In order for a movie to be enthralling, it is necessary to portray all the characters in it in a rightful way, and this would be possible only if the artists involved are committed to their roles to play. Method acting, where actors try to go through the feelings of characters they will play, forms the footing to make a movie beautiful, and thus possesses a powerful magnetizing power on people. Such acting immortalizes an actor and his or her movie. Robert De Niro is the proverbial name in the arena of method acting, and is thought of as one of the most fabulous actors of his generation.
Robert De Niro was born into an artistic family in Manhattan, New York as a son of Virginia Holton Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. in August 17, 1943. Though his movie career started from 1965, he earned fame after the release of Bang the Drum Slowly (1973) and Mean Streets (1973).His role as an actor in the movie Mean Streets (1973) laid the foundation for his close collaboration with director Martin Scorsese , which went on to have some marvelous films together like Taxi Driver (1976), New York, New York (1977), Raging Bull (1980), The King of Comedy (1983),Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and Casino (1995).
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for impersonating young Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II(1974),and was nominated for Academy Award for Best Actor from movies Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978), and Cape Fear (1991). His prolific acting has also brought him galloping amount of money to see his net worth rise high. His cast as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980) crowned him with Academy Award for Best Actor. Though it is hard to discern best movies among his magnificent movies, here we list top ten movies of De Niro. De Niro movies on Netflix also rank among the most watched movies on the video platform.
Here, we take a look at the top 10 best De Niro movies.
10. Heat (1988)
Michael Mann directorial Heat is a crime film starring Al Pacino as Lt. Vincent Hanna, an old-stager L.A.P.D. detective and Robert De Niro as Neal MacAuley, an expert thief. MacAuley-led outfit of fortified thieves draws the attention of detective Vincent Hanna with their involvement in armored-car heist. Meantime, MacAulay’s crew prepares to take one last heist, bank robbery worth $12 million for their retirement, but they face hurdle on their way as Hanna’s unit knows about their work.
However, McCauley manages to escape and tries to flee to New Zealand with Eady, his girlfriend but gets killed by Hana on the way. The spellbound performance from De Niro and Al Pacino has made the movie completely involving.
9. Casino (1995)
Casino is a crime drama from the collaboration of Martin Scorsese as a director and Robert De Niro as an actor. In this movie, De Niro plays Sam “Ace” Rothstein, top sports odds-maker who is sent to gambling imperium of Las Vegas to run the mafia funded Tangiers Casino. He does it perfectly and impresses his bosses, meanwhile, pulling in attention of Tax agencies and FBI.
Later he meets Nicky, sent to protect him and Ginger, a hustler whom he marries, but deception and greed tear their relationship apart. With a troubled conjugal life with Ginger and FBI after him, his life becomes complicated. Robert De Niro once again proves himself as a perfect actor by depicting mob involvement in the casinos of the 1970’s and ’80’s successfully.
8. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
Directed by legendary director Sergio Leone, Once Upon a Time in America is a crime epic starring Robert De Niro as David “Noodles” Aaronson and James Woods. The movie tells the story of transformation of Noodles, witnessing the organized crime of the city, from a street kid in Jewish ghetto into an underworld gangster. In 1920s Noodle is sentenced to prison for killing police officer and after his release in early 1930s, he reunites with his gang.
The movie further shows struggle and hardships they face as they try to become more prominent and richer. After successfully portraying the character of underworld gangster in previous movies, The Godfather II and Taxi Driver Robert De Niro seems to depict Noodles Aaronson perfectly.