the underlying technology—which is why accurate calibration requires the hiring of a properly trained and equipped professional.

The challenge of 4K and HDR at the moment is that no signal generator currently on the market is capable of supplying the requisite test patterns.

Most importantly for present purposes, these test signals would include an HDR-graded PLUGE pattern, which is an essential tool for setting black levels.

In the absence of any standardization, calibration for 4K and HDR has remained a moving target, and this limitation affects the entire UHD chain, from creation to playback.

A small group of technicians has coordinated with industry representatives to develop a 4K/HDR test disc that can be used for ISF calibration.

Although the disc is not yet widely available, I am fortunate enough to work with one of its creators, Kevin Miller, who is both a charter member of the ISF and its officially designated Technical Consultant. Recently, Mr. Miller used this disc to re-calibrate my system for HDR color and black levels.

All of my UHD reviews written since that procedure bear the paragraph in italics below, specifying the calibration equipment and methodology. Even before the latest calibration, it was obvious that the 2160p, HEVC/H.265-encoded UHD of Goodfellas suffered from black-level issues.

Since the procedure, I have rewatched the disc several times. In comparison to the Blu-ray, the UHD reveals a slight (a very slight) increase in visible detail and grain, but the improvement continues to be overshadowed (literally) by improper black levels that cast a haze of over brightening across the entire frame.

The effect is most pronounced in scenes set in darkened interiors such as clubs and bars—and there are many such scenes in Goodfellas.

A good example is the bar scene (chapter 33) in which Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) narrates the planning for the Lufthansa heist, while the camera picks up each member of the crew being assembled by Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro).

The last to enter is “Stacks” Edwards (Samuel L. Jackson), and as he walks away from the camera into the back of the bar, the outline of his figure softens and the details fade.

The same phenomenon can be observed after the heist when Jimmy is celebrating at the same bar, but his jubilation turns to fury when he discovers that members of the crew have disobeyed his orders not to attract attention with luxury purchases.

In scenes such as these, the UHD’s image is routinely less distinct and detailed than the Blu-ray’s, because the blacks are too bright.

The UHD’s colors appear to have been slightly intensified compare to the Blu-ray, with reds and blues the chief beneficiary, but here again, the over brightening tends to undercut any improvements by dampening color intensity.

Is the UHD unwatchable? Not at all. As with many video phenomena, the eye quickly adjusts to the presentation, and the elevated black levels become routine.

But having watched Goodfellas repeatedly on both UHD and the 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, I find the Blu-ray to be a better viewing experience. (And yes, my setup is also ISF-calibrated for 1080p.)

Like other studios, Warner touts HDR as a major enhancement, but the UHD presentation of Goodfellas demonstrates that the HDR sticker prominently affixed to every 4K title does not necessarily a superior image.

While the 4K image could no doubt be re-graded with accurate black levels, it is uncertain whether and how much the corrected image would offer any meaningful improvement over the Blu-ray.

Regardless, Goodfellas stands as a demonstration of why HDR is not automatically a benefit.

As UHD progresses, it may turn out that some—possibly many—older films should be left in SDR, without any attempt to “enhance” their blacks, contrast, or colors.

Casino (1995)

Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci star in director Martin Scorsese’s riveting look at how blind ambition, white-hot passion, and 24-karat greed toppled an empire.

Las Vegas, 1973, is the setting for this fact-based story about the Mob’s multimillion-dollar casino operation, where fortunes and lives were made and lost with a roll of the dice.

Former sports handicapper Sam Rothstein was recruited by the mob to manage the Tangiers Casino due to his financial genius and ruthless efficiency.

Sam soon turns the Tangiers into a cash cow for the mafia, but his infatuation with a beautiful hustler threatens to topple his Las Vegas empire.

The beautiful and impulsive Ginger McKenna caught the eye of Sam Rothstein while running a scam in his casino, and they are soon married.

But even her luxurious new life can’t save Ginger from her self-destructive impulses…or the influence of her former boyfriend.

Brutal mob enforcer Nicky Santoro followed his childhood friend Sam Rothstein to the Tangiers Casino. Despite their friendship, Nicky’s bloodthirsty and reckless tactics in Las Vegas threaten to destroy everything that Sam has built.

