MovieChat Forums > Martin Scorsese Discussion > What's his magnum opus?

What's his magnum opus?


What's his greatest work of his career, for you? And do you think he will surpass it?

Personally, it's Goodfellas (1990). It's perfect. The performances are great, the music/score is fantastic & the writing is amazing.

And 33 years later, it's still freaking incredible.

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Probably Raging Bull.


Scorsese;
Mean Streets (1973) - 4/10
Taxi Driver (1976) - 7/10
Raging Bull (1980) - 7/10
The King of Comedy (1982) - 6/10
After Hours (1985) - 7/10
Goodfellas (1990) - 6/10
Cape Fear (1991) - 5/10
Casino (1995) - 2/10
Bringing Out the Dead (1999) - 4/10
The Departed (2006) - 6/10
Shutter Island (2010) - 6/10
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - 3/10

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Gotta give that a rewatch. Haven't seen it since I was in high school.

Rewatched The King of Comedy recently, fantastic film imo.

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Woah... kinda stingy there. I'd be interested in what a 10 is for you?

Taxi Driver, King of Comedy and Departed are 10s for me.

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No rating for The Aviator (2004) or Gangs of New York (2002)?

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Why even bother asking when the other ratings are such a clown show. Having some of Scorcese's greatest works not score over a 7 is beyond ridiculous.

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Using subjective opinion can cause a great variance for people. If they've seen a vast amount of movies—both good and bad, they may find they respect Scorsese while still recalling plenty of films they considered to be 3 pts higher rate than Mean Streets or whatever else.

My ratings are below in the thread, and I likewise gave most Scorsese an average 6 or 7.

Only Goodfellas, Casino, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island are masterpieces in my eyes.

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I understand the nature of subjective opinions, but it can get to a point where certain opinions are such an outlier that they hold little value to the collective whole. Like in an extreme example, if someone were to say The Room is a better movie than Goodfellas.

There are objective-like measures we can use to judge movies - acting, cinematography, directing, quality of writing/characters, etc. Certain touchstones the vast majority can agree contribute to making a great movie.

I think it's hard not to acknowledge that at least a few of Scorcese's films score very highly in each of these categories, including in comparison to other films which have been made throughout history. I guess I'd have to see what movies this person considers 8-10 as that might illuminate how they're making their judgments.

If it's some kind of "well, I don't really like stories about gangsters and boxers" thing, then that would truly be a subjective opinion separated from any sort of objective gauge.

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"Casino (1995) - 2/10"

What!?

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I agree, Goodfellas (1990)

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In the same vein i would say the departed is his best work. Only fault of that movie is that it fails to illustrate the passage of time

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Huh, never thought about but you're right!

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GOODFELLAS...EASILY.

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Taxi Driver (1976) - 9/10
Raging Bull (1980) - 8/10
Goodfellas (1990) - 9/10
The King of Comedy (1982) - 7/10
Mean Streets (1973) - 6/10
Shutter Island (2010) - 6/10
Cape Fear (1991) - 5/10
Casino (1995) - 4/10
The Departed (2006) -3/10
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - 3/10
Aviator (2004) 3/10
New York Gangs (?) (2002) - 2/10

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Goodfellas - 9.5/10
Taxi Driver - 8.5/10
Casino - 8.5/10
The Departed - 8.5/10
The Irishman - 8.0/10
The Aviator - 8.0/10
Raging Bull - 8.0/10
Wolf of Wall Street - 8.0/10
King of Comedy - 7.5/10
Cape Fear - 7.5/10
Gangs of New York - 7.5/10
Shutter Island - 7.5/10
Bringing Out the Dead - 7.0/10


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I'd say Goodfellas, too.

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Goodfellas, but Killers Of The Flower Moon could be his late-career swan song.

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Here's a full list, so readers will know what to sample next. Asterisks are the ones that I personally have NOT seen yet. Will update those with my ratings in due time.

*Who's That Knocking at My Door
*Boxcar Bertha
Mean Streets - 5/10
*Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Taxi Driver - 8/10
New York, New York - 7/10
Raging Bull - 6/10
The King of Comedy - 6/10
*After Hours
The Color of Money - 6/10
*The Last Temptation of Christ
Goodfellas - 10/10
Cape Fear - 5/10
The Age of Innocence - 7/10
Casino - 9/10
*Kundun
Bringing Out the Dead - 5/10
Gangs of New York - 6/10
The Aviator - 10/10
The Departed - 9/10
Shutter Island - 10/10
*Hugo
The Wolf of Wall Street - 6/10
*Silence
The Irishman - 6/10
*Killers of the Flower Moon

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