Robert De Niro on the Big Screen

25 September 2008

Often regarded as one of the greatest actors of our time Robert De Niro has enjoyed a career that has spanned forty three years which has brought him a string of iconic roles and two Oscars.

This week we see him return to the big screen with fellow big screen legend Al Pacino in cop drama Righteous Kill, which will see the pair reunite for the first time since Michael Mann's Heat, where they only shared one scene together.

So to celebrate the release Righteous Kill, which sees both De Niro and Pacino on the same and right side of the law, we have looked back over De Niro's highly successful career to find his top performances.

Raging Bull

De Niro was praised her the commitment to his roles when he gained 60 pounds (27 kg) and learned how to box for his portrayal of Jake LaMotta in the biographical film by Martin Scorsese.

As La Motta rises through the ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight crown, he falls in love with Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), a gorgeous girl from his Bronx neighbourhood.

Jake's inability to express his feelings pours out in the ring and eventually takes over his life in his dealings with his brother, Joey (a brilliant Joe Pesci).

Irrational jealousy over Vickie, as well as an insatiable appetite, sends him into a downward spiral that costs him his title, his wife, and his relationship with Joey.

For this role De Niro won the Best Actor Academy Award.

Taxi Driver

Despite having found success in The Godfather his role as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver really launched De Niro as a great leading man.

An honourably discharged Marine and Vietnam war veteran now working in New York as a nighttime taxi driver.

Bickle is repulsed by the decay that sees on the streets of the city around him. And although he does attempt to assassinate a political candidate his act of saving Iris, a child prostitute does redeem his character.

For his role he was nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars but he lost out to Peter Finch for his role as Howard Beale in Network.

The Deer Hunter

1978 brought another top quality, and now classic, performance from the actor in the Vietnam based drama The Deer Hunter.

The film follows a trio of Rusyn American[1] steel worker friends and their infantry service in the Vietnam War and explores the moral and mental consequences of war violence and politically-manipulated patriotism upon the meaning of friendship, honour, and family in a tightly-knit community and deals with controversial issues such as drug abuse, suicide, infidelity and mental illness.

The film received critical acclaim upon release and is still regarded as one of the best war movies in the genre and De Niro secured his second Best Actor nomination.

The Untouchables

The Untouchables saw De Niro once again tried his hand at the gangster genre when he took on the role of Al Capone in Brian De Palma's movie.

The crime drama film based on the 1959 television series, and follows Eliot Ness's autobiographical account of his efforts to bring Italian-American gangster Al Capone to justice during the Prohibition era.

Stardust

There are perhaps more well known roles that could have been included in the list but De Niro's role as Captain Shakespeare in Robert Vaughn's Stardust was one of the highlights of last year.

Tristan (Cox) has lived his whole life in the quiet town of Wall, named after the ancient stones that surround it, cutting it off from the world beyond.

Tristan pines and desperately tries to win the heart of the beautiful yet shallow Victoria (Sienna Miller). One evening Victoria promises to marry Tristan if he brings back a fallen star.

Along the way he meets witches, princes and pirates and a fallen star which is not what he expected.

De Niro sends himself up beautifully and the tough pirate Captain Shakespeare who, underneath his tough exterior, is hiding his sexuality from the rest of his crew. Never again will you see this movie legend dressed up in a corset and feather boa.