My Top 10: Martin Scorsese Films

One of the modern masters of film directing, Martin Scorsese is loved by every proper film fan.
His contribution to the film industry cannot be matched and he gives us many brilliant films every so often. Known for his strong gangster flicks, with a few exceptions, Scorsese has also developed many of Hollywood's A-lister's careers, such as Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Joe Pesci and Jodie Foster.

Just missing out on my top 10, but still getting a honorable mention, is Gangs Of New York. Quite forgettable nowadays by most people, but I remember the hype when this came out.
One of the most successful films at the Oscar to never win an Academy Award tells the story of life in New York in 1863.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Amsterdam Vallon, a young gang member returning to New York seeking revenge on Bill 'The Butcher' played by Daniel Day-Lewis who killed Vallon's father.

Out of his 39 films, I have only seen 17 of them. I will rank all of them, and then give a short review of each of my top 10.
My top 10 will definitely be controversial in terms of the order. So I am welcome to comments on what your top 10 is. Anyway, enjoy my list:

17) The Color Of Money
16) Mean Streets
15) The Last Temptation Of Christ
14) Silence
13) Raging Bull
12) Cape Fear
11) Gangs Of New York

10) The Aviator - An interesting biopic on legendary director Howard Hughes who made some of the most ambitious films from the 1920's to 1940's.

Saw this a few years ago and found it fascinating in terms of Hughes' life in directing. Brilliantly played by Leonardo DiCaprio, it is another success by Scorsese.

9) The Irishman - Scorsese's latest feature and for many people this will see him back to his ultimate best.

This 3hr+ gangster epic with a high-quality cast sees a mob hitman recount his rise up the mafia hierarchy that lead to the demise of infamous trade unionist leader Jimmy Hoffa.

8) The Wolf Of Wall Street - Scorsese's latest feature that is hunting for Oscar glory.
An adrenaline-fuelled epic based on the true story of stockbroker Jordan Belfort (played by DiCaprio).

It is totally over-the-top and is a lot of fun. Like most Scorsese films, the controversial sex, heavy drug use and constantly strong language makes it vintage Scorsese.

7) Casino - Your classic Scorsese plot involves greed, money and a lot of swearing. This has the lot.

With great performances by Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone, this power hungry epic shows how effortless Scorsese is directing this, because he knows these style of films like the back of his hand.

6) The King Of Comedy - Probably Scorsese's most forgotten and underrated film of his career.
Robert DeNiro plays an ambitious comic who stalks a famous celebrity (played by Jerry Lewis) to try and gain success and become the man who is always wanted.

It's a very interesting piece of work that I think was ahead of its time, as we see that a lot nowadays. The power of the celebrity is really well presented in this hidden gem from 1982.

5) Goodfellas - Widely regarded as Scorsese's greatest work, this ultimate gangster classic will have you in amazement.

DeNiro, Pesci and Ray Liotta play mobsters and this shows their progress through the hierarchy of the mafia.

The dialogue is ridiculously cranked up in terms of the swearing and on-screen trash talk is great for the typical bloke.

4) Taxi Driver - After the success of his break-through feature (Mean Streets) this was seen as his first feature to contend for Best Picture at the Oscars.

With a powerful performance by a young Robert DeNiro and an even younger Jodie Foster, this outstanding scripted 70's classic will entertain you the more times you watch it.

3) Shutter Island - Starring Scorsese's new regular lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, this psychological thriller had audiences everywhere in amazement.
When two U.S Marshals visit a remote hospital island for the criminally insane is not what it seems.
It completely surprised me and the last line of the film made it the success it is.

2) The Departed - The film where Scorsese finally won his Oscar. Some believe this was the wrong film to give Martin his Academy Award, but I believe this was the best film in 2005.

With amazing performances by DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Jack Nicholson and Alec Baldwin, this re-make of a Hong-Kong crime thriller is non-stop adrenaline-fuelled fun that only Scorsese can do.

1) Hugo - Despite Scorsese being known for his gangster flicks with strong language, this magical family film was the perfect gift for his daughter.

Remember being really surprised by this at the cinema at it ended up being my film of 2011. This winner of 5 Oscars is a magical tale for any fan of the history of cinema.