Taxi Driver#Interpretations of the ending

In New York City, Vietnam War veteran Travis Bickle takes a job as a night-shift taxi driver to cope with his chronic insomnia and loneliness, frequently visiting adult movie theaters and keeping a diary in which he consciously attempts to include aphorisms such as "you're only as healthy as you feel". He becomes disgusted with the crime and urban decay that he witnesses in the city and dreams about getting "the scum off the streets".

Travis becomes infatuated with Betsy, a campaign volunteer for Senator and presidential candidate Charles Palantine. Travis enters the campaign office where she works and asks her to join him for coffee, to which she agrees. Betsy agrees to go on a second date with him, during which he takes her to an adult movie theater, which she leaves immediately. He attempts to reconcile with her, but fails. Enraged, he storms into the campaign office where she works and berates her before being kicked out of the office.

Experiencing an existential crisis and seeing various acts of prostitution throughout the city, Travis confides in a fellow taxi driver, nicknamed Wizard, about his violent thoughts. However, Wizard dismisses them and assures him that he will be fine. To find an outlet for his rage, Travis follows an intense physical training regimen. He gets in contact with black market gun dealer Easy Andy, and buys four handguns. At home, Travis practices drawing his weapons, going as far as creating a quick-draw firearm hidden in his sleeve. He begins attending Palantine's rallies to scope out his security. One night, Travis shoots and kills a man attempting to rob a convenience store run by a friend.

In his trips around the city, Travis regularly encounters Iris, a 12-year-old child prostitute. Tricking her pimp and abusive lover Sport into thinking that he wants to solicit her, Travis meets with her in private and tries to persuade her to stop prostituting herself.

Soon, Travis shaves his hair into a mohawk and attends a public rally where he plans to assassinate Palantine. However, Secret Service agents see Travis putting his hand inside his jacket and approach him, which escalates to a chase. Travis escapes pursuit and makes it home undetected.

That evening, Travis drives to the brothel where Iris works to kill Sport. He enters the building and shoots Sport and one of Iris's clients, a mafioso. Travis is shot several times but manages to kill the two men. He fights with the bouncer, whom he manages to stab through the hand with his knife and kill with a gunshot to the head. Travis attempts to die by suicide, but has no bullets. Severely injured, he slumps on a couch next to a sobbing Iris. As police respond to the scene, Travis mimics shooting himself in the head with his bloody finger.

Travis goes into a coma due to his injuries, but he is heralded by the press as a heroic vigilante and not prosecuted for the murders. He receives a letter from Iris's parents in Pittsburgh, who thank him and reveal that she is safe and attending school.

After recovering, Travis returns to work, where he encounters Betsy as a fare. Betsy tells him that she followed his story in the newspapers. Travis drops her at home but declines to take her money, driving off with a smile. He becomes agitated after noticing something in his rearview mirror, but continues driving into the night.

{{cast listing|

• Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
• Jodie Foster as Iris Steensma
• Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
• Harvey Keitel as Matthew "Sport" Higgins
• Albert Brooks as Tom
• Leonard Harris as Senator Charles Palantine
• Peter Boyle as "Wizard"

}}

{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67969-TAXI-DRIVER?sid=30ed59b1-ab13-4c35-b0af-5acb732405b1&sr=40.732704&cp=1&pos=0|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog - Taxi Driver|website=catalog.afi.com|access-date=2020-03-14|archive-date=August 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200808044047/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/67969-TAXI-DRIVER?sid=30ed59b1-ab13-4c35-b0af-5acb732405b1&sr=40.732704&cp=1&pos=0|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b7bc1b8 |title=Taxi Driver (1976) |publisher=BFI |access-date=December 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229171911/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b7bc1b8|archive-date=December 29, 2018|url-status=dead}}

Martin Scorsese has stated that it was Brian De Palma who introduced him to Paul Schrader,{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=51}} and Taxi Driver arose from Scorsese's feeling that movies are like dreams or drug-induced reveries. He attempted to evoke within the viewer the feeling of being in a limbo state between sleeping and waking.

Scorsese cites Alfred Hitchcock's The Wrong Man (1956) and Jack Hazan's A Bigger Splash (1973) as inspirations for his camerawork in the movie.{{cite book|last1=Thompson|first1=David|author-link1=David M. Thompson|last2=Christie|first2=Ian|author-link2=Ian Christie (film scholar)|url=https://archive.org/details/scorseseonscorse0000scor|title=Scorsese on Scorsese|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|location=New York City|isbn=0571220029|date=1989|page=63}}

Scorsese also noted that Jef Costello (a solitary hitman), portrayed by Alain Delon in Le Samouraï, inspired the creation of Travis Bickle.{{Cite web |title=Le Samouraï (1967) - Ritz Cinemas |url=https://www.ritzcinemas.com.au/movies/le-samoura-1967 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=www.ritzcinemas.com.au |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Bhuiya |first=Hannah |date=2024-04-23 |title=Sympathy for the Assassin |url=https://www.artforum.com/columns/film-sympathy-for-the-assassin-552703/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Artforum |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Furzan |first=Federico |date=2024-08-18 |title=Legendary French Actor Alain Delon Dies Aged 88 |url=https://movieweb.com/alain-delon-death/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=MovieWeb |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kreps |first=Daniel |date=2024-08-18 |title=Alain Delon, French Actor Who Starred in 'Le Samourai,' Dead at 88 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/alain-delon-french-actor-le-samourai-dead-obituary-1235082472/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=LE SAMOURAÏ – ABCD Film Society |url=https://abfilms.org.uk/screenings/special-event-le-samourai-jan-12th/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2020-07-06 |title=How a French film 'Le Samourai' has been an inspiration to many films |url=https://www.theindianwire.com/entertainment/how-a-french-film-le-samourai-has-been-an-inspiration-to-many-films-276544/ |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=The Indian Wire |language=en-GB}} The role was, in fact, offered to Alain Delon, among many others.{{Cite web |title=Le Samourai: Alain Delon and Jean-Pierre Melville's Masterpiece |url=https://usa.tv5monde.com/en/blog/le-samourai-alain-delon-and-jean-pierre-melville-s-masterpiece-1186384 |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=TV5MONDE États-Unis |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Taxi Driver |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Trivia/TaxiDriver |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=TV Tropes}}

