Taxi Driver influence on Drive

Submitted by swxtchblade3 t3_10pvxan in movies

Taxi Driver is undeniably a classic and debatably top 10 performances of all time (Robert De Niro).

It's always been one of my favorites and I'm very against the idea of this film being touched in any way, but I have to say I watched Drive the other night and I enjoyed it a lot. Not saying it's anywhere near a rip-off, but I couldn't help but note the similarities.

I'm just wondering what this sub thinks of Drive in general, I think it's more stylish than Taxi Driver but of course the one thing it will never touch is the performance of De Niro.

I'm also curious what the critical reception was to Drive, I think it's a really good film with a vision and shots that are so simple but just atmospheric, and of course the music.

Feel free to compare the movies and the main characters personalities below!

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Comments

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kneeco28 t1_j6mi39x wrote

Le Samouraï and Thief with James Can and stuff are the lineage Drive is in much more than Taxi Driver.

Good movies.

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raisedbyhorses_ t1_j6mmajc wrote

Isn't it also pretty similar to The Driver? I haven't seen either film in like ten years but if I'm remembering right, the stories and also the main characters were very alike.

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Agamemnon420XD t1_j6mnrop wrote

I’ve been told Drive is extremely influenced by The Driver, and has a lot of identical cinematography and scenes.

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drupoxy t1_j6mhcth wrote

I've always thought Le Samourai was its main inspiration

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TeamStark31 t1_j6mmhrh wrote

Drive is based on a 2005 novel by James Sallis.

According to the director, the inspiration was Grimm Fairy Tales.

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Agamemnon420XD t1_j6mojse wrote

I would not compare Taxi Driver to Drive, they really have little in common.

Taxi Driver is a dark comedy and psychological thriller about a deranged taxi driver turned murderer who takes out his frustrations on some lowlife pimps and then is heralded as a hero.

Drive is an artsy fartsy action thriller about a reserved getaway driver who falls in love with and eventually saves a girl who’s in deep with some gangsters, and then said driver disappears.

Funny how Taxi Driver, a much more morbid movie than Drive, has a happy ending where the antihero gets the girl, meanwhile in Drive the more-likable antihero disappears and doesn’t get with the girl.

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ethanwnelson t1_j6nkcda wrote

I would not say Taxi Driver has a happy ending. And saying that Travis “gets the girl” is pretty gross considering you’re talking about a 12 year old.

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Agamemnon420XD t1_j6nly72 wrote

You didn’t watch Taxi Driver.

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ethanwnelson t1_j6nnydz wrote

I’m not going to delete my previous comment because people deserve to see how fucking stupid I was. I had the Mandala Effect or something because I didn’t remember that final scene with Betsy in the cab, and I misremembered the shootout as the final scene. Sorry for my overly confident stupidity.

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Agamemnon420XD t1_j6no55l wrote

Hahaha yes, Betsy is the girl, not Iris. I’m sorry I said you didn’t watch the movie, I just take it for granted cus I just rewatched it the other day.

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ethanwnelson t1_j6np6k2 wrote

No need to be sorry, you were in the right! And you’ve convinced me that I need to do a rewatch lol I call myself a movie fan and I didn’t even remember the end of freaking Taxi Driver!😂

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Agamemnon420XD t1_j6nq23g wrote

To be fair, Taxi Driver is an odd movie. It’s hard to like Travis Bickle, but truth be told the movie is EXTREMELY cool, like the cinematography is just epic, like the driving scenes and the scenes with the guns, and Travis’ plight is relatable but he is also clearly lost his mind, though hopefully he regained it after killing those shitty pimps and getting Iris home safely. Honestly I just love the speeches in the movie, like his speech, where he’s like fumbling over his words and trying to sound cool; ‘Listen up you cocksuckers, here is a man who would not stand for it any longer.’ Or like Palantine’s speech where he’s just like, ‘WE are the people. We’re tired of this. We demand change. No longer will the few control the many.’ Like it’s such a cookie-cut joke of a political speech, it’s hilarious, in a morbid way. Scorsese is really a genius.

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dukemacgruger t1_j6n1si0 wrote

They both drive cars that's about it lmao.

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RodamusLong t1_j6mtqpp wrote

I can see some similarities. But I don't think that Taxi Driver was the inspiration for Drive.

I really liked Drive. But I've been surprised that I don't really want to watch it over and over again. I think it's because the action is secondary to the story. And once you know the story, it's kind of hard to want to see it over and over again.

That's just me thinking out loud. In type.

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Houli_B_Back t1_j6n94nb wrote

I always thought The Driver (78) was a huge influence on Drive.

With its hyper stoic lead and long periods of silent chase scenes.

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ElMatasiete7 t1_j6n9inv wrote

Watch The Driver, it's much more of an inspiration than Taxi Driver was for this film.

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CrawdadMcCray t1_j6n48g9 wrote

I don't really see a huge comparison to be honest... yeah, they're both quiet outsiders that get caught up in violence but the Driver is just doing his job, looking for a paycheck, when he gets the chance to do some good for somebody.

Bickle is the opposite. He can barely do his job because he's so disgusted by society. He ends up doing a kind of good thing, but for entirely selfish reasons.

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CountLugz t1_j6nexwf wrote

Can we please stop comparing everything to Taxi Driver?

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