All Martin Scorsese Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
(Photo by Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection)
Pick any decade since the 1970s American New Wave, reach in to grab some of the best movies of those years, and chances are you’ll be pulling out some Martin Scorsese pictures. Along with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, and Francis Ford Coppola, Scorsese was among the rabble-rousers who shook filmmaking to its core in the 1970s, when all conventional wisdom (and filming permits) were thrown out the window for a more dangerous yet personal style of cinema. When you think of that decade, what better captures its grit, grime, and freewheeling cynicism than Taxi Driver?
He made the 1980s a wash for other directors by releasing his masterpiece as early as possible in the decade, with the transformative Raging Bull, netting star Robert De Niro his second acting Oscar. Scorsese subsequently showed off his lighter side with the media satire The King of Comedy, the Kafka-esque comedy After Hours, and, um, The Last Temptation of Christ. A real knee-slapper!
With the 1990s, Scorsese did it again, releasing beloved mob epic Goodfellas in the first year of that decade. While 1995’s Casino works as a companion piece to Goodfellas, Scorsese films also began to have a more specific otherworldly aura, like in the romantic The Age of Innocence and the religious Tibetan biopic Kundun; he then returned to a more hazy, hard-edged spirituality with Bringing Out the Dead, starring Nicolas Cage.
Scorsese’s post-Casino material was not warmly received by audiences, and by the 2000s he was on the lookout for a new actor-collaborator in the same vein as De Niro for a comeback. Scorsese found his man in Leonardo DiCaprio, himself looking to shed his Titanic heartthrob image. Gangs of New York and The Aviator proved Scorsese/DiCaprio was serious business, leading the way for the 2000s masterpiece The Departed, which won Best Picture and, at last, got Scorsese the Best Director Oscar.
The playful Shutter Island, secret movie history lesson Hugo, and the long-gestating Silence were all befitting his reputation and style, but it might be Scorsese’s latest that will be his defining 2010s statement. 2019’s The Irishman arrived into theaters, all three-plus hours of it, on a massive wave of hype for its promise of bringing De Niro, Pacino, and Joe Pesci together on-screen. Judging by the critical response and Netflix positioning the movie as its grand Thanksgiving offering, Irishman did not disappoint.
Scorsese’s next movie is reportedly Killers of the Flower Moon, which will star DiCaprio and De Niro, and explore the 1920s murder of Osage Native Americans over their oil-rich land. With the master director showing no signs of slowing down approaching his 80s, we pay our respects with our guide to all Martin Scorsese movies ranked by Tomatometer!
#33
Adjusted Score: 54.35%
Critics Consensus: Too derivative of other Roger Corman crime pictures to stand out, Boxcar Bertha feels more like a training exercise for a fledgling Martin Scorsese than a fully formed picture in its own right.
Synopsis: Produced by Roger Corman and directed by Martin Scorsese, Boxcar Bertha is a Bonnie and Clyde-like yarn set during the… [More]
#32
Adjusted Score: 66.482%
Critics Consensus: Martin Scorsese’s technical virtuosity and Liza Minelli’s magnetic presence are on full display in New York, New York, although this ambitious musical’s blend of swooning style and hard-bitten realism makes for a queasy mixture.
Synopsis: Set primarily in post-WWII New York City, Martin Scorsese’s extravagant romantic musical is about a jazz saxophonist and a pop… [More]
#31
Adjusted Score: 75.914%
Critics Consensus: It may not rank with Scorsese’s best work, but Shutter Island’s gleefully unapologetic genre thrills represent the director at his most unrestrained.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio team up for a fourth time for this adaptation of Shutter Island, a novel by… [More]
#30
Adjusted Score: 71.511%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Who’s That Knocking At My Door is the directorial debut for Martin Scorsese, who also wrote the screenplay for this… [More]
#29
Adjusted Score: 76.578%
Critics Consensus: Stunning and compelling, Scorsese and Cage succeed at satisfying the audience.
Synopsis: Nicolas Cage plays EMS paramedic Frank Pierce. It is the early 1990’s and New York has not yet undergone its… [More]
#28
Adjusted Score: 79.019%
Critics Consensus: Though flawed, the sprawling, messy Gangs of New York is redeemed by impressive production design and Day-Lewis’s electrifying performance.