Before Scorsese was hired, John Milius and Irvin Kershner were considered to helm the project.{{cite web |url=https://www.looper.com/1016894/the-untold-truth-of-taxi-driver/ |title=The Untold Truth of Taxi Driver |date=September 20, 2022 |access-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-date=June 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630234622/https://www.looper.com/1016894/the-untold-truth-of-taxi-driver/ |url-status=live}} When writing the script, Schrader drew inspiration from the diaries of Arthur Bremer (who shot presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972), as well as the Harry Chapin song "Taxi", which is about an old girlfriend getting into a taxi.{{Cite journal |last=Thompson |first=Richard |date=March–April 1976 |title=Interview: Paul Schrader |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/article/paul-schrader-richard-thompson-interview/ |journal=Film Comment |pages=6–19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614222918/https://www.filmcomment.com/article/paul-schrader-richard-thompson-interview/ |archive-date=June 14, 2021 |access-date=March 18, 2022}} For the ending of the story, in which Bickle becomes a media hero, Schrader was inspired by Sara Jane Moore's attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford, which resulted in her being on the cover of Newsweek.{{Citation|title=Taxi Driver (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)|type=DVD, Audio Commentary|publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment|date=August 14, 2007}}

Schrader also used himself as inspiration. In a 1981 interview with Tom Snyder on The Tomorrow Show, he related his experience of living in New York City while battling chronic insomnia, which led him to frequent pornographic bookstores and theaters because they remained open all night. Following a divorce and a breakup with a live-in girlfriend, he spent a few weeks living in his car.

After visiting a hospital for a stomach ulcer, Schrader wrote the screenplay for Taxi Driver in "under a fortnight". He stated, "The first draft was maybe 60 pages, and I started the next draft immediately, and it took less than two weeks." Schrader recalled, "I realized I hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks [...] that was when the metaphor of the taxi occurred to me. That is what I was: this person in an iron box, a coffin, floating around the city, but seemingly alone."

Schrader decided to make Bickle a Vietnam vet because the national trauma of the war seemed to blend perfectly with Bickle's paranoid psychosis, making his experiences after the war more intense and threatening."Travis gave punks a hair of aggression." Toronto Star February 12, 2005: H02 Two drafts were written in ten days.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=50}} Pickpocket, a film by the French director Robert Bresson, was also cited as an influence.{{cite web |last=Thurman |first=John |url=http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/37/taxi_driver/ |title=Citizen Bickle, or the Allusive Taxi Driver: Uses of Intertextuality |publisher=Sensesofcinema.com |date=April 5, 1976 |access-date=May 14, 2024 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128221305/http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/37/taxi_driver/ |archive-date=January 28, 2012}}

In Scorsese on Scorsese, Scorsese mentions the religious symbolism in the story, comparing Bickle to a saint who wants to cleanse or purge both his mind and his body of weakness. Bickle attempts to kill himself near the end of the movie as a tribute to the samurai's "death with honor" principle.

Dustin Hoffman was offered the role of Travis Bickle but turned it down because he thought that Scorsese was "crazy".{{cite web |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a81436/hoffman-turned-down-crazy-scorsese/ |title=Hoffman turned down 'crazy' Scorsese |work=Digital Spy |last=Dadds |first=Kimberley |date=December 10, 2017 |access-date=July 29, 2021 |url-status=live |archive-date=July 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210722025603/https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a81436/hoffman-turned-down-crazy-scorsese/ }} Al Pacino and Jeff Bridges were also considered for Travis Bickle.

While preparing for his role as Bickle, De Niro was filming Bernardo Bertolucci's 1900 in Italy. According to Boyle, he would "finish shooting on a Friday in Rome ... get on a plane ... [and] fly to New York". De Niro obtained a taxi driver's license and, when on break, would pick up a taxi and drive around New York for a couple of weeks before returning to Rome to resume filming 1900.

Although Robert De Niro had already starred in The Godfather, Part II (1974), he was recognized only one time while driving a cab in New York City.{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075314/ |title=Taxi Driver |website=IMDb}} De Niro apparently lost 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and was repeatedly listening to a taped reading of the diaries of criminal Arthur Bremer. When he had free time while shooting 1900, De Niro visited an army base in Northern Italy and tape-recorded soldiers from the Midwestern United States, whose accents he thought might be appropriate for Travis's character.Rausch, Andrew J. (2010). The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro. Scarecrow Press. p. 31. {{ISBN|9780810874145}}.

Scorsese brought in the film title designer Dan Perri to design the title sequence for Taxi Driver. Perri had been Scorsese's original choice to design the titles for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore in 1974, but Warner Bros. would not allow him to hire an unknown designer. By the time when Taxi Driver was going into production, Perri had established his reputation with his work on The Exorcist, and Scorsese was now able to hire him.

Perri created the opening titles for Taxi Driver using second unit footage that he color-treated through a process of film copying and slit-scan, resulting in a highly stylized graphic sequence that evoked the "underbelly" of New York City through lurid colors, glowing neon signs, distorted nocturnal images, and deep black levels. Perri went on to design the opening titles for a number of major films, including Star Wars (1977) and Raging Bull (1980).{{cite web|url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|title=Dan Perri: A Career Retrospective|date=March 18, 2017|first=Will|last=Perkins|website=Art of the Title|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215710/https://www.artofthetitle.com/feature/dan-perri-a-career-retrospective/|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/taxi-driver/|title=Taxi Driver|date=September 5, 2011|first=Shaun|last=Mir|website=Art of the Title|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215824/https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/taxi-driver/|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}

Columbia Pictures gave Scorsese a budget of $1.3 million in April 1974.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=51}} On a budget of only $1.9 million, various actors took pay cuts to bring the project to life. De Niro and Cybill Shepherd received $35,000 to make the film, while Scorsese was given $65,000. Overall, $200,000 of the budget was allocated to performers in the movie.{{cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|title=13 Surprising Facts About Taxi Driver On Its 45th Anniversary|date=February 8, 2016|first=Eric|last=D. Snider|website=Mental Floss|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330124400/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}

Taxi Driver was shot during a New York City summer heat wave and sanitation strike in 1975. The film ran into conflict with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) due to its violence. Scorsese de-saturated the colors in the final shootout, which allowed the film to get an R rating. To capture the atmospheric scenes in Bickle's taxi, the sound technicians would get in the trunk while Scorsese and his cinematographer Michael Chapman would ensconce themselves on the back seat floor and use available light to shoot. Chapman admitted that the filming style was heavily influenced by New Wave filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard and his cinematographer Raoul Coutard, as the crew did not have the time nor money to do "traditional things".{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|title='Taxi Driver' Oral History: De Niro, Scorsese, Foster, Schrader Spill All on 40th Anniversary|date=April 7, 2016|first=Gregg|last=Kilday|website=The Hollywood Reporter|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215309/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}