After Hours (1985)

When an uptown New Yorker innocently meets a downtown girl, he’s uncontrollably drawn into a vortex of wild, malevolent, and paranoid adventures After Hours.

Paul Hackett’s (Griffin Dunne) terrible night happens in the SoHo area of downtown Manhattan when he goes to keep a date with Marcy (Rosanna Arquette).

Nothing in his humdrum life as a word processor has prepared him for his surreal encounters with Marcy; her far-out artist roommate Kiki (Linda Fiorentino); cocktail waitress Julie (Teri Garr).

Ice cream vendor Gail (Catherine O’Hara); June (Verna Bloom), who lives in the basement of a nightclub; and Mark (Robert Plunket) who is ripe for his first gay experience.

Now, Paul longs only for the safety of his upper-East Side apartment … but will he ever make it home?

This well-regarded cult film is a tense Kafka-esque tale concerning what happens to a likable computer guy who is in the wrong place at the wrong time in the city that never sleeps–New York.

This is a New York infested with bizarre characters vividly brought to life by a once-in-a-lifetime cast.

Griffin Dunne’s wonderfully controlled comic performance as Paul Hackett is the glue that holds this increasingly surreal film together.

Scorsese utilizes a full array of independent and underground film techniques, including special film speed manipulations, angles, and edits, deftly capturing the strange rhythms of an after-hours New York City.

Many will find the jokes clever, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

Some, however, will find the film an excruciating series of staged circumstances setting up a sadistically cruel dark nightmare of horrors.

And there are a few lines of dialogue so poorly written they remind you how unbelievable the thin story really is. But forgive the film these few lapses–overall it’s a wild, surreal ride.

The most offbeat character is the beehive-sporting, Monkee-obsessed neurotic played to perfection by Teri Garr.

And the moment when Griffin Dunne uses his last quarter to play Peggy Lee’s “Is That All There Is” and dances with Verna Bloom while an angry mob searches SoHo for him is an inspired bit of lunacy. –Christopher J. Jarmick

Raging Bull (1980)

Robert De Niro teams with director Martin Scorsese in this “extraordinarily compelling” (Leonard Maltin) film that introduced unflinching realism to stunned audiences in 1980.

An “exceedingly violent as well as poetic” fight picture that maps “the landscape of the soul” (The New York Times), Raging Bull garnered eight Oscar nominations and won two, including Best Actor for De Niro.

De Niro gives the performance of his career as Jake La Motta, a boxer whose psychological complexities erupt into violence both in and out of the ring.

Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty are unforgettable as the brother who falls prey to Jake’s mounting paranoia and jealousy, and the fifteen-year-old girl who becomes his most prized trophy.

A “brilliantly photographed film of extraordinary power and rare distinction” (The Wall Street Journal), Raging Bull is filmmaking at its riveting best.

Mean Streets (1973)

Harvey Keitel plays Charlie, working his way up the ranks of a local mob. Amy Robinson is Teresa, the girlfriend his family deems unsuitable because of her epilepsy.

And in the star-making role that won Best Supporting Actor Awards from the New York and National Society of Film Critics, De Niro is Johnny Boy, a small-time gambler in big-time debt to loan sharks.

This is a story Martin Scorsese lived, a semi-biographical tale of the first-generation sons and daughters of New York’s Little Italy.

Four Italian-Americans from New York’s Lower East Side hangs around at a local bar. Charlie (Harvey Keitel), the most responsible of the group, tries to protect his girlfriend’s cousin Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro) from the local debt collectors, but his young charge seems determined to live fast and die young.

Heavily influenced by the French New Wave, ‘Mean Streets’ provided the first high-profile success for director Martin Scorsese and star Robert De Niro.

The King of Comedy (1983)

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late-night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

Academy Award Winner Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, and Sandra Bernhard give mesmerizing performances in this “chilling black comedy” (TV Guide’s Movie Guide) that explores the painfully high and often hilarious price of fame.

Desperate to be a star, struggling stand-up comedian Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) enlists the aid of his fanatical friend Masha (Bernhard) to kidnap talk show host Jerry Langford (Lewis). The ransom? A guest spot for Pupkin.

The results? Outrageous!

The King of Comedy stands as Scorsese’s prophetic masterpiece which confronts a celebrity culture that “looks more disturbingly current with each passing year” (Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide).