Synopsis: The violent rise of gangland power in New York City at a time of massive political corruption and the city’s… [More]
#27
Adjusted Score: 77.373%
Critics Consensus: Smart and stylish, Cape Fear is a gleefully mainstream shocker from Martin Scorsese, with a terrifying Robert De Niro peformance.
Synopsis: A remake of the 1962 version, this nail-biting and brutal thriller tells the story of a vengeful ex-con who sets… [More]
#26
Adjusted Score: 78.375%
Critics Consensus: Hallucinatory but lacking in characterization, Kundun is a young Dalai Lama portrait presented as a feast of sight and sound.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese’s magical mystery mandala on the life of the Dalai Lama is a visually exhilarating, spiritually ambitious film that… [More]
#25
Adjusted Score: 30.941%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The documentary The 50 Year Argument, co-directed by Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi, profiles the history of The New York… [More]
#24
Adjusted Score: 83.905%
Critics Consensus: Impressive ambition and bravura performances from an outstanding cast help Casino pay off in spite of a familiar narrative that may strike some viewers as a safe bet for director Martin Scorsese.
Synopsis: The inner-workings of a corrupt Las Vegas casino are exposed in Martin Scorsese’s story of crime and punishment. The film… [More]
#23
Adjusted Score: 91.296%
Critics Consensus: Funny, self-referential, and irreverent to a fault, The Wolf of Wall Street finds Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio at their most infectiously dynamic.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort. From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes… [More]
#22
Adjusted Score: 85.074%
Critics Consensus: The Last Temptation of Christ is a surprisingly straight and passionate affair, one that also seeks to redeem Scorsese’s ’80s career.
Synopsis: The story of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and its aftermath are the subject of this sometimes iconoclastic but always passionate religious… [More]
#21
Adjusted Score: 94.902%
Critics Consensus: Silence ends Martin Scorsese’s decades-long creative quest with a thoughtful, emotionally resonant look at spirituality and human nature that stands among the director’s finest works.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese’s SILENCE tells the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who face the ultimate test… [More]
#20
Adjusted Score: 88.14%
Critics Consensus: Equal measures romantic and wistful, Martin Scorsese’s elegant adaptation of The Age of Innocence is a triumphant exercise in both stylistic and thematic restraint.
Synopsis: A ravishing romance about three wealthy New Yorkers caught in a tragic love triangle, the ironically-titled story chronicles the grandeur… [More]
#19
Adjusted Score: 90.411%
Critics Consensus: It may offer little new for fans, but Martin Scorsese’s document of the Rolling Stones’ electrifying live show should provide satisfaction to audiences.
Synopsis: This Rolling Stones documentary focuses on the two concerts from the group’s current «A Bigger Bang» tour and includes scenes… [More]
#18
Adjusted Score: 92.395%
Critics Consensus: With a rich sense of period detail, The Aviator succeeds thanks to typically assured direction from Martin Scorsese and a strong performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, who charts Howard Hughes’ descent from eccentric billionaire to reclusive madman.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese directed this fast-moving, epic-scale biopic documenting the life and loves one of the most colorful Americans of the… [More]
#17
Adjusted Score: 91.2%
Critics Consensus: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore finds Martin Scorsese wielding a somewhat gentler palette than usual, with generally absorbing results.
Synopsis: Alice Hyatt is a widowed mother with a growing son. Left penniless after her husband’s death, Alice and her son… [More]
#16
Adjusted Score: 57.562%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Renowned director Martin Scorsese’s documentary No Direction Home: Bob Dylan chronicles the career of the singer and songwriter during the… [More]
#15
Adjusted Score: 93.027%
Critics Consensus: That it’s inferior to the original goes without saying, but Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are a joy to watch, and Martin Scorsese’s direction is typically superb.
Synopsis: Oscar-nominated in 1961 for his performance as pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson in The Hustler, Paul Newman won that award… [More]
#14
Adjusted Score: 92.916%
Critics Consensus: Bursting with frantic energy and tinged with black humor, After Hours is a masterful — and often overlooked — detour in Martin Scorsese’s filmography.