When Bickle decides to assassinate Senator Palantine, he cuts his hair to a mohawk style. This detail was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a friend of Scorsese's who had a small role as a Secret Service agent and had served in Vietnam. Scorsese noted that Magnotta told them that, "in Saigon, if you saw a guy with his head shaved—like a little Mohawk—that usually meant that those people were ready to go into a certain Special Forces situation. You didn't even go near them. They were ready to kill."{{cite book |last=Rausch |first=Andrew J. |author-link=Andrew J. Rausch |title=The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |pages=27–32 |isbn=978-0-8108-7413-8}}

Filming took place on New York City's West Side, at a time when the city was on the brink of bankruptcy. According to producer Michael Phillips, "The whole West Side was bombed out. There really were row after row of condemned buildings and that's what we used to build our sets [...] we didn't know we were documenting what looked like the dying gasp of New York."{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Hilary |title=Tribeca: 'Taxi Driver' Team Recalls Filming in 1970s New York, Current Relevance of Classic |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |url-status=live |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220020/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}

The tracking was shot over the shootout scene, filmed in an actual apartment, and took three months of preparation. The production team had to cut through the ceiling to shoot it.{{cite web |last=Ebiri |first=Bilge |title=Martin Scorsese Remembers Shooting Taxi Driver in New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |website=Vulture |date=April 1, 2015 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220312/https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Taxi Driver: Original Soundtrack Recording

| type = soundtrack

| artist = Bernard Herrmann

| released = May 19, 1998

| recorded = December 22 and 23, 1975{{cite web |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |title=Bernard Hermann |url=http://www.thebeat.com/Music/Artist.aspx?id=86296 |work=CFBT-FM |access-date=March 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317032141/http://www.thebeat.com/Music/Artist.aspx?id=86296 |archive-date=March 17, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Soundtrack

| length = 61:33

| label = Arista

| producer = Michael Phillips, Neely Plumb

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title =

| next_year =

}}

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web |title=Taxi Driver [Original Soundtrack] |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/taxi-driver-original-soundtrack-mw0000194003|access-date=October 27, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116181929/http://www.allmusic.com/album/taxi-driver-original-soundtrack-mw0000194003|archive-date=November 16, 2016|url-status=live}}

| rev2 =

| rev2Score =

}}

Bernard Herrmann previously scored De Palma's Obsession, and De Palma introduced Herrmann to Scorsese.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=57}} The music by Herrmann was his final score before his death on December 24, 1975, several hours after Herrmann completed the recording for the soundtrack, and the film is dedicated to his memory. Scorsese, a longtime admirer of Herrmann, had particularly wanted him to compose the score; Herrmann was his "first and only choice". Scorsese considered Herrmann's score of great importance to the success of the film: "It supplied the psychological basis throughout."{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Steven C. |title=A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann |date=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley |isbn=0-520-22939-8 |pages=350–352 |edition=2002 reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-1mUcGRpt0EC&pg=PA352 |access-date=11 February 2022 |archive-date=March 31, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331162706/https://books.google.com/books?id=-1mUcGRpt0EC&pg=PA352#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }} The album The Silver Tongued Devil and I from Kris Kristofferson was used in the film, following Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), in which Kristofferson played a supporting role.{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/week-27-kris-kristofferson-silver-tongued-devil-1798219060|title=Week 27: Kris Kristofferson, Silver-Tongued Devil|date=February 9, 2010|first=Nathan|last=Rabin|website=The A.V. Club|access-date=April 27, 2021|archive-date=April 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427184619/https://music.avclub.com/week-27-kris-kristofferson-silver-tongued-devil-1798219060|url-status=live}} Jackson Browne's "Late for the Sky" is also featured.

Some critics showed concern over 12-year-old Foster's presence during the climactic shoot-out.{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/04/jodie-foster-taxi-driver-robert-de-niro-martin-scorsese/amp|title=Jodie Foster recalls working with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in Taxi Driver as a Kid|work=Vanity Fair|author-first1=Julie|author-last1=Miller|date=April 7, 2016 |access-date=November 17, 2020|archive-date=January 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116214823/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/04/jodie-foster-taxi-driver-robert-de-niro-martin-scorsese/amp|url-status=live}} Foster said that she was present during the setup and staging of the special effects used during the scene; the entire process was explained and demonstrated for her, step by step. Moreover, Foster said that she was fascinated and entertained by the behind-the-scenes preparation that went into the scene.

In addition, before being given the part, Foster was subjected to psychological testing, attending sessions with a UCLA psychiatrist, to ensure that she would not be emotionally scarred by her role, in accordance with California Labor Board requirements monitoring children's welfare on film sets.{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jodie-foster-details-how-uncomfortable-it-was-playing-a-prostitute-aged-12-in-taxi-driver-a7040016.html |title=Jodie Foster details how 'uncomfortable' it was playing a prostitute aged 12 in Taxi Driver |author-first1=Christopher|author-last1=Hooton|website=The Independent |date=May 20, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226052352/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/jodie-foster-details-how-uncomfortable-it-was-playing-a-prostitute-aged-12-in-taxi-driver-a7040016.html|archive-date=February 26, 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite book |title=Martin Scorsese |last=Keyser |first=Les |year= 1992|isbn=0-8057-9315-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/martinscorsese0000keys |page=94|publisher=Twayne }}

Additional concerns surrounding Foster's age focused on the role that she played as Iris, a prostitute. Years later, she confessed how uncomfortable the treatment of her character was on set. Scorsese did not know how to approach different scenes with the actress. The director relied on Robert De Niro to deliver his directions to the young actress. Foster often expressed how De Niro, in that moment, became a mentor to her, stating that her acting career was highly influenced by the actor's advice during the filming of Taxi Driver.{{Cite interview |url=https://www.wmagazine.com/story/forty-years-after-taxi-driver-and-her-first-oscar-nomination-jodie-foster-recalls-the-making-of-a-classic |title=Forty Years After "Taxi Driver," Jodie Foster Recalls the Making of a Classic |date=September 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035125/https://www.wmagazine.com/story/forty-years-after-taxi-driver-and-her-first-oscar-nomination-jodie-foster-recalls-the-making-of-a-classic|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live|interviewer-first1=Lynn|interviewer-last1=Hirschberg|author-last1=Foster|author-first1=Jodie|website=W}}

