In this article, I will rank my favorite movies with Robert De Niro and explain why I liked them and why I’d recommend them. I have not seen Taxi Driver, Casino, Raging Bull, or The Godfather Saga yet for some reason so they are not on the list. Movie Summaries provided by https://www.throughtheclutter.com/robert-de-niro-jr-2689.php.

1. Cape Fear (1991)

Movie Summary: Max Cady, who served 14 years in jail for raping and brutalizing a young woman, believes that his defense attorney Sam Bowden deliberately withheld crucial evidence that would have lightened his sentence. He studied law and sculpted his body while in jail, and is now hell-bent on taking revenge by terrorizing the Bowden family.

Why It’s So Great: To have a great movie, you need to have great acting, writing, and directing, but to have a successful movie, you need to pull the audience in and keep them interested throughout the whole movie. Cape Fear has all of these factors and has continued to be one of my favorite movies of all time. One of the best things about this movie is its music score, where Martin Scorsace made the brilliant decision to keep the same score from the 1962 Cape Fear movie. The score and soundtrack are what make a film, and without a great one that complements the storyline and scene, everything is off. Robert De Niro’s acting in this movie was brilliant as per usual, and realistically displayed the vengeance and insanity Max Cady’s character needed to show. This was one of De Niro’s best movies and showed his wide range of skills after filming Awakenings the year prior, in which he played a completely different character. 

2. Goodfellas (1990)

Movie Summary: A crime movie adapted from the 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy by crime reporter Nicholas Pileggi. The film follows the rise and fall of the real life American mobster Henry Hill who eventually became an informant. 

Why It’s So Great: Yet another Scorsese masterpiece, Goodfellas took its place in my top ten favorite movies of all time right when I finished watching it for the first time. The realism and acting in this movie are impeccable and, because of how masterfully the script was written, there wasn’t a moment I felt bored by a talking scene.. The movie keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout with great action and plot twists that exhibit the life of a gangster and what goes on in their circle. You become connected to the characters and feel the pain of the ones who go through rough experiences because of how realistic the movie feels. It's another successful Scorsese-De Niro movie that continues to show how well these two work together and how Scorsese can always rely on De Niro to do an impeccable acting job with the role he is given. 

3. Awakenings (1990)

Movie Summary: The story of Dr. Malcolm Sayer and his miraculous discovery of a drug that seems to awaken patients from their catatonic state, including Leonard Lowe. But in a twist of fate, the effects of the drug are temporary leading to an altercation between Sayer, played by Robin Williams, and Lowe, portrayed by Robert De Niro.

Why It’s So Great: Everybody loves a movie that makes them cry or evokes a passionate feeling inside of them, and Awakenings was one of those movies, making me sob for at least ten minutes. You were able to become so attached to the characters that, when you didn't get the ending you wanted, it broke you. When a movie makes me feel this upset and sorrowful about a character, it immediately becomes a film I will always remember. Robert De Niro does an amazing job playing a character with Parkinsonism and made the movie that much more realistic. He is able to put my emotions on a rollercoaster through everything his character goes through in the movie because of how real he makes it feel. De Niro was nominated for best actor at the Oscars for his performance in this movie, but was snubbed by Jeremy Irons. The amount of practice De Niro must have gone through to get the character's behavior right must have been extremely long considering how well he performed, which is why I believe he should've won the Oscar.

Honorable Mentions

This Boy's Life (1993)

An American coming-of-age drama film, which takes us  to the 1950s. It tells the story of a rebellious teenager Toby and his abusive stepfather Dwight. Dwight believes that the best way to discipline his troubled stepson is violence. However, as his abuse intensifies, Toby plans an escape. 

The Deer Hunter (1978)

A tragic story that revolves around the three friends Mike Vronsky, Steven Pushkov, and Nick Chevotarevich from Pennsylvania. Once they join the war in Vietnam, the movie exposes the senseless horrors of the war. It also reveals the trauma and PTSD that the war left behind for the surviving soldiers.