Top 20 Robert De Niro Movies of All Time

Five decades of one of cinema's most committed performers, from coiled street menace to mob-boss gravitas to unexpected comic turns. Some picks are sacred, others fly under the radar. Where do you stand?

1

Taxi Driver

Martin Scorsese's 1976 character study with De Niro as unstable Vietnam vet Travis Bickle prowling a decaying New York.

1000pts

2

Raging Bull

Scorsese's 1980 black-and-white boxing drama in which De Niro physically transformed to play middleweight Jake LaMotta.

600pts

3

Awakenings

Penny Marshall's 1990 drama with De Niro as a catatonic patient temporarily revived by an experimental drug.

428pts

4

Silver Linings Playbook

David O. Russell's 2012 romantic dramedy with De Niro as an OCD, superstitious Eagles-obsessed father.

428pts

5

Heat

Michael Mann's 1995 crime epic pitting De Niro's master thief against Al Pacino's detective in their first shared scene.

333pts

6

The Godfather Part II

Coppola's 1974 epic where De Niro plays the young Vito Corleone, a role that won him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

333pts

7

Goodfellas

Scorsese's 1990 mob saga featuring De Niro as cool, calculating gangster Jimmy Conway.

333pts

8

Cape Fear

Scorsese's 1991 thriller remake with De Niro as tattooed ex-convict Max Cady stalking a family.

333pts

9

A Bronx Tale

De Niro's 1993 directorial debut in which he also stars as an honest bus-driver father in the 1960s Bronx.

333pts

10

Mean Streets

Scorsese's 1973 breakout where De Niro plays reckless small-time hustler Johnny Boy.

333pts

11

Analyze This

The 1999 comedy hit with De Niro as an anxiety-ridden mob boss seeing a psychiatrist.

200pts

12

Killers of the Flower Moon

Scorsese's 2023 drama with De Niro as scheming cattleman William Hale orchestrating the Osage murders.

200pts

13

Jackie Brown

Tarantino's 1997 crime film with De Niro as burnt-out, laconic ex-con Louis Gara.

200pts

14

The Irishman

Scorsese's 2019 de-aged epic with De Niro as hitman Frank Sheeran recounting his ties to the Bufalino crime family.

1pts

15

Once Upon a Time in America

Sergio Leone's 1984 sprawling gangster saga with De Niro as Jewish mobster Noodles across five decades.

1pts

16

The Untouchables

Brian De Palma's 1987 Prohibition drama featuring De Niro as a ruthless Al Capone.

1pts

17

Casino

Scorsese's 1995 chronicle of Las Vegas mob rule with De Niro as meticulous casino boss Ace Rothstein.

1pts

18

The King of Comedy

Scorsese's 1982 dark satire starring De Niro as delusional aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin.

1pts

19

The Deer Hunter

Michael Cimino's 1978 Vietnam War drama with De Niro anchoring an ensemble of working-class friends shattered by combat.

1pts

20

Midnight Run

The 1988 action comedy with De Niro as a bounty hunter cuffed to a mob accountant on a cross-country chase.

1pts