The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)

The Last Temptation of Christ, by Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull), is a towering achievement. Though it initially engendered enormous controversy, the film can now be viewed as the remarkable, profoundly personal work of faith that it is.

This fifteen-year labor of love, an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’s landmark novel that imagines an alternate fate for Jesus Christ, features outstanding performances by Willem Dafoe (Antichrist), Barbara Hershey (Hannah and Her Sisters), Harvey Keitel (Mean Streets), Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas), and David Bowie (The Man Who Fell to Earth); bold cinematography by the great Michael Ballhaus (Broadcast News); and a transcendent score by Peter Gabriel.

Criterion’s release of Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ effectively presents both the film’s beauty and controversy.

Produced on an extremely tight budget, The Last Temptation of Christ has a very epic feel that is wonderfully captured on this DVD.

Though a few specks and scratches are apparent throughout the 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, the overall visual quality is quite sharp and vibrant.

The newly mastered Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a phenomenal improvement, noticeably enhancing ambient sounds, dialogue, and Peter Gabriel’s moving soundtrack.

There are various added extras that really put the film’s content into perspective.

The stellar commentary track includes director Martin Scorsese, star Willem Dafoe, screenwriter Paul Schrader, and film critic Jay Cocks candidly discussing various aspects of the production, including the initial obstacles, extensive research, and notorious controversial elements.

This is a great DVD for fans and an informative one for those who wish to see past its notoriety. –Rob Bracco

The Departed (2006)

In The Departed, two just-graduated officers from the Massachusetts State Police Academy are following opposite sides of the law.

Billy Costigan is assigned to work undercover with the Irish mobster Frank Costello in an effort to get enough evidence to arrest him.

Costello’s protégé, Officer Colin Sullivan, is the mob’s informant on the force.

But when it becomes obvious there’s a traitor on both sides, each “rat” does his best to identify the other before being exposed himself.

Did you know?

• The Departed is an American remake of the Hong Kong film Internal Affairs.
• Budgeted at $90 million, The Departed grossed nearly $290 million worldwide.
• This is the only remake of a foreign film to win an Oscar for Best Picture.
• One of the main reasons Jack Nicholson joined the production was because he wanted to play the role of a villain again.
• This is the first Scorsese film that Jack Nicholson has appeared in.

An ace police cadet, Costigan is assigned to infiltrate the Irish mob to collect evidence that will convict mob boss Costello.

The head of the Irish-American mob in south Boston, Costello plants Sullivan in the Massachusetts State Police as a mole.

Sullivan is introduced into the world of organized crime by Irish mob boss Frank Costello. Sullivan is groomed from the beginning to be an informant for the mob.

A loyal and hardworking detective, Dignam is one of the few who knows Costigan is a police informant. When it comes to Sullivan, Dignam thinks he smells a rat.

The Wolf of Wall Street (2011)

Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio).

From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s.

Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title – “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Sex. Money. Power. Drugs. Brace yourself for an outrageous true story from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a young stockbroker hungry for a life of non-stop thrills where corruption was king and more was never enough.

His rise to power earned him the title The Wolf of Wall Street. Together Scorsese and DiCaprio deliver a story of American excess.

The Irishman (2019)

Martin Scorsese’s cinematic mastery is on full display in this sweeping crime saga, which serves as an elegiac summation of his six-decade career.

Left behind by the world, a former hitman and union truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) looks back from a nursing home on his life’s journey through the ranks of organized crime.

From his involvement with Philadelphia mob boss Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) to his association with Teamsters union head Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) to the rift that forced him to choose between the two.

An intimate story of loyalty and betrayal writ large across the epic canvas of mid-twentieth-century American history, The Irishman (based on the real-life Sheeran’s confessions, as told to writer Charles Brandt for the book I Heard You Paint Houses).

It’s a uniquely reflective late-career triumph that balances its director’s virtuoso set pieces with a profoundly personal rumination on aging, mortality, and the decisions and regrets that shape a life.

Shutter Island (2010)

In Academy Award-winning director Martin Scorsese’s spine-chilling thriller, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) navigates what appears to be a routine investigation that quickly turns sinister.

Featuring an all-star cast, including Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, and based on the best-selling novel by Dennis Lehane.