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Robert De Niro · Filmography Ranked

Best Robert De Niro Films, Ranked by IQ Score

Five decades of the most-canonical American screen actor. Every De Niro film, ranked by IQ Score.

Robert De Niro's filmography is the most-canonical American screen-acting catalog of the post-1970 era. Two Oscars (Best Supporting for The Godfather Part II in 1974, Best Actor for Raging Bull in 1980). His Scorsese collaborations (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Casino, The Irishman, Cape Fear, The King of Comedy, New York New York, Bringing Out the Dead) define one of the medium's most-canonical actor-director partnerships.

Anchor picks: Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), The Godfather Part II (1974). Plus The Deer Hunter (1978), Heat (1995), Casino (1995), The Irishman (2019).

16 titles · ranked by IQ Score

  1. 1
    Killers of the Flower Moon poster, IQ Score 185/200, Masterclass tier

    Killers of the Flower Moon

    Masterclass historical, drama, crime

    The FBI investigates the murder of Osage Nation members during the oil boom. Educational about the Osage murders and American racism. Cognitive engagement from the historical justice and the detective work. Entertainment…

    185/200
  2. 2
    The Deer Hunter poster, IQ Score 176/200, Masterclass tier

    The Deer Hunter

    Masterclass drama, war

    1978 Best Picture winner. Three steelworkers from Pennsylvania are devastated by their experiences in Vietnam. Exceptional cognitive demands from the three-hour structure and psychological complexity. High educational va…

    176/200
  3. 3
    The Godfather Part II poster, IQ Score 176/200, Masterclass tier

    The Godfather Part II

    Masterclass crime, drama

    A parallel narrative of Vito's rise and Michael's consolidation of power. The film's cognitive complexity increases from the parallel timelines and the contrast between their approaches. Educational about the transformat…

    176/200
  4. 4
    The Irishman poster, IQ Score 174/200, Masterclass tier

    The Irishman

    Masterclass crime, drama, biography

    2019 Best Picture nominee. Scorsese's three-and-a-half-hour chronicle of organized crime and the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. Exceptional cognitive demands from the decades-spanning narrative and the moral weight that a…

    174/200
  5. 5
    Raging Bull poster, IQ Score 172/200, Masterclass tier

    Raging Bull

    Masterclass sports, drama

    A boxer's obsession and violence destroy his relationships. Educational about toxic masculinity and trauma. Cognitive engagement from the psychological portrait. Entertainment from the fight scenes and the black-and-whit…

    172/200
  6. 6
    The King of Comedy poster, IQ Score 164/200, Masterclass tier

    The King of Comedy

    Masterclass dark-comedy, drama

    Scorsese's 1982 Robert De Niro / Jerry Lewis film whose Rupert Pupkin, a delusional aspiring comedian who kidnaps a late-night-show host, became more culturally legible after social-media-era parasocial-fame dynamics cau…

    164/200
  7. 7
    Goodfellas poster, IQ Score 163/200, Masterclass tier

    Goodfellas

    Masterclass crime, drama

    A mobster narrates his rise through organized crime. Educational about the mob structure. Cognitive engagement from the protagonist's charisma and self-awareness. Entertainment from the style and the violence.

    163/200
  8. 8
    Jackie Brown poster, IQ Score 163/200, Masterclass tier

    Jackie Brown

    Masterclass crime, drama, neo-noir

    Tarantino's 1997 Elmore Leonard adaptation, his only adapted screenplay, is the entry most critics underrated on release and now read as one of his most disciplined works. Pam Grier's Jackie Brown is rare leading-woman T…

    163/200
  9. 9
    Mean Streets poster, IQ Score 162/200, Masterclass tier

    Mean Streets

    Masterclass crime, drama, indie

    Scorsese's 1973 Little Italy film that defined his American-Catholic moral architecture for the next half-century. Harvey Keitel's Charlie and De Niro's Johnny Boy operate inside the religious-guilt-as-criminal-economy r…

    162/200
  10. 10
    Heat poster, IQ Score 161/200, Masterclass tier

    Heat

    Masterclass crime, drama, thriller

    A detective and a career criminal in a city cat-and-mouse game. Educational about Los Angeles crime. Cognitive engagement from the parallel lives and the famous shootout. Entertainment from the crime epic.

    161/200
  11. 11
    Casino poster, IQ Score 161/200, Masterclass tier

    Casino

    Masterclass crime, drama, epic

    Scorsese's 1995 Las Vegas crime epic that completes the trilogy Goodfellas and The Departed bracket. Robert De Niro's Sam 'Ace' Rothstein and Joe Pesci's Nicky Santoro renderings of mob-managed casino operations are stru…

    161/200
  12. 12
    Once Upon a Time in America poster, IQ Score 161/200, Masterclass tier

    Once Upon a Time in America

    Masterclass crime, drama

    Leone builds the film as fractured memory, cutting across five decades so guilt and self-deception blur the reliability of everything Noodles recalls. The ambiguity of the final smile refuses resolution and rewards rewat…

    161/200
  13. 13
    Taxi Driver poster, IQ Score 158/200, Stimulating tier

    Taxi Driver

    Stimulating drama, thriller

    A Vietnam vet drives a taxi in New York and becomes obsessed with rescuing a prostitute. Educational about PTSD and urban alienation. Cognitive engagement from the protagonist's descent into violence. Entertainment from…

    158/200
  14. 14
    Bringing Out the Dead poster, IQ Score 149/200, Stimulating tier

    Bringing Out the Dead

    Stimulating drama, psychological

    Scorsese's 1999 Paul Schrader screenplay (their fourth collaboration after Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Last Temptation) anchored by Nicolas Cage as a burnt-out Manhattan paramedic. The film returns Schrader and Scorsese to…

    149/200
  15. 15
    Zero Day poster, IQ Score 145/200, Stimulating tier

    Zero Day

    Stimulating thriller, cyber

    Eric Newman's 2025 Netflix miniseries anchored by Robert De Niro as a former president recalled to lead investigation into a coordinated cyber-attack. The structural commitment, that infrastructure cyberattacks would pro…

    145/200
  16. 16
    Cape Fear poster, IQ Score 145/200, Stimulating tier

    Cape Fear

    Stimulating thriller, drama

    Scorsese's 1991 remake of the 1962 J. Lee Thompson film, with Robert De Niro's Max Cady as one of the most fully-committed villain performances of the era. The film's IQ reflects pure craft (Freddie Francis cinematograph…

    145/200
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Questions about this ranking

What is the best De Niro film?

By IQ Score on TV Intelligentsia, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, and The Godfather Part II anchor the catalog's Masterclass tier. The Scorsese collaborations define De Niro's canonical work.

How many Oscars has De Niro won?

Two, Best Supporting Actor for The Godfather Part II (1974), Best Actor for Raging Bull (1980). He's been nominated nine times.

Which De Niro performance is most underrated?

The King of Comedy (1982), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), and New York New York (1977) are consistently underrated relative to De Niro's marquee titles. The King of Comedy especially has become more culturally legible as social-media-era parasocial-fame dynamics caught up with Rupert Pupkin's premise.

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