Martin Scorsese’s Movies, Ranked Worst to Best

Scorsese’s second feature film, “Boxcar Bertha,” is about a radical labor organizer who teams up with a union leader during the Great Depression to destroy a corrupt railroad company by any means possible.

The story of two musicians trying to make it big in post-WWII New York City, this musical details the tumultuous relationship between a volatile saxophone player and a lonely lounge singer.

Scorsese’s directorial debut, this indie drama is about an old-fashioned Italian-American man who wants to settle down and have a family; but when he finds out the girl of his dreams was once raped, his Catholic upbringing prevents him from marrying her.

This documentary film co-directed by David Tedeschi uses both archival footage and modern interviews to explore the history of the New York Review of Books, highlighting major cultural events that the magazine has covered, as well as the impact of the publication’s often subversive dialogues.

Written by Paul Schrader, who also wrote the screenplay for “Taxi Driver” and co-wrote “Raging Bull,” this dark but compassionate psychological drama portrays the mind-bending emotional toll of working graveyard shifts as a paramedic on the mean and drug-ridden streets of Hell’s Kitchen.

A remake of a 1962 classic, “Cape Fear” follows a lawyer and his family as they are terrorized by a newly released convicted rapist who spent 14 years behind bars planning his revenge against the public defender who failed to keep him out of prison.

Praised for its score and cinematography, this biographical drama portrays the trials of the 14th Dalai Lama, from a childhood of intensive training, to the Chinese invasion and subsequent atrocities, to his eventual exile in India.

Based on the novel by Shūsaku Endō, this epic historical drama follows two Portuguese Jesuit priests who travel to Edo-era Japan during deadly anti-Christian purges in order to track down their mentor, who has either gone missing or renounced his faith.

In this neo-noir psychological thriller set in 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a patient at a psychiatric facility; but the deeper he gets, the more sinister his surroundings become, until his own sanity comes into question.

Amid Protestant and Catholic feuds in Civil War-era New York City, “Gangs of New York” portrays the story of Amsterdam Vallon, a second-generation Irish-American who seeks vengeance against the Five Points gang leader who killed his father.

Newly engaged to a demure young woman, a wealthy attorney in 1870s New York runs into complications when he meets his fiancée’s heiress cousin, a social outcast due to her decision to separate from her abusive husband.

A sequel to Robert Rossen’s 1961 film “The Hustler,” “The Color of Money” follows the veteran pool hustler “Fast Eddie” Felson as he finds a promising young protégé and takes him on the road to teach him the tricks of the trade.

Documenting a 2006 Rolling Stones concert at the Beacon Theater, “Shine a Light” comprises concert footage from the band’s A Bigger Bang tour as well as archival interview footage to capture the on-stage energy and off-stage personas of the legendary Stones.

A religious drama based on a controversial 1955 novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, this film portrays Jesus Christ as a man who struggles with the essential human experiences of lust, doubt, fear, and above all, the desire to live.

A biographical drama based on the life of billionaire aviation pioneer and director Howard Hughes, “The Aviator” chronicles his rise to fame as a film producer while detailing his mounting struggles with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Newly widowed, a 35-year-old housewife sells her belongings and decides to move back to her hometown by car, with her precocious 11-year-old son in tow. Along the way, she attempts to pick up work with one of her only marketable skills: singing.

Based on a memoir of the same name, this biographical drama chronicles the corrupt rise and inexorable fall of Jordan Belfort, a scheming New York stockbroker with a penchant for drugs and profits at any cost.

Scorsese’s first film shot in 3D, Hugo is a PG-rated adventure film about a young Parisian orphan who lives in the walls of a train station in the 1930s, maintaining the clocks and hiding the secret of an automaton left behind by his late father. Despite critical acclaim and five Academy Awards, the movie was a box office flop.

Scorsese’s second film on Bob Dylan utilizes modern interviews and archival footage from Dylan’s ’75-’76 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, which allowed the stadium-filling performer to get back to smaller venues that would afford more intimacy with his audience. The film contains fictionalized accounts that blur the line between documentary and fabrication.

Set in Manhattan’s Little Italy, “Mean Streets” is the story of a devout Italian-American who tries to stay out of trouble but feels responsible for his younger friend Johnny, a brash gambler who is constantly in debt to dangerous loan sharks.

This documentary about author and public speaker Fran Liebovitz utilizes extemporaneous monologues and footage from public speaking events to shine a light on the sardonic New Yorker’s worldview and her experiences with a host of other famous artists.

When a mild-mannered office worker decides on a whim to take a cab to SoHo and drop in on an eccentric and attractive woman he met in a coffee shop, a hellish comedy of errors ensues.

Based on the lives of real-life casino executive and sports bettor Lefty Rosenthal and mobster Anthony Spilotro, “Casino” displays both the glamor and the dark underbelly of Vegas in the ’70s and ’80s as two best friends become embroiled in a struggle for money and power.

A satirical comedy about celebrity worship, “The King of Comedy” portrays the lengths that a delusional aspiring stand-up comedian is willing to go in order to perform his routine for the talk show of his idol, a successful comedian and entertainer played by real-life “King of Comedy” Jerry Lewis.

Based on a nonfiction book detailing the confessions of mob associate Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran, this epic crime drama is told in flashbacks that include Sheeran’s alleged involvement in the 1975 disappearance of union leader Jimmy Hoffa.

This three-and-a-half-hour documentary explores Bob Dylan’s rise to fame, from his childhood in Minnesota to his New York City folk stardom to the controversial movement toward electronic rock that would alienate many of his fans. The film includes interviews with numerous musicians and paints a thorough portrait of the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene.

“Raging Bull” is based on the memoir of vicious middleweight boxing champion Jake LaMotta. The Academy Award-winning film portrays the self-destructive rage that helped LaMotta in the ring but destroyed his family and personal life.

This intimate four-hour documentary, narrated by Scorsese himself, delves into the director’s favorite Italian films; the ones that have influenced him the most, including clips of many neorealist works from Robert Rossellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittorio de Sica, and other pioneers of post-war Italian cinema.

Based loosely on Boston’s real-life Irish mob, the Winter Hill Gang, this crime drama follows an undercover cop who infiltrates a gang in Boston while attempting to keep his identity secret from a mole in the police department.

After returning from service in Vietnam, Travis Bickle is unstable and adrift as he works nights as a taxi driver on the decrepit streets of New York. Full of undirected rage, he decides to make the world a better place by rescuing a child prostitute from her pimp.

Often hailed as one of the greatest concert films ever made, “The Last Waltz” covers the 1976 farewell performance of Canadian-American rock group The Band at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Joining them on stage are over a dozen special guests including Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchelll, Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters, and Neil Young.

This British Film Institute production is a personal look at Scorsese’s favorite classic films. It utilizes narration and clips from dozens of early American films as he describes the various roles a director can play in culture, as well as his reactions to the films from the perspective of both a director and a cinephile.

Real-life New York mobster Henry Hill is the subject of this biographical crime drama based on the book “Wiseguy” by Nicolas Pileggi. “Goodfellas” portrays the story of Hill’s rise through the ranks of the organized crime world and his descent into drug addiction and unsanctioned dealing.