Taxi Driver formed part of the delusional fantasy of John Hinckley Jr.{{Cite book |title=Scorsese: a journey through the American psyche |year=2005 |isbn=0-85965-355-2 |last1=Woods |first1=Paul A. |publisher=Plexus }} that triggered his attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, an act for which he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/06/22/hinckley-found-not-guilty-insane/939fafa6-9441-4579-bb04-39da0d287e2d/ |title=Hinckley Found Not Guilty, Insane |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405135856/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/06/22/hinckley-found-not-guilty-insane/939fafa6-9441-4579-bb04-39da0d287e2d/|archive-date=April 5, 2019|url-status=live}} Hinckley stated that his actions were an attempt to impress Foster, on whom Hinckley was fixated, by mimicking Travis's mohawked appearance at the Palantine rally. His attorney concluded his defense by playing the movie for the jury.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/05/29/hinckley-jury-watch-taxi-driver-film/783cde2f-1eea-4ec5-a36f-5ccf5d2a290f/?noredirect=on |title=Hinckley, Jury Watch 'Taxi Driver' Film |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114035634/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/05/29/hinckley-jury-watch-taxi-driver-film/783cde2f-1eea-4ec5-a36f-5ccf5d2a290f/?noredirect=on |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.theexpertinstitute.com/the-trial-of-john-hinckley-jr-and-its-impact-on-expert-testimony/ |title=The Trial of John Hinckley Jr. and Its Impact on Expert Testimony |newspaper=Expert Institute |date=August 9, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215828/https://www.theexpertinstitute.com/the-trial-of-john-hinckley-jr-and-its-impact-on-expert-testimony/|archive-date=February 15, 2019|url-status=live|last1=j. d |first1=Anjelica Cappellino }} When Scorsese heard about Hinckley's motivation behind his assassination attempt, he briefly considered quitting filmmaking as the association brought a negative perception of the film.{{Cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/taxi-driver-remains-one-of-the-best-and-most-troubling-1798265454 |title=Taxi Driver remains one of the best (and most troubling) of Palme winners |website=The A.V. Club |date=January 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035253/https://film.avclub.com/taxi-driver-remains-one-of-the-best-and-most-troubling-1798265454|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live}}

The climactic shootout was considered intensely graphic by some critics, who considered giving the film an X rating.{{Cite book |title=Taxi Driver |last=Taubin |first=Amy |date=March 28, 2000 |publisher=British Film Institute |isbn=0-85170-393-3 }} The film was booed at the Cannes Film Festival for its graphic violence.{{cite web|title=At Cannes, Le Booing Isn't Just Reserved for Bad Films|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/movies/cannes-film-festival-2017-boos-bad-films.html|work=The New York Times|date=August 17, 2017|access-date=January 6, 2020|archive-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206082821/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/movies/cannes-film-festival-2017-boos-bad-films.html|url-status=live}} To obtain an R rating, Scorsese had the colors desaturated, making the brightly colored blood less prominent. In subsequent interviews, Scorsese commented that he was pleased by the color change, and considered it an improvement on the original scene.{{Cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032 |title='Taxi Driver' Oral History: De Niro, Scorsese, Foster, Schrader Spill All on 40th Anniversary |website=The Hollywood Reporter |date=April 7, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130022513/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|archive-date=November 30, 2018|url-status=live}} However, in the special-edition DVD, Michael Chapman, the film's cinematographer, expresses regret about the decision and the fact that no print with the unmuted colors exists anymore, as the originals have since deteriorated.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times has written of the film's ending:

{{blockquote|There has been much discussion about the ending, in which we see newspaper clippings about Travis's "heroism" of saving Iris, and then Betsy gets into his cab and seems to give him admiration instead of her earlier disgust. Is this a fantasy scene? Did Travis survive the shoot-out? Are we experiencing his dying thoughts? Can the sequence be accepted as literally true? ... I am not sure there can be an answer to these questions. The end sequence plays like music, not drama: It completes the story on an emotional, not a literal, level. We end not on carnage but on redemption, which is the goal of so many of Scorsese's characters. They despise themselves, they live in sin, they occupy mean streets, but they want to be forgiven and admired.[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-taxi-driver-1976 Great Movie: Taxi Driver] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009203614/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-taxi-driver-1976 |date=October 9, 2016 }} RogerEbert.com January 1, 2004. Retrieved October 18, 2016.}}

James Berardinelli, in his review of the film for ReelViews, argues against the dream or fantasy interpretation, stating:

{{blockquote|Scorsese and writer Paul Schrader append the perfect conclusion to Taxi Driver. Steeped in irony, the five-minute epilogue underscores the vagaries of fate. The media builds Bickle into a hero, when, had he been a little quicker drawing his gun against Senator Palantine, he would have been reviled as an assassin. As the film closes, the misanthrope has been embraced as the model citizen—someone who takes on pimps, drug dealers, and mobsters to save one little girl.{{cite web |url=http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/t/taxi.html |title=ReelViews Movie Review |publisher=Reelviews.net |access-date=April 4, 2012 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114035621/https://preview.reelviews.net/movies/t/taxi.html |url-status=live }}}}

On the 1990 LaserDisc, DVD and Blu-ray, Scorsese acknowledges several critics' interpretation of the film's ending as Bickle's dying dream. He admits that the last scene of Bickle glancing at an unseen object implies that Bickle will fall into rage and recklessness in the future and that he is like "a ticking time bomb".Taxi Driver LaserDisc commentary

Writer Paul Schrader confirms this in his commentary on the 30th-anniversary DVD, stating that Travis "is not cured by the movie's end", and that "he's not going to be a hero next time".Taxi Driver audio commentary with Paul Schrader When asked on the website Reddit about the film's ending, Schrader said that it is not to be taken as a dream sequence but that he envisions it as returning to the beginning of the film, as if the last frame "could be spliced to the first frame, and the movie started all over again".{{cite web |last=Schrader |first=Paul |title=I am Paul Schrader, writer of Taxi Driver, writer/director of American Gigolo and director of The Canyons. AMA! |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jr8ai/i_am_paul_schrader_writer_of_taxi_driver/cbhhlz9 |website=Reddit |date=August 5, 2013 |access-date=August 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140131034455/http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1jr8ai/i_am_paul_schrader_writer_of_taxi_driver/cbhhlz9|archive-date=January 31, 2014|url-status=live}}

The film has also been associated with the 1970s wave of vigilante films, but it has also been set apart from them as a more reputable New Hollywood film. While it shares similarities with those films,{{cite news |last=Lim |first=Dennis |date=October 19, 2009 |title=Vigilante films, an American tradition |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-oct-19-et-vigilante19-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208052119/http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/19/entertainment/et-vigilante19 |archive-date=December 8, 2015}} it is not explicitly a vigilante film and does not belong to that particular wave of cinema.{{cite journal |last1=Novak |first1=Glenn D. |title=Social Ills and the One-Man Solution: Depictions of Evil in the Vigilante Film |date=November 1987 |volume=International Conference on the Expressions of Evil in Literature and the Visual Arts |url=http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED301896.pdf |access-date=December 6, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002914/http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED301896.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=live}}