Synopsis: A Manhattan Yuppie’s night out becomes a comic nightmare, courtesy of director Martin Scorsese. Griffin Dunne and Rosanna Arquette star… [More]
#13
Adjusted Score: 94.431%
Critics Consensus: Largely misunderstood upon its release, The King of Comedy today looks eerily prescient, and features a fine performance by Robert DeNiro as a strangely sympathetic psychopath.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese’s satirical comedy/drama caustically explores the lengths to which a nobody will go to be as famous as his… [More]
#12
Adjusted Score: 100.929%
Critics Consensus: Featuring outstanding work from an excellent cast, The Departed is a thoroughly engrossing gangster drama with the gritty authenticity and soupy morality we come to expect from Martin Scorsese.
Synopsis: Legendary director Martin Scorsese takes the helm for this tale of questionable loyalties and blurring identities set in the South… [More]
#11
Adjusted Score: 39.559%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: «Public Speaking» is a feature-length documentary in the vein of «American Boy» and «Italian American.» The film weaves together extemporaneous… [More]
#10
Adjusted Score: 95.128%
Critics Consensus: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese lives up to its unwieldy title with a delightfully unorthodox look at a pivotal period in its subject’s career.
Synopsis: Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the… [More]
#9
Adjusted Score: 99.8%
Critics Consensus: Arguably Martin Scorsese’s and Robert De Niro’s finest film, Raging Bull is often painful to watch, but it’s a searing, powerful work about an unsympathetic hero.
Synopsis: The story of Jake LaMotta, a former middleweight boxing champion, whose reputation for tenacity and success in the ring was… [More]
#8
Adjusted Score: 100.134%
Critics Consensus: Hugo is an extravagant, elegant fantasy with an innocence lacking in many modern kids’ movies, and one that emanates an unabashed love for the magic of cinema.
Synopsis: Throughout his extraordinary career, Academy Award-wining director Martin Scorsese has brought his unique vision and dazzling gifts to life in… [More]
#7
Adjusted Score: 101.206%
Critics Consensus: Mean Streets is a powerful tale of urban sin and guilt that marks Scorsese’s arrival as an important cinematic voice and features electrifying performances from Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro.
Synopsis: «You don’t make up for your sins in church; you do it in the streets; you do it at home…. [More]
#6
Adjusted Score: 106.285%
Critics Consensus: A must-see film for movie lovers, this Martin Scorsese masterpiece is as hard-hitting as it is compelling, with Robert De Niro at his best.
Synopsis: «All the animals come out at night» — and one of them is a cabby about to snap. In Martin… [More]
#5
Adjusted Score: 103.362%
Critics Consensus: Hard-hitting and stylish, GoodFellas is a gangster classic — and arguably the high point of Martin Scorsese’s career.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese explores the life of organized crime with his gritty, kinetic adaptation of Nicolas Pileggi’s best-selling Wiseguy, the true-life… [More]
#4
Adjusted Score: 115.639%
Critics Consensus: An epic gangster drama that earns its extended runtime, The Irishman finds Martin Scorsese revisiting familiar themes to poignant, funny, and profound effect.
Synopsis: This biographical crime thriller follows Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) as he recalls his past years working for the Bufalino… [More]
#3
Adjusted Score: 103.024%
Critics Consensus: Among one of, if not the best rock movie ever made, The Last Waltz is a revealing, electrifying view of the classic band at their height.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese chronicles the most legendary night in rock history, as an unparalleled lineup of rock superstars — including Bob… [More]
#2
Adjusted Score: 99.623%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In 1994, the British Film Institute commissioned a set of films to mark the centenary of the movies. They would… [More]
#1
Adjusted Score: 77.069%
Critics Consensus: Martin Scorsese invites audiences to follow him through the movies that shaped him, offering both a highly informative dissertation on Italian cinema history and an intimate glimpse into the director’s upbringing.
Synopsis: Martin Scorsese talks about the movies and directors that most influenced his career in this survey of Italian cinema. Included:… [More]
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