Every Martin Scorsese Movie Ranked: The Complete Works

Martin Scorsese has been making essential American cinema for over fifty years. From Little Italy to Vegas to the digital de-aging of The Irishman, his camera never stops moving. Here are his major features ranked.

The Top Ten

10. The Departed (2006)

Scorsese’s overdue Oscar came from his Boston crime epic. Leonardo DiCaprio goes undercover in the mob while Matt Damon plays a mole in the police. Jack Nicholson chews scenery magnificently.

9. The King of Comedy (1982)

Robert De Niro’s Rupert Pupkin is celebrity obsession personified. The discomfort is constant, and Jerry Lewis’ talk show host can’t escape his fan. Ahead of its time.

8. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Three hours of Jordan Belfort’s excess. Leonardo DiCaprio’s physical comedy is incredible. The Quaaludes sequence is Chaplin-level slapstick. The film refuses to moralize, which is the point.

7. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Scorsese’s three-and-a-half hour epic about the Osage murders. DiCaprio’s Ernest is complicit but confused, and the meta ending acknowledges the limitations of white filmmakers telling this story.

6. Casino (1995)

Vegas excess in three hours. De Niro runs a casino while Joe Pesci destroys everything around him. Sharon Stone earned her Oscar nomination. The “Layla” sequel.

5. Mean Streets (1973)

The breakthrough. Harvey Keitel’s small-time criminal tries to keep Robert De Niro’s loose cannon alive in Little Italy. The pool hall fight and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” sequence show Scorsese finding his voice.

4. The Age of Innocence (1993)

Scorsese’s elegant period drama proves he can do restraint. Daniel Day-Lewis and Michelle Pfeiffer smolder with repressed desire in Gilded Age New York. The violence here is emotional, delivered through glances and social convention.

3. Raging Bull (1980)

Jake LaMotta’s self-destruction through boxing and his marriages. De Niro’s weight gain is legendary. The black-and-white photography elevates brutality to art. The final “I coulda been a contender” echo is devastating.

2. Taxi Driver (1976)

Travis Bickle’s urban alienation defined a generation of antiheroes. De Niro’s mohawk scene and mirror monologue are iconic. Paul Schrader’s script is a portrait of violence waiting to happen. It’s neck and neck with Goodfellas for the top spot, two sides of the same brilliant coin: Taxi Driver for intimate character study, Goodfellas for kinetic energy.

1. Goodfellas (1990)

The mob movie all others are measured against. Ray Liotta’s rise and fall moves at cocaine pace. The camera never stops. The “Layla” sequence and paranoid finale are perfect. Scorsese’s masterwork takes the crown for its relentless energy and flawless craft.

More Essential Scorsese

“After Hours” (1985) - Yuppie nightmare comedy
“The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988) - Controversial faith
“Cape Fear” (1991) - De Niro as predator
“Bringing Out the Dead” (1999) - Paramedic burnout
“Gangs of New York” (2002) - Day-Lewis’ violence
“The Aviator” (2004) - Hughes’ obsession
“Shutter Island” (2010) - Gothic mystery
“Hugo” (2011) - Love letter to cinema
“Silence” (2016) - Faith tested
“The Irishman” (2019) - De Niro de-aged

The Scorsese Aesthetic

The camera movements. The pop soundtrack needle drops. The religious guilt. The violence that’s both condemned and cinematically exciting. For sixty years, Scorsese has shown us who we are.

Browse more films in our full collection.