The film can be seen as a spiritual successor to The Searchers, according to Roger Ebert. Both films focus on a solitary war veteran who tries to save a young girl who is resistant to his efforts. The main characters in both movies are portrayed as being disconnected from society and incapable of forming normal relationships with others. Although it is unclear whether Paul Schrader sought inspiration from The Searchers specifically, the similarities between the two films are evident.{{Cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-taxi-driver-1976 |title=Taxi Driver Movie Review & Film Summary (1976) {{!}} Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|website=www.rogerebert.com|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230080324/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-taxi-driver-1976|archive-date=December 30, 2018|url-status=live}}

The film has been labeled as "neo-noir" by some critics,{{cite web |last1=Dirks |first1=Tim |title=Film site Movie Review: Taxi Driver (1976) |url=http://www.filmsite.org/taxi.html |website=filmsite.org |publisher=AMC |access-date=May 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419070337/http://www.filmsite.org/taxi.html|archive-date=April 19, 2015|url-status=live}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRCgRGFV0ycC&q=taxi+driver+%22neo+noir%22&pg=PA33 |title=Neo-noir: The New Film Noir Style from Psycho to Collateral |last1=Schwartz |first1=Ronald |date=January 1, 2005 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=33 |isbn=9780810856769 |access-date=May 2, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203201450/https://books.google.com/books?id=VRCgRGFV0ycC&pg=PA33&lpg=PA33&dq=taxi+driver+%22neo+noir%22&source=bl&ots=XCarly2AG0&sig=mO0IkjUAC02xBA3aCTvubIh4gCI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KkdFVcKXIpK1sATVg4CIDg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=taxi%20driver%20%22neo%20noir%22&f=false|archive-date=December 3, 2015|url-status=live}} while others have referred to it as an antihero film.{{cite AV media |people=Bouzereau, Laurent (Writer, Director, and Producer) |date=1999 |title=Making Taxi Driver |medium=Television production |minutes=102 |location=United States |publisher=Columbia TriStar Home Video |quote=The best movies that I know of are the seventies', precisely because I think people were really ... interested by the antihero, which has pretty much gone away now. ... I do think that it would be a movie that it would be very difficult to finance nowadays.}}{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3569346.stm |work=BBC News |title=De Niro takes anti-hero honours |date=August 16, 2004 |access-date=November 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114041135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3569346.stm |archive-date=November 14, 2017 |url-status=live}} When shown on television, the ending credits feature a black screen with a disclaimer mentioning that "the distinction between hero and villain is sometimes a matter of interpretation or misinterpretation of facts". This disclaimer was thought to have been added after the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981, but, in fact, it had been mentioned in a review of the film as early as 1979. LA Weekly, Letterboxd and Yardbarker list this movie as belonging to the vetsploitation subgenre.{{cite web |url=https://www.laweekly.com/10-vetsploitation-movies-to-watch-over-memorial-day-weekend/ |title=10 VETSPLOITATION MOVIES TO WATCH OVER MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND |last=Sweeney |first=Sean |date=May 25, 2018 |website=LA Weekly |publisher=Semanal Media LLC |access-date=February 4, 2024 |archive-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309191436/https://www.laweekly.com/10-vetsploitation-movies-to-watch-over-memorial-day-weekend/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://letterboxd.com/jarrettduncan/list/vetsploitation/ |title=Vetsploitation. List by Jarrett. |date=2018 |website=Letterboxd |access-date=February 17, 2024 |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204213704/https://letterboxd.com/jarrettduncan/list/vetsploitation/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/vietnam_war_movies_ranked/s1__32160941#slide_15 |title=Vietnam War movies, ranked. 11. "Rolling Thunder" |last=Smith |first=Jeremy |date=June 10, 2020 |website=Yardbarker |access-date=February 29, 2024 |quote=Vetsploitation was a viable Hollywood genre in the late ‘70s and throughout much of the ‘80s. “First Blood," “The Exterminator," “Thou Shalt Not Kill… Except”… even “Taxi Driver” to a degree. |archive-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309191436/https://www.yardbarker.com/entertainment/articles/vietnam_war_movies_ranked/s1__32160941#slide_15 |url-status=live }}

The film opened at the Coronet Theater in New York City and grossed a house record of $68,000 in its first week.{{cite magazine|title=Taxi Driver Is Sensational|magazine=Variety|date=February 18, 1976| page=24}} It went on to gross $28.3 million in the United States,[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taxidriver.htm Taxi Driver] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203195541/http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=taxidriver.htm |date=February 3, 2007 }}, Box Office Mojo Internet Movie Database. Retrieved March 31, 2007 making it the 17th-highest-grossing film of 1976.

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| footer = The performances of Robert De Niro and Jodie Foster garnered universal critical acclaim, earning them Academy Award nominations for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress, respectively.

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Taxi Driver received universal critical acclaim. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times instantly praised it as one of the greatest films he had ever seen, claiming:

Taxi Driver is a hell, from the opening shot of a cab emerging from stygian clouds of steam to the climactic killing scene in which the camera finally looks straight down. Scorsese wanted to look away from Travis's rejection; we almost want to look away from his life. But he's there, all right, and he's suffering.{{cite news |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taxi-driver-1976 |work=Chicago Sun-Times |title=Taxi Driver | access-date=October 18, 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925233419/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taxi-driver-1976 | archive-date=September 25, 2016 | url-status=live}}

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 162 reviews and an average rating of 9.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best."{{cite Rotten Tomatoes|id=taxi_driver|type=m|title=Taxi Driver|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081001002501/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taxi_driver/|archive-date=October 1, 2008|url-status=live|access-date=March 22, 2025}} Metacritic gives the film a score of 94 out of 100, based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "universal" acclaim".{{cite Metacritic|id=taxi-driver-re-release|type=movie|title=Taxi Driver|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311011258/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/taxi-driver-re-release|archive-date=March 11, 2016|url-status=live|access-date=February 1, 2021}}

Taxi Driver was ranked by the American Film Institute as the 52nd-greatest American film on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) list, and Bickle was voted the 30th-greatest villain in a poll by the same organization. The Village Voice ranked Taxi Driver at number 33 in its Top 250 "Best Films of the Century" list in 1999, based on a poll of critics.{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10 |title=Take One: The First Annual Village Voice Film Critics' Poll |access-date=27 July 2006 |year=1999 |work=The Village Voice |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070826201343/http://www.villagevoice.com/specials/take/one/full_list.php3?category=10 |archive-date=26 August 2007}} Empire also ranked him 18th in its "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll,{{cite news |title=The 100 Greatest Movie Characters |work=Empire |url=https://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=18 |access-date=December 2, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111107045525/http://www.empireonline.com/100-greatest-movie-characters/default.asp?c=18 | archive-date=November 7, 2011 | url-status=live}} and the film ranks at 17 on the magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.{{cite web |work=Empire |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/500-greatest-movies/ |date=October 3, 2008 |title=The 500 Greatest Movies Of All Time|access-date=April 9, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822120854/http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/500-greatest-movies/|archive-date=August 22, 2016|url-status=live}}

