From Jackie Brown to Goodfellas, Robert De Niro had the 1990s that would put all other actors to shame.
Robert De Niro cemented his screen legacy early on in his career. Quickly, De Niro found the right director to be a muse. Starring in the early works of Brian De Palma, striking gold with Francis Ford Coppola as he played the iconic Don Vito Corleone in his rise to power in The Godfather Part II, and then, of course, his partnership with Martin Scorsese. The partnership between Scorsese and De Niro knocked out two classics in Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. That kind of career, by 1981, would've been good enough to end his legend, having already won two Oscars before the age of 40.
De Niro would, however, not stop there. His run in the 90s is unprecedented for a star his age and that well into his career. That decade, De Niro was nominated for two Academy Awards, starred in seven films that made over $100 million at the worldwide box office, and appeared in 24 films altogether. Simply put, the man went to work. There’s a reason he is considered one of the greatest actors to grace the big screen and the 1990s prove why. Here are De Niro's best movies from the 90s, ranked.
De Niro isn't only one of the great dramatic actors to ever work, but his keen ability to find subversion in his violent temperaments for black comedy has made his career longstanding. Like with Midnight Run, De Niro can underplay all the rage of his previous criminal and cop roles and turn it into a gag or self-parody. Co-starring with the comedic icon Billy Crystal for Analyze This, De Niro took the therapy Sopranos schtick and turned his mafioso attitude into a wounded man for comedic effect. Hitting the typical beats but sticking the knife in for a laugh instead, the therapy angle proved successful at the box office — $176.9 million — spawning a less-funny sequel.
Even in a supporting role with a cast stacked with heavyweight actors (Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Sylvester Stallone), De Niro can carve out memorable scene after memorable scene. Battling the corrupt forces of the dirty cops taking over a small New Jersey town, director James Mangold quickly turns this modern piece of a crime and makes Cop Land a western. As De Niro screams his way into the deaf ears of Stallone’s life, the two come to an understanding, breaking down the bad cops and forging a partnership of mutual respect.
Related: Best James Mangold Movies, Ranked
Channeling the inner psycho of one of cinema's greats, De Niro, Tony Scott’s The Fan turns insane sports fanaticism into his coveted brand of action spectacle. Following a disgruntled salesman Gil (De Niro) who terrifies anyone he encounters. However, his obsession with new San Francisco Giants center fielder Bobby Rayburn (Wesley Snipes) drives the film's near laughable premise. What keeps the film watchable is the hilarious display of lunacy from De Niro. But also because of Scott's commitment to the material he turns baseball games into high-art, showcasing the beauty of the game and the absurd nature of fandom. The scenes with De Niro and Snipes are great, as Scott lets the actors cook, heightening the tension to its grim endpoint.
In Barry Levinson’s Wag The Dog, two acting giants get paired together in a political satire that shows the relative ease with which media spin doctors can manufacture consent for war. De Niro and Dustin Hoffman play two egomaniacs laughing their way through the manipulation of the public perception of war and presidential scandal. The two create a fake war, distracting from the wrongdoings and sexual misconduct of the men in charge of the country. The film and story hilariously show how easily our public optics are swayed.
John Frankenheimer’s car-chase crime flick written by the mighty pen of David Mamet, Ronin is a mechanized piece of adrenaline that turns the streets of Europe into guerrilla warfare. Following a group of thieves led by De Niro and Jean Reno, who take the job from an Irish outfit, the double-crosses and betrayal ensue. Besides the obvious -isms from Mamet, he imbues the dialogue with his classic writing, and Frankenheimer's decision to ignore all digital VFX at the time to go analog makes the film whip. The car chases, the explosions, De Niro firing a bazooka through the sunroof of an old BMW — the film is a sight to behold. All with De Niro’s cool charisma leading the way as he bites through the dialogue to finish the job and save his neck.
Partnered with the endearing warmth of Robin Williams as a physician looking to breathe new life into his catatonic patients, De Niro takes his method of acting to new depths as the first to receive the treatment. Plunging around, and learning how to do simple things like throwing a tennis ball, De Niro’s patient character shows Williams the simple pleasures and joys of life as the two forms a bond deeper than a patient-to-doctor. Awakenings saw De Niro nominated for Best Actor, but his co-star, Williams, was snubbed.
The spiritual sequel to Goodfellas, Casino is essentially a commentary on capitalism running amok in the city of sin, but shot with the eye of a man who can stylize violence and decadence better than most. Once again, Scorsese casts De Niro with Joe Pesci, but surrounds them with an incredible ensemble cast including Sharon Stone and the great Don Rickles in a surprising turn. Casino is a constant spiral of a film, a twirl of backstabbing that threatens the way the mob operates. The movie jumps from power grabs and brutal negotiations involving a vice-grip, and Scorsese lets loose to create another incredible tale of mob violence, based on real events in 1970s Las Vegas.
De Niro’s directorial debut is a coming-of-age story set in the Italian neighborhoods of the Bronx, where gangsters are king and working-class people have to protect their families from the influence of criminals. De Niro directs himself as the local bus driver, waving away the influence of the violent and charismatic Sonny (a sensational Chazz Palminteri). Sonny starts to bring C (Lillo Brancato) into his world. The “working man” as the real tough guy must show the youth that the quick road to riches is not a rewarding way of life. De Niro nails the Bronx setting. A Bronx Tale became a seminal Italian-American text.
Jackie Brown was, in part, a revitalization of former blaxploitation star Pam Grier and the slow-burning plot, and quick-witted dialogue machine that Elmore Leonard novels wield. Quentin Tarantino’s follow-up to Pulp Fiction was an exercise in subtlety. While not possessing the fantastical orgy of violence like most of his films, Taratino rounded out his film with an excellent ensemble. De Niro partners with the drug-dealing Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson) as they get caught in Jackie's scheme for her freedom and theft. While De Niro isn't the starring role, his quiet demeanor with the classic rage bubbling beneath makes his sole collaboration with Tarantino all the more memorable.
Heat is an epic crime saga of men on opposite sides of the law but who both adorn the other dedication to their crafts. Pairing De Niro and Al Pacino was a masterstroke from the maestro Michael Mann that culminated in a legendary diner scene that was then followed by the shootouts to end all movie bank robberies, a fierce one-two punch that would cement the legacy of the film. Heat is a definitive heist film and a definitive film from the 90s. De Niro was on fire in 1995 releasing this and Casino in the same year.
Related: Michael Mann Is ‘Bored’ By Modern Action Movies, Explains Why Heat 2 Belongs on the Big Screen
The key to the De Niro’s performance as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas is his introduction. Immediately seen as a figure of envy to the narrator Henry Hill, De Niro’s cool is explosive, braggadocio, and murderous. Jimmy Conway is respected as an Irishman in a gang where only full-blooded Italians make it to the top. Goodfellas is one of the great mafia films ever made, and De Niro fits perfectly into the smoldering allure of the mafioso lifestyle.
Erik Nielsen is a working writer and photographer living in NYC. His writing on film has been published in the online film magazines The Film Stage and Little White Lies. While his writing on photography has been published in The Independent and Musèe Magazine. As a photographer, you can find Erik's work in places like Pitchfork, Juxtaprose, the NY Post, and The Daily News.