Robert De Niro is not merely one of the finest actors of his generation; he stands among the greatest performers in the history of cinema. A two-time Oscar winner with a filmography that serves as a masterclass in fearless, committed acting, he has delivered some of the most unforgettable characters in movie history. Here are his best films currently available for streaming.
'Taxi Driver' (1976)
Directed by Martin Scorsese and co-starring Jodie Foster and Cybill Shepherd, De Niro portrays Travis Bickle, a sleepless, socially alienated Vietnam veteran who drives a cab through New York's night streets and gradually convinces himself that the city needs saving, whether it wants it or not. This deeply uncomfortable film is deliberately so, and De Niro's performance feels less like acting and more like voyeurism. He earned an Oscar nomination for this role, and the film remains one of the most studied and referenced pieces of American cinema. For those seeking psychological drama laced with dread, Apple TV and Prime Video have it available.
'The Godfather Part II' (1974)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and Diane Keaton, De Niro plays the young Vito Corleone, constructing a quiet, measured portrait of a man building the empire that will eventually consume his family. He delivers much of his performance in Sicilian with minimal dialogue, yet every scene crackles with contained, watchful intelligence, earning him his first Oscar. The only sequel to win Best Picture, this essential crime cinema is on Prime Video.
'Goodfellas' (1990)
Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring De Niro alongside Ray Liotta and Joe Pesci, this film defined the modern mob movie and remains unsurpassed in the genre. De Niro plays Jimmy Conway, the cool, calculating veteran criminal around whom everything orbits, with a stillness that makes every rare moment of violence genuinely shocking. For anyone wanting to understand why crime cinema became an art form, this is the starting point, available on Prime Video.
'Heat' (1995)
Directed by Michael Mann, this Los Angeles crime epic brings De Niro and Al Pacino face to face for the first time (both appeared in 'The Godfather Part II' but not together). The central diner scene remains one of the greatest pieces of acting ever committed to screen. De Niro plays Neil McCauley, a master thief who has stripped his life of everything that could be used against him. Mann frames the film as a tragic mirror between a man living by a code and the detective obsessed with breaking it. Crime thriller fans seeking weight and elegance can find it on JioHotstar and Netflix.
'Silver Linings Playbook' (2012)
Directed by David O. Russell and co-starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Jacki Weaver, this film shows De Niro in a register many forget: warm, funny, and quietly heartbreaking as Pat Sr., a superstitious Eagles-obsessed father trying to keep his family together. He received an Oscar nomination for this role, reminding us that the same actor who played Travis Bickle can also make us laugh and ache in a single scene. For those who think De Niro only does darkness, this crowd-pleasing drama on Prime Video will change that impression.
'The Irishman' (2019)
Directed by Martin Scorsese and reuniting De Niro with Al Pacino and Joe Pesci in what may be their final great collaboration, the film follows Frank Sheeran, a mob hitman who claims involvement in one of the most famous unsolved crimes in American history. De Niro plays the entire arc of a man's life with almost devastating restraint. The final act, where an old man sits alone with his deeds, is as quietly powerful as anything he has ever made. This epic crime drama spanning decades is on Netflix and well worth an evening.
What makes De Niro's filmography unique is its sheer range: from the terrifying stillness of Travis Bickle to the bumbling warmth of a football-obsessed father, from a Sicilian crime lord built entirely out of silence to a hitman quietly accounting for a lifetime of violence. No matter which film draws you in first, the rest of the list will take care of itself.