Time Out magazine conducted a poll of the 100 greatest movies set in New York City. Taxi Driver topped the list.{{cite web |title=The 101 best New York movies of all time |date=June 17, 2016 |work=Time Out |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/new-york-movies-100-best#tab_panel_10|access-date=May 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527122000/http://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/new-york-movies-100-best#tab_panel_10|archive-date=May 27, 2016|url-status=live}} Schrader's screenplay was ranked the 43rd-greatest ever written by the Writers Guild of America.{{cite news|url=http://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays/list|title=101 Greatest Screenplays|publisher=Writers Guild of America|access-date=March 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206081937/http://www.wga.org/writers-room/101-best-lists/101-greatest-screenplays/list|archive-date=February 6, 2017|url-status=bot: unknown}} Taxi Driver was also ranked as the 44th best-directed film of all time by the Directors Guild of America.[https://www.dga.org/craft/dgaq/all-articles/1602-spring-2016/80th-film-poll.aspx The 80 Best-Directed Films] Directors Guild of America. Retrieved April 12, 2024. In contrast, Leonard Maltin gave a rating of 2 stars (out of 4) and called it a "gory, cold-blooded story of a sick man's lurid descent into violence" that was "ugly and unredeeming".{{cite book |last1=Maltin |first1=Leonard |title=Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide The Modern Era |year=2013 |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Group |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780451418104/page/1385 1385] |isbn=978-0-451-41810-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780451418104/page/1385 }}

In 2012, in a Sight & Sound poll, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi selected Taxi Driver as one of his 10 best films of all time.{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/1204|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517140210/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/sightandsoundpoll2012/voter/1204|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 17, 2016|title= Asghar Farhadi's Top 10 Director's Poll|website= British Film Institute|access-date= 27 May 2020}} Quentin Tarantino has also listed the movie among his 10 greatest films of all time.{{cite web |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/quentin-tarantino-handwritten-list-11-greatest-films-of-all-time/ |title=Quentin Tarantino's handwritten list of the 11 greatest films of all time |publisher=Far Out Magazine |access-date=October 15, 2022 |archive-date=December 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231223223/https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/quentin-tarantino-handwritten-list-11-greatest-films-of-all-time/ |url-status=dead }}

The February 2020 issue of New York magazine lists Taxi Driver as among "The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars".{{cite news|title=The Best Movies That Lost Best Picture at the Oscars|url=https://www.vulture.com/article/best-oscar-best-picture-losers.html|magazine=New York Magazine|access-date=March 17, 2025}}

{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}

• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (1998) – #47
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills (2001) – #22
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains (2003)
• Travis Bickle – #30 Villain
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes (2005)
• "You talkin' to me?" – #10
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (2005) – Nominated[https://web.archive.org/web/20110313150632/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/scores250.pdf AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores: Honoring America’s Greatest Film Music, Official Ballot] American Film Institute via Internet Archive. Retrieved June 10, 2024.
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) (2007) – #52

• National Film Registry – Inducted in 1994{{Cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |website=Library of Congress|access-date=2020-02-27|archive-date=October 31, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161031213743/https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|url-status=live}}
• The film was chosen by Time as one of the 100 best films of all time.{{cite news |last=Schickel |first=Richard |url=http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html |title=The Complete List – ALL-TIME 100 Movies |magazine=Time |date=January 23, 2012 |access-date=April 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070314020006/http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html |archive-date=March 14, 2007 |url-status=dead}}
• In 2015, Taxi Driver ranked 19th on BBC's "100 Greatest American Films" list, voted on by film critics from around the world.{{cite web|date=July 20, 2015|title=100 Greatest American Films|url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916105535/http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150720-the-100-greatest-american-films|archive-date=September 16, 2016|access-date=July 21, 2015|work=BBC}}

Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, Light Sleeper and The Walker make up a series referred to variously as the "Man in a Room" or "Night Worker" films. Screenwriter Paul Schrader (who directed the latter three films) has said that he considers the central characters of the four films to be one character who has changed as he has aged.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/filmprogramme/rams/filmprogramme_20070810.ram Interview with Paul Schrader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080628122651/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts/filmprogramme/rams/filmprogramme_20070810.ram |date=June 28, 2008 }}, BBC Radio 4's Film Programme, August 10, 2007{{cite web |url=http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/fall1992/movie_high.php |title=Filmmaker Magazine, Fall 1992 |publisher=Filmmakermagazine.com |access-date=April 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100201221804/http://filmmakermagazine.com/fall1992/movie_high.php |archive-date=February 1, 2010 |url-status=live}} The film also influenced the Charles Winkler film You Talkin' to Me?{{cite web |last=James |first=Caryn |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/55921/You-Talkin-to-Me-/overview |title=New York Times film overview |access-date=April 4, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103145928/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/55921/You-Talkin-to-Me-/overview |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=The New York Times |date=2012 |url-status=dead}} In addition, a tie-in book was published.{{cite book |last1=Elman |first1=Richard |author1-link=Richard Elman (writer) |title=Taxi Driver: Based on an original screenplay written by Paul Shrader |date=1976 |publisher=Bantam Books |language=en |isbn=0552101281}}

Although Meryl Streep had not aspired to become a film actor, De Niro's performance in Taxi Driver had a profound impact on her. She said to herself, "That's the kind of actor I want to be when I grow up."{{cite book|last=Longworth|first=Karina|title=Meryl Streep: Anatomy of an Actor|pages=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dJv1mwEACAAJ|date=2013|publisher=Phaidon Press|isbn=978-0-7148-6669-7|access-date=November 6, 2023|archive-date=February 9, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209235655/https://books.google.com/books?id=dJv1mwEACAAJ|url-status=live}}

The 1994 portrayal of psychopath Albie Kinsella by Robert Carlyle in British television series Cracker was in part inspired by Travis Bickle, and Carlyle's performance has frequently been compared to De Niro's as a result.{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/aug/13/features.weekend |title=To be and to pretend |work=The Guardian |first=Alastair |last=McKay |date=13 August 2005 |access-date=June 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618235218/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/aug/13/features.weekend |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/pain-with-no-jokes-taken-out-1601234.html|title=Pain, with no jokes taken out|date=September 16, 1995|website=The Independent|access-date=October 13, 2019|archive-date=October 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191013110206/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/pain-with-no-jokes-taken-out-1601234.html|url-status=live}}

