VIDEO: Robert De Niro’s boxed clever with a career of hit films

FOR more than half a century, Robert De Niro has proved himself one of the biggest hitters of Hollywood.

In an astonishing career, the actor who turns 74 this week, has played a tough guy and a mobster, a loving father, and everything in between.

He has been a boxer, he’s done musicals, he’s clinched Golden Globes for comedies and he’s been the main man in a whole string of movies that are always ranked among the all-time best.

So this week, we thought we’d take a look at the Top 10 Robert De Niro Films. And we could have added quite a few more, proving just how good he is.

1 THE GODFATHER PART II (1974)

PLAYING Vito Corleone, father of Michael — played by Al Pacino — De Niro was immense in this one, among an all-star cast.

His part takes us from Sicily to America, where he founds the family business in New York City.

The way Vito goes about his “business” can be unorthodox, to say the least, and De Niro plays him to terrifying perfection. Not the last time we’d see him in a role where he barely smiles, and all the better for it!

 

2 TAXI DRIVER (1976)

HE certainly didn’t smile much in this incredible movie.

Here, De Niro is Travis Bickle, an honourably-discharged US Marine who has plenty of issues, not least feeling depressed and alone, shunned by the society he fought for.

Coping with his chronic insomnia by taking on a taxi-driving role, he’s soon accustomed to seeing the dregs of that society during his shifts, and decides something needs to be done about it.

Infatuated with a political campaign volunteer, they become friends then fall out, and as his hatred of the world around him deepens, he embarks on a fitness regime, eventually getting a gun and going around trying to single-handedly “clean the scum off the streets”.

Powerful, ferocious, moving, scary, you can’t take your eyes off De Niro or Jodie Foster’s character, Iris Steensma.

 

3 THE DEER HUNTER (1978)

DE NIRO’S third sensational movie in just four years, he really was on a roll, one which would continue for years to come!

The story of Russian-American steelworkers whose lives are changed forever after fighting in the Vietnam War, De Niro plays another tortured soul, Mike Vronsky.

He sees plenty of horror in the conflict, but feels embarrassed when the town tries to make a fuss of him on his return home.

Things reach a crescendo when he witnesses one of his closest buddies shoot himself. Typically, not the happiest of movies, but De Niro in his early years was never in it to make us happy!

 

4 RAGING BULL (1980)

HE definitely didn’t make this astonishingly powerful film with laughter in mind.

Adapted from former middleweight champion boxer Jake LaMotta’s memoir, it’s the gripping tale of how a top sportsman’s huge hunger for success turned him into an animal who can’t keep his family together while boxing to the top.

In a constant rage, LaMotta had more than his fair share of demons, as we have seen with many a top sportsman, sadly.

De Niro piled on 60lbs in weight to portray Jake in his later, post-boxing years, showing the commitment to realism that only De Niro can.

When this guy gets into a part, he becomes that person, and it can’t have been much fun being close to De Niro while he was making this, or the movies already mentioned!

5 THE KING OF COMEDY (1983)

THIS one came completely, utterly out of the blue, showed De Niro could do something very different from the tough guy stuff, and is a real must-see.

A satirical black comedy, it features Jerry Lewis playing top comedian Jerry Langford, and De Niro stars as Rupert Pupkin, a star-loving autograph hunter who is deluded enough to think he’s pretty good at stand-up comedy himself.

Sadly, he’s not, and as we watch him slide into a fantasy world in which he believes Jerry is his friend, his pathetic dream world can be hard to watch.

It all goes sour when he and Masha, a fellow stalker, kidnap Jerry.

The ransom they demand is that Pupkin’s comedy act be shown on the Jerry Langford Show.

Amazingly, they give in to his demands and let him do it, and even more amazingly, his act goes down a storm. He even tells them he’s kidnapped Jerry, and they laugh, thinking it part of the act.

By the end, we’re left to wonder if he really did make the big time. Jerry Lewis is fantastic, in the sort of scenario that stars like him must have dreaded in real life.

6 GOODFELLAS (1990)

BACK to the terrifying chaps who shoot first, ask questions later!

Like at least two or three other De Niro flicks, this is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, and it seems more gripping every time you see a repeat.

Our hero is Jimmy Conway, who likes to hijack trucks and has rather choice friends, all running the kind of business enterprises they don’t advertise in the papers.

Drugs, the FBI, airport heists, gambling witness-protection schemes, it was all based on Wiseguy, a New York crime reporter’s book about gangsters.

De Niro at his best.

7 CAPE FEAR (1991)

Boy, is De Niro scary in this one.

He plays Max Cady, jailed for horrendous crimes after his lawyer ignores some facts that could have got him a lighter sentence.

Cady studies law himself while behind bars, and then tracks down the lawyer when he gets out.

As the lawyer’s wife and teenage daughter are dragged into it, things get darker and scarier.

8 CASINO (1995)

AN epic crime drama just short of three hours, it’s hard to look away so make sure you have a cuppa before you sit down.

You’ll be gripping your seat!

Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci are the perfect foils for de Niro in this one, all about Las Vegas and the Mafia, finding loopholes in the gaming laws and keeping one step ahead of the FBI.

It ends very darkly, so don’t watch alone.

9 ANALYZE THIS (1999)

A GANGSTER comedy film? No problem.

This most unusual angle sees De Niro as a gangster again, and Billy Crystal as his psychiatrist, which may sound a strange idea but really works.

When you’re a feared Mafia boss, it is not good to have panic attacks, so that is one problem they have to deal with.

As so many of us grew up thinking of De Niro as THE gangster, it’s almost like watching De Niro go to a real “shrink” — fascinating and oddly fun!

10 MEET THE PARENTS (2000)

WHAT’S the only thing that could make a nervous young man feel even more uptight while visiting his girlfriend’s parents?

If her dad is De Niro, of course!

Ben Stiller is Gaylord Focker, a nurse from Chicago, and De Niro plays his girlfriend Pam’s father, Jack.

Jack takes an instant dislike to the young man, who makes more mistakes and gets himself into hotter water as the story continues.

Most unlikely as a part for De Niro, he made it work splendidly, as massive worldwide audiences proved.

In a sequel to the above, Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand joined the fun.

It was almost as if De Niro figured he had reached a certain age and it was time to cast off that Mafia image and become a loveable, wisecracking funny guy.

Intelligent man and fabulous actor that he is, he achieved it with ease.