Robert De Niro in Crime Films

He made a debut in the film The Godfather, Part II in 1974 where he starred as Vito Corleone. His role in this movie earned him an Academy Award as the Best Supporting Actress. Throughout his acting career, De Niro has established a working chemistry with the director Scorsese of whom they have won together many awards. Movie enthusiasts recognize De Niro as a hardcore criminal who can easily get away with crime despite being on the radar of the police. He started gaining fame in 1973 when he played an armature criminal role in the film Mean Streets. He would later meet one of the legendary directors called Martin Scorsese. De Niro formed a cordial working relationship with Scorsese where they have made many breakthrough films over the years.

The two have majorly specialized on the crime related themes. The first film which De Niro appeared under the stewardship of Scorsese was the 1973’s Mean Streets (Wade 1). De Niro plays the role of a very dangerous street boy who does not care about life and anything. The movie captivated many audiences and critics due to its production and storyline. De Niro played the role of the central character Travis Bickle who is prone to causing many troubles and scaring the hell out of people. The violence in the film is caused by De Niro and luckily he is winning all the battles by himself thus becoming the fans favorite. This film remained very relevant for many decades due to the movie’s depiction of the urban decay themes, anomalies and violence which were becoming the orders of the day in in the 20th century cities.

Taxi Driver received four Academy Awards nominations that included the Best Actor and The Best Picture. An overly violent, gripping, ruthless, and adrenaline soaked scenes, the Raging Bull became one the most watched movies in the early 80s. This film won De Niro an Oscar as the Best Actor. Winning an Oscar is not a mean achievement and the glory is always high when it is the Best Actor. This film redefined the true quality of De Niro and he became a hotcake in the film industry. Once again, this movie was directed by Scorsese and it is regarded as the hallmark of De Niro-Scorsese collaboration. He earns the nick-name “The Gent” since he is taking care of everyone albeit his ruthless nature.

De Niro masterminds the famous Lufthansa heist where he robs $5 million and boldly confronts the police and run away with everything. He silences everyone and murders some of his colleagues in order to enjoy the money alone. The movie is based on the real life gangster Jimmy Burke who executed several bank robberies. De Niro showed the world the tricks behind Burke’s successful heists. De Niro, is one of the career gangsters giving the police sleepless nights. De Niro confessed that he still like the role he played in this film. He would later appear in the movie Casino which hit America by storm. The film shows how the United States was ruled by a group of gangsters led De Niro in the 1970s.