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Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973]
 
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Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973]

DVD ~ Robert De Niro
3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973] + Taxi Driver (2 Disc Special Edition) [1976] [DVD] + Raging Bull - Definitive Edition [DVD] [1980]
Total RRP: £38.97
Price For All Three: £11.83

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973]
84% buy the item featured on this page:
Mean Streets (Special Edition) [DVD] [1973] 3.9 out of 5 stars (14)
£3.87
Taxi Driver (2 Disc Special Edition) [1976] [DVD]
7% buy
Taxi Driver (2 Disc Special Edition) [1976] [DVD] 4.5 out of 5 stars (8)
£4.98
Raging Bull - Definitive Edition [DVD] [1980]
4% buy
Raging Bull - Definitive Edition [DVD] [1980] 5.0 out of 5 stars (2)
£2.98
Goodfellas (2 Disc Special Edition) [1990] [DVD]
3% buy
Goodfellas (2 Disc Special Edition) [1990] [DVD] 4.4 out of 5 stars (107)
£4.98
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Product details

  • Actors: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel
  • Directors: Martin Scorsese
  • Format: PAL, Special Edition
  • Language English
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: Uca
  • DVD Release Date: 2 Feb 2009
  • Run Time: 103 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0007N1B7Q
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,147 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
After Martin Scorsese went to Hollywood in 1972 to direct the low-budget Boxcar Bertha for B-movie mogul Roger Corman, the young director showed the film to maverick director John Cassavetes and got an instant earful of urgent advice. "It's crap," said Cassavetes in no uncertain terms, "now go out and make something that comes from your heart." Scorsese took the advice and focused his energy on Mean Streets, a riveting contemporary film about low-life gangsters in New York's Little Italy that critic Pauline Kael would later call "a true original, and a triumph of personal filmmaking." Starring Robert De Niro and Harvey Keitel in roles that announced their talent to the world, it set the stage for Scorsese's emergence as one of the greatest American filmmakers. Introducing themes and character types that Scorsese would return to in Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, Casino, and other films, the loosely structured story is drawn directly from Scorsese's background in the Italian neighbourhoods of New York, and it seethes with the raw vitality of a filmmaker who has found his creative groove. As the irresponsible and reckless Johnny Boy, De Niro offers striking contrast to Keitel's Charlie, who struggles to reconcile gang life with Catholic guilt. More of an episodic portrait than a plot-driven crime story, Mean Streets remains one of Scorsese's most direct and fascinating films--a masterful calling card for a director whose greatness was clearly apparent from that point forward. --Jeff Shannon

Special Features
- Director commentary from Martin Scorsese - Original theatrical trailer - 'Back On The Black' original featurette - Embossed slipcase with original theatrical artwork

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
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 (8)
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 (2)
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 (1)
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 (1)
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Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
47 of 51 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Brilliant!, 8 Mar 2005
By S. Notarangelo "red10devil" (Bedford, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
'Mean Streets' is, in my opinion, one of Martin Scorsese's best, if not THE best, film he has made. It's the film that established him as a unique film director, and it's an absolute must-buy!

Scorsese's 'Mean Streets' was released in between the two Godfather epics in 1973, and although it shared with the Godfather a passion for Italian-American gangsters, 'Mean Streets' went a completely different way and focused on the everyday lives of gangsters when they mess about, get drunk, shoot some pool, etc. Harvey Keitel plays Charlie, a man who has dreams of moving up in the world; his uncle, a big player in the New York underworld, has plans for Charlie, but Charlie is prevented from rising due to his friendship with Johnny Boy, a 'bum' who gets Charlie into a lot of trouble. When Johnny Boy continues to avoid paying a large loan back to Charlie's friend Michael, things take a dramatic turn for the worse...

Everything about this movie is brilliant. The acting, especially Keitel and Robert De Niro as Johnny Boy, is amazing; it's unbelievable to think that the following year De Niro would win an Oscar for playing the young Vito Corleone, a character that is miles apart from the unstable Johnny Boy - his performance clearly shows what a talent De Niro is. Critics have argued that the plot is too weak and thin, yet I believe it's exactly the opposite: the film is rich in detail (a Scorsese trademark), and the movie addresses Charlie's Catholic guilt - he wants to move up in the underworld, but he fears he will be punished in hell if he does not look after the crazy Johnny Boy. Charlie is torn between the Church, Johnny Boy, and his uncle - you can see why 'Mean Streets' is anything BUT thin!

But the main attraction of the film is Scorsese's direction. You can see how 'Goodfellas', 'Pulp Fiction', 'The Sopranos', etc. came about thanks to 'Mean Streets' - it looks gritty, the fight scenes are chaotic, and very rude language dominates the film. And despite its low budget, Scorsese makes the film look very realistic, along with his trademark rock 'n' roll soundtrack scoring the movie.

The film is like a fast rollercoaster; the camera never stops moving, and it's never boring. I would recommend 'Mean Streets' to every Scorsese and gangster fan as well as most film buffs, because not only is it a fantastic movie, but it's one of the most influential movies in American cinema, and I urge you to buy it! NOW!!