In the 2012 film Seven Psychopaths, psychotic Los Angeles actor Billy Bickle (Sam Rockwell) believes himself to be the illegitimate son of Travis Bickle.{{cite web |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9708210/Sam-Rockwell-Hollywoods-odd-man-out.html |title=Sam Rockwell: Hollywood's odd man out |last=Shone |first=Tom |author-link=Tom Shone |date=December 3, 2012 |access-date=August 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812040150/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/9708210/Sam-Rockwell-Hollywoods-odd-man-out.html|archive-date=August 12, 2014|url-status=live}}

The vigilante ending inspired Jacques Audiard for his 2015 {{lang|fr|Palme d'Or|italic=no}}-winning film Dheepan. The French director based the eponymous Tamil Tiger character on the one played by Robert De Niro to make him a "real movie hero".{{cite web |last=Trio |first=Lieven |title=Jacques Audiard dévoile 'Dheepan', sa palme d'or |url=http://fr.metrotime.be/2015/08/25/interview/jacques-audiard-devoile-dheepan-sa-palme-dor/ |work=Metro |date=August 25, 2015 |access-date=August 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150826005101/http://fr.metrotime.be/2015/08/25/interview/jacques-audiard-devoile-dheepan-sa-palme-dor/|archive-date=August 26, 2015|url-status=live}} The script of Joker by Todd Phillips also draws inspiration from Taxi Driver.{{Cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/robert-de-niro-joker-king-of-comedy-1202055636/ |title='Joker': Robert De Niro Addresses the Connection Between His Character and 'King of Comedy' |last=Kohn |first=Eric |date=April 3, 2019 |website=IndieWire |language=en|access-date=August 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403201154/https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/robert-de-niro-joker-king-of-comedy-1202055636/|archive-date=April 3, 2019|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |url=https://deadline.com/2017/08/the-joker-origin-movie-todd-phillips-martin-scorsese-scott-silver-batman-dc-universe-1202154053/ |title=The Joker Origin Story On Deck: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Martin Scorsese Aboard WB/DC Film |last=Fleming |first=Mike Jr. |date=August 22, 2017 |access-date=August 23, 2017 |website=Deadline Hollywood |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823003817/http://deadline.com/2017/08/the-joker-origin-movie-todd-phillips-martin-scorsese-scott-silver-batman-dc-universe-1202154053/ |archive-date=August 23, 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |title=The Making of Joker |journal=Closer Magazine Movie Special Edition |date=2019 |volume=19 |issue=65 |pages=8–19 |publisher=American Media, Inc. |issn=1537-663X}}

De Niro's "You talkin' to me?" segment has become a pop culture mainstay. In 2005, it was ranked number 10 on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.

In the relevant scene, the deranged Bickle is looking at himself in a mirror, imagining a confrontation that would give him a chance to draw his gun:

You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?

While Scorsese said that he drew inspiration from John Huston's 1967 movie Reflections in a Golden Eye, from a scene in which Marlon Brando's character is facing the mirror.{{cite book |title=Taxi Driver |last=Taubin |first=Amy |publisher=BFI Publishing |year=2000 |isbn=0-85170-393-3 |location=London}} Screenwriter Paul Schrader said that De Niro improvised the dialogue, and that his performance was inspired by "an underground New York comedian" whom he had once seen, possibly including his signature line.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/15/archives/film-view-scorseses-disturbing-taxi-driver.html |title=Scorsese's Disturbing 'Taxi Driver' |last=Canby |first=Vincent |author-link=Vincent Canby |date=February 15, 1976 |work=The New York Times|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190901073800/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/02/15/archives/film-view-scorseses-disturbing-taxi-driver.html|archive-date=September 1, 2019|url-status=live}}

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said of the latter part of the phrase, "I'm the only one here", that it was "the truest line in the film.... Travis Bickle's desperate need to make some kind of contact somehow—to share or mimic the effortless social interaction he sees all around him, but does not participate in."{{cite web |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taxi-driver-20th-anniversary-edition-1996 |title=Taxi Driver: 20th Anniversary Edition |last=Ebert |first=Roger|author-link=Roger Ebert |date=March 1, 1996 |website=RogerEbert.com|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216094123/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/taxi-driver-20th-anniversary-edition-1996|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live}}

In his 2009 memoir, saxophonist Clarence Clemons said that De Niro explained the line's origins during the production of New York, New York (1977), with the actor seeing Bruce Springsteen say the line onstage at a concert.{{cite book |title=Big Man: Real Life & Tall Tales |last=Clemons |first=Clarence |author-link=Clarence Clemons |publisher=Sphere |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7515-4346-9}} In the 2000 film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, De Niro would repeat the monologue with some alterations in the role of the character Fearless Leader.{{cite web|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/robert-de-niros-best-worst-and-craziest-performances-165878/ugly-the-adventures-of-rocky-bullwinkle-2000-157731/|title=Robert De Niro's Best, Worst and Craziest Performances|publisher=rollingstone.com|date=September 24, 2015|access-date=February 28, 2020|archive-date=February 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228231628/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-lists/robert-de-niros-best-worst-and-craziest-performances-165878/ugly-the-adventures-of-rocky-bullwinkle-2000-157731/|url-status=live}}

The first "Collector's Edition" DVD, which was released in 1999, is packaged as a single-disc edition. It contains special features such as behind-the-scenes footage and several trailers, including one for Taxi Driver.

In 2006, a 30th-anniversary two-disc "Collector's Edition" DVD was released. The first disc contains the film, two audio commentaries (one by writer Schrader and one by Professor Robert Kolker) and trailers. This edition also includes some of the special features from the earlier release on the second disc, as well as some newly produced documentary material.{{Citation |title=Taxi Driver |date=August 14, 2007 |url=https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000R8YC18/dvdbeaver-20 |publisher=Sony Pictures Home Entertainment |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114035620/https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000R8YC18/dvdbeaver-20 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/taxi-driver-collectors-edition-1798202921 |last=Tobias |first=Scott |title=Taxi Driver: Collector's Edition |date=August 11, 2007 |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=May 11, 2022 |archive-date=May 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512031033/https://www.avclub.com/taxi-driver-collectors-edition-1798202921 |url-status=live }}

To commemorate the film's 35th anniversary, a Blu-ray was released on April 5, 2011. It includes the special features from the previous two-disc collector's edition, plus an audio commentary by Scorsese that was released in 1991 for the Criterion Collection, which was previously released on LaserDisc.{{Citation |title=Taxi Driver Blu-ray |url=https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Taxi-Driver-Blu-ray/21622/|access-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035149/https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Taxi-Driver-Blu-ray/21622/|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live}}

As part of the Blu-ray production, Sony gave the film a full 4K digital restoration, which includes scanning and cleaning the original negative (removing emulsion dirt and scratches). Colors were matched to director-approved prints under guidance from Scorsese and director of photography Michael Chapman.

