The Movie: The oft-quoted Taxi Driver, one of many collaborations between director Martin Scorsese and actor Robert DeNiro, is a dark tale about taxi driver Travis Bickle who sees nothing but crime, corruption, and greed all around him. Every day just brings more pain, and brings Travis one step closer to snapping.

There are a whole lot of big names in this film, other than the ones I mentioned already -- Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel and a very young Jodie Foster, to name a few. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say that this film is a true classic, but it certainly has woven itself deeply into popular culture, whether you realize it or not. Ever here "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me!?" in a film? It was probably referencing this one. That answering machine scene in Swingers? Just a really extreme version of what you see Travis doing to Betsy in this film (although later on in the film, you might say Travis' behavior is more extreme). Films that reference this one include: Rocky, Back to the Future Part III, Cape Fear, Aladdin, The Lion King, Natural Born Killers, Pulp Fiction, Casino... the list goes on and on and on and on.

Indeed, it's reached so far into pop culture that it's worth seeing just to see how many places you've seen it referenced before without even knowing it. For that reason alone, this film is well worth seeing. But if you need more convincing, how about a killer soundtrack, beautiful cinematography, and a nice little cameo appearance by director Martin Scorsese?

The DVD: Though dubbed a "collector's edition", this DVD doesn't offer collectors a whole lot. The transfer is from a fairly dirty print. Crushed blacks abound in the anamorphic video, though I can't be certain if that's part of the original film, or a problem with the compression process. Brights just weren't that bright, though colors were often bold when they needed to be, and muted when they didn't.

The audio is strictly stereo (and not Dolby 2.0 Surround as some sources claim), and about as bright and clean as you can expect a mid-70's movie to sound. Extras are kind of on the short side, with a featurette, a little screenplay dealie, some advertising materials, a storyboard sequence and some still photos. I'm not sure I can really recommend this DVD for purchase for any other reason than the content of the movie itself, which should be reason enough for any true fans of this film.