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A top film, 6 Sep 2006
By S J Buck (Kent, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This is one of the most important movies of the 70's, released after The Godfather, and whilst probably not as good a film, I think it has been far more influential on other filmmakers - Tarantino for one. This is Scorcese's first masterpiece and rewards repeated viewings. The film is loosely based on Scorcese's own upbringing in little Italy.

The cast are perfection. Harvey Keital and Robert DeNiro spark brilliantly off each other, helped by a fabulous script and I believe some improvisation as well. Noteably the scene in the back of the bar "you mean last Tuesday". The dialogue in this film is marvellous and occasionally it is intentionally funny as well.

Prior to this film Scorcese had made some interesting films but none of them had his stamp on them. Mean Streets comes straight in out of nowhere as a fully fledged masterpiece:
The use of music when Johnny enters the bar; Its done in slow motion to the Stones Jumpin' Jack Flash.
The use of colour.
The drunk scene, not very long, but perhaps the best ever done. The camera (some sort of steadycam) faces Harvey Keital and we are staggering around with him, until eventually he falls over and passes out on the floor - the camera goes with him.
The wonderful fight sequence in the pool room over being called a "Mook"; when nobody knows what a Mook is...

Look out for Scorcese in an uncredited cameo role as Jimmy Shorts, and also for David Carradine as a drunk.

This is essential for any movie collection.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars "You don't make up for your sins in church. You do it in the streets.", 31 Jan 2008
By Trevor Willsmer (London, England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
Orson Welles said that a director's first film was always his best because he would put more into it and hadn't got into bad habits like developing a style yet. Mean Streets may not be Scorsese's first film, but it otherwise bears out Welles' words. Set in New York's Little Italy, Harvey Keitel plays Michael, who exists on the fringes of crime and whose dreams of managing a restaurant his money-lending uncle is about to take over are threatened by his affair with his epileptic cousin (Amy Robinson) and his terminally unreliable childhood friend Johnny Boy's pressing debts.

As with Goodfellas, it is plot-lite and style heavy, but where in the latter the style dominated, here it has a rough-cut and ready-dubbed feel that energises the film and accurately reflects the precarious state of the characters, be it financial, mental or moral. All the trademarks are here - the tracking shots down bars, the sudden explosions of violence, a popular music soundtrack that exists as much within the film as over it, the concern with incompatibility of religion with everyday life - but here they are fresh and integral to the film rather than carefully stage-managed.

If De Niro's unstable Johnny Boy now looks a bit too much like barnstorming with many of the tricks he has since pretty much worn out through over-use, Keitel's diplomatic lead and the astonishingly natural performances from the supporting cast are the real glue that holds the film together and convince us we are eavesdropping on real lives.

Filled with astonishing moments Mean Streets remains one of the few key American films of the early Seventies that still grabs your undivided attention with none of its original power diluted by time and imitation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough and engaging
Watching this you see where the vocabulary and style of The Sopranos came from, thirty years before its time. Read more
Published 1 month ago by William Cohen

2.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as everyone on here is claiming
very raw - poor sound and terrible editing, which for me, made it very uncomfortable viewing. The plot didn't ever seem to get going, and just when the film got a bit... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. S. M. Wilkins

3.0 out of 5 stars "Francis of Assisi had it all down"
It's hard not to like Scorcese's "Mean Streets". Made long, long before the world of Italian-American hoodlums became a slot machine of cliché and stock characters, it created a... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alex DaLarge

1.0 out of 5 stars Overated
Very poor-I have always been of the opinion that Scorcese is overrated, although Taxi Driver and Raging Bull are both exceptional movies. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Gary 78

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinatingly hatching
A film that is very problematic. It is not that old but the action is set in quite an older period, yet Robert de Niro looks like a young actor just out of drama school trying to... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Jacques COULARDEAU

5.0 out of 5 stars Low budget movie
This is a low budget classic from Scorsese made in 1973. There is certainly an impressive sense of time and place in this film, and it came as a shock to me to learn that most of... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Brendan O. Clarke

5.0 out of 5 stars A little taste of near perfection
I can understand why some people would dislike mean streets due to it's lack of plot and structure should they have watched the movie only once. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. AJ McIntosh

1.0 out of 5 stars Forget it's Scorsese; it's rubbish
I am a big fan of Goodfellas, and some of his other films are OK at best. But this is so terrible I couldn't bring myself to finish watching this amateurish piece. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Mr. M. A. Speedy

5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating, realistic, engrossing, brilliant all-round.
A superb film. Harvey Keitel and Robert De Nero turn in stunning performances, in fact the whole cast shines, especially Teresa, the girl Charlie (Keitel) shouldn't be dating as... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2007 by Bones

5.0 out of 5 stars RAW MOVIE
Mean streets
........This movie has everything from the streets...great characters,location,language, the works. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2007 by G-MAN

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