An all-new lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack was also created from the original stereo recordings by Scorsese's personal sound team.{{cite web |title=Home Cinema @ The Digital Fix – Taxi Driver 35th AE (US BD) in April |url=http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk/content/id/73600/taxi-driver-35th-ae-us-bd-in-april.html |publisher=Homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk |access-date=July 23, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110219010032/http://homecinema.thedigitalfix.co.uk/content/id/73600/taxi-driver-35th-ae-us-bd-in-april.html |archive-date=February 19, 2011 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://social.entertainment.msn.com/movies/blogs/the-hitlist-blogpost.aspx?post=c2f22215-59e9-4fee-8ff8-de9b684b8a65 |title=From Berlin: 4K 'Taxi Driver' World Premiere |publisher=MSN|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714123549/http://social.entertainment.msn.com/movies/blogs/the-hitlist-blogpost.aspx?post=c2f22215-59e9-4fee-8ff8-de9b684b8a65 |archive-date=July 14, 2011}} The restored print premiered in February 2011 at the Berlin Film Festival. To promote the Blu-ray release, Sony had the print screened at AMC Theatres across the United States on March 19 and 22.{{cite web |last=Meza |first=Ed |url=https://variety.com/2011/biz/news/restored-taxi-driver-to-preem-in-berlin-1118031008/ |title=Restored 'Taxi Driver' to preem in Berlin |date=January 27, 2011 |website=Variety|access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215626/https://variety.com/2011/biz/news/restored-taxi-driver-to-preem-in-berlin-1118031008/|archive-date=February 15, 2019 |url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=http://www.parkcircus.com/latest/P1208-Berlinale%202011:%20Taxi%20Driver |title=Berlinale 2011: Taxi Driver |website=Park Circus |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216094131/https://www.parkcircus.com/latest/P1208-Berlinale%202011:%20Taxi%20Driver|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web |url=https://www.firstshowing.net/2011/scorseses-taxi-driver-returning-to-amc-theatres-for-two-nights/ |title=Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' is Returning to AMC Theatres for Two Days |website=FirstShowing.net |date=March 3, 2011 |access-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035308/https://www.firstshowing.net/2011/scorseses-taxi-driver-returning-to-amc-theatres-for-two-nights/|archive-date=February 16, 2019|url-status=live}}

In late January 2005, De Niro and Scorsese announced a sequel.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/feb/02/news.xanbrooks |title=Scorsese and De Niro plan Taxi Driver sequel |work=The Guardian |date=February 5, 2005 |access-date=February 24, 2010 |location=London |first=Xan |last=Brooks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715003107/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2005/feb/02/news.xanbrooks |archive-date=July 15, 2014 |url-status=live}} At a 25th-anniversary screening of Raging Bull, De Niro talked about the development of a story featuring an older Travis Bickle. In 2000, De Niro expressed interest in returning to the character in a conversation with Actors Studio host James Lipton.{{cite web |last=Saravia |first=Jerry |url=http://www.geocities.com/faustus_08520/taxidriver2.html |title=Taxi Driver 2: Bringing Out Travis |publisher=faustus |access-date=February 24, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091027025319/http://www.geocities.com/faustus_08520/taxidriver2.html |archive-date=October 27, 2009}} In November 2013, he revealed that Schrader had written a first draft, but both he and Scorsese thought that it was not good enough to proceed.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/14/robert-de-niro-travis-bickle-taxi-driver |title=Robert De Niro: 'I'd like to see where Travis Bickle is today' |work=The Guardian |date=November 14, 2013 |access-date=December 28, 2014 |location=London |first=Xan |last=Brooks |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141124024134/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/14/robert-de-niro-travis-bickle-taxi-driver |archive-date=November 24, 2014 |url-status=live}}

Schrader disputed this in a 2024 interview, saying, "Robert is the one who wanted to do that. He asked Marty and I. [...] So he pressed Marty on it and Marty asked me and I said, 'Marty, that's the worst fucking idea I've ever heard.' He said, 'Yeah, but you tell him. Let's have dinner.' So we had dinner at Bob's restaurant and Bob was talking about it. I said, 'Wow, that's the worst fucking idea I've ever heard. That character dies at the end of that movie or dies shortly thereafter. He's gone. Oh, but maybe there is a version of him that I could do. Maybe he became Ted Kaczynski and maybe he's in a cabin somewhere and just sitting there, making letter bombs. Now, that would be cool. That would be a nice Travis. He doesn't have a cab anymore. He just sits there [laughs] making letter bombs.' But Bob didn't cotton to that idea, either."{{cite news|url = https://www.indiewire.com/features/interviews/paul-schrader-oh-canada-quentin-tarantino-the-movie-critic-interview-1235006283/|title = Paul Schrader on 'Oh, Canada,' Tarantino's 'The Movie Critic,' and the 'Worst F**king Idea' of a 'Taxi Driver' Sequel |last = Newman|first = Nick|work = Indiewire|date = 20 May 2024}}

In 2010, Variety reported rumors that Lars von Trier, Scorsese and De Niro planned to work on a remake of the film with the same restrictions used in The Five Obstructions.{{cite web |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35923/lars-von-trier-robert-deniro-and-martin-scorsese-collaborating-new-taxi-driver |author=Steve Barton |date=February 16, 2010 |title=Lars von Trier, Robert De Niro, and Martin Scorsese Collaborating on New Taxi Driver |website=Dread Central |access-date=February 24, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217185334/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35923/lars-von-trier-robert-deniro-and-martin-scorsese-collaborating-new-taxi-driver|archive-date=February 17, 2010|url-status=live}} However, in 2014, Paul Schrader said that the remake was not being made. He commented, "It was a terrible idea," and "in Marty's mind, it never was something that should be done".{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/article/taxi-driver-will-not-be-remade-by-lars-von-trier-i-201262 |first=Dan |last=Selcke |date=February 19, 2014 |title=Taxi Driver will not be remade by Lars Von Trier, if anyone was worried |website=The A.V. Club |access-date=July 8, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818075005/http://www.avclub.com/article/taxi-driver-will-not-be-remade-by-lars-von-trier-i-201262|archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=live}}

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