25 Best Robert De Niro Movies, Ranked
25. Wag the Dog (1997)
A puppet master once again, but this time it’s politics, not souls. De Niro oozes backroom cynicism in this acidic satire. With Dustin Hoffman by his side, it’s a firecracker of a film that predicted a future it barely understood.
24. Meet the Parents (2000)
De Niro as a disapproving dad is laughter therapy. The man turns suspicion into comedy gold as the terrifying future father-in-law every boyfriend dreads. You can’t help but crack up, but you never stop sweating.
23. Angel Heart (1987)
The devil doesn’t wear Prada here. Instead, he wears a trim beard, a whisper of menace, and Robert De Niro’s ice-cold eyes. In this noir-horror fever dream, De Niro is Louis Cypher, the master manipulator. The reveal is chilling, and the performance is pure, underplayed evil. Mickey Rourke never stood a chance.
22. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
An aging Eagles fan with a heart too big and a mind worn by trauma. In ‘Silver Linings Playbook,’ De Niro brings rare vulnerability to this performance. It’s subtle, it’s honest, it’s quietly devastating. He earned that Oscar nomination.
21. Awakenings (1990)
Can you wake a man who has slept for decades? Robert De Niro shows us how terrifying and beautiful that moment can be. Opposite Robin Williams, he’s never more human, never more heartbreaking.
20. Joker (2019)
A ghost of ‘The King of Comedy,’ now sitting behind the desk. De Niro’s role is small but thunderous, and he’s the establishment about to be swallowed by chaos. The character’s demise is as symbolic as it is shocking.
19. The Mission (1986)
From sinner to saint, De Niro's transformation here is spiritual cinema at its most poetic. The image of him dragging his past (quite literally) up a waterfall is unforgettable. Redemption rarely looks this brutal on screen.
18. A Bronx Tale (1993)
Robert De Niro’s directorial debut pulses with fatherly pride and streetwise wisdom. His performance is the moral center of this fable of temptation, loyalty, and identity. A love letter to the neighborhood, and to a son.
17. The Untouchables (1987)
Here, the acting legend is pure, unrelenting force as Al ‘Scarface’ Capone. De Niro swings a baseball bat, makes it art, and reminds us that charisma and terror are often two sides of the same coin.
16. Brazil (1985)
‘Brazil’ gives us Robert De Niro as a guerrilla plumber in a totalitarian dystopia. Yes, really! His brief but brilliant turn as Tuttle is the injection of madness that Terry Gilliam’s surreal world demands.
15. Cape Fear (1991)
Max Cady is not just a villain; he is wrath incarnate. Robert De Niro turns his body into a weapon and his mind into a prison of righteous fury. Every sneer, every whisper, every tattoo? Pure nightmare fuel about to lit up.
14. Midnight Run (1988)
This is unfiltered De Niro, the straight man with a soul, forced into absurdity. The chemistry with Charles Grodin is lightning in every frame. A buddy comedy with grit, heart, and an edge like a broken bottle.
13. Jackie Brown (1997)
Quiet, dangerous, and washed up. De Niro’s Louis is all seedy menace and stoned detachment…until he explodes. Quentin Tarantino gives him few lines, and De Niro turns silence into performance art.
12. Casino (1995)
Ace Rothstein is a man obsessed with control, order, and suits that scream power. Robert De Niro paints him in sequins and tragedy, making every glance behind those sunglasses drip with quiet doom.
11. The Deer Hunter (1978)
Vietnam changed everything, and Robert De Niro captures that transformation with aching clarity. From steel mill camaraderie to Russian roulette terror, the Hollywood star’s powerhouse performance is a symphony of trauma and lost innocence.
10. Mean Streets (1973)
This film ignited the Martin Scorsese-Robert De Niro collaboration phenomenon. The actor’s Johnny Boy doesn’t just walk into a bar, he explodes into cinema history, red lights, Rolling Stones, and reckless energy.
9. The King of Comedy (1982)
Possibly one of the most underrated films. Robert De Niro crafts a man so desperate, so delusional, you laugh, until the laughter dies in your throat. He becomes Rupert Pupkin. Yes, the name is ridiculous. The performance? Terrifying. This is a must-watch horror movie disguised as a satire.
8. Heat (1995)
When Robert De Niro and Al Pacino sit down for coffee, time stops. One cop, one criminal, both philosophers. Michael Mann’s ‘Heat’ is the noir epic of our era, and De Niro gives Neil McCauley a cold nobility that cuts like glass.
7. Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)
In the twilight of his career, De Niro crafts one of his darkest roles: William King Hale, a man of soft-spoken evil. It’s a performance soaked in duplicity, smiling as it twists the dagger. Chilling, and absolutely real!
6. The Irishman (2019)
Frank Sheeran is a quiet man who did terrible things. De Niro plays him with a ghost’s sorrow, letting guilt bleed into every look. The final scene? He leaves you hollow. Just a man—alone and forgotten.
5. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
As Noodles, De Niro spans decades of sin, betrayal, and regret. Sergio Leone’s magnum opus is an operatic crime epic, and De Niro is its tragic center—a man who forgets everything but guilt.
4. The Godfather: Part II (1974)
The young Vito Corleone speaks little but says everything. Robert De Niro’s performance is hauntingly restrained—a prequel within a sequel that somehow betters Marlon Brando without imitating him. He won his first Oscar, and rightly so.
3. Goodfellas (1990)
As Jimmy Conway, De Niro doesn’t need speeches… His eyes do all the killing. Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece wouldn’t fly without him: he’s the fear beneath the glitz, the smiling threat behind every “funny” joke.
2. Taxi Driver (1976)
Travis Bickle is cinema’s most famous descent into madness. Robert De Niro doesn’t just play loneliness, he makes it bleed through every single frame. "You talkin’ to me?" was never meant to be cool. It was meant to haunt you.
1. Raging Bull (1980)
This is the peak of the mountain that is Robert De Niro’s epic career. Jake LaMotta is a man whose fists are less dangerous than his soul. De Niro gained 60 pounds, broke his body, broke our hearts, and redefined what acting could be. Every punch is poetry in ‘Raging Bull,’ and every silence, a scream.
