If you ask me - I think that Taxi Driver is one of those truly puzzling films that has been seriously over-rated (way-way-way out of proportion). It really has.

With me giving Taxi Driver 5 stars, I think that I am actually being quite generous with that rating - 'Cause, at best, this film was an average production that seemed to contain an almost endless stream of filler-scenes where absolutely nothing of any interest ever happens.

Now 40 years old, Taxi Driver (which contained some of the most inane dialogue and preposterous situations imaginable) certainly doesn't hold up very well today.

And fresh-faced actor, Robert De Niro, as the psychotic vigilante, Travis Bickle (and his double-talking, dime-store philosophy) was pretty dull stuff, for the most part.

And, speaking about Taxi Driver's climatic final showdown - I actually burst out laughing as I watched how badly this sequence was staged. And the over-dramatization of the violence, after the fact, was one of the worst examples of bad directing that I've seen in a mighty long time.

All-in-all - This highly-praised picture barely managed to rise above mediocrity on only a few occasions.

P.S. - If you want to see a real stand-out performance worthy of a "Razzie", check out Cybill Shepherd, as Betsy, the airhead political organizer.