Let's agree that this is just the best film ever. I mean Scorsese... DeNiro... ya can't go wrong already, plus it was early 70s both were hungry young upstarts so this film burns like magnesium. Check the cinematography in the scene of the festa-- dazzling brilliance, or the long slow-tracking dolly shot in the bar with the Rolling Stones grinding sleazily away as soundtrack. Phenomenal. Plus DeNiro is incredible as the volatile half-cracked Johnny Boy, a real motherfurrier. Harvey Keitel is great, too, and his line (the very first in the film) : "You don't pay for your sins in church, you do it on the streets," well that says it all. If youse have not seen this spectacular film, well do it now or you might regret it. Who else cannot disgree about this pedigree?

The movie was good. I don't admire it as you do (maybe because I don't like open-ended movies). I mean I never understood why that guy never spoke to his uncle or what happened at the very end. What'd happen to the guy Johnny boy owed money since he shot the nephew of the great neighbourhood's Mafia boss?

I thought that the ending could've been done a bit better.

Don rico's right. Mean Streets is a brilliant movie. You could compare it with Goodfellas and see that Scorcese had some fine tuning to do but was on the right track. It's very crude and the plot jumps around but all the makings of Goodfellas is right there. Favorite scene: Charlie and Johnny Boy in the back room discussing where Johnny came into some money. I've memorized it, it's just so awesome. Fact: the real-life mobsters of Goodfellas, ie: Henry Hill, Paulie Vario, Tommy etc...their moment in the sun was during the 70's right? Well they used to say that their favorite mob movie wasn't The Godfather...it was Mean Streets, because that was how it really was in their time. Now that's a tribute. And how ironic that 17 years later, that same director brought their life story to film.
Top five favorite movies of all time, and nothing will ever put a dent into this list:
1) Godfather 2) GodfatherII 3) Goodfellas
4) Raging Bull 5) Mean Streets.

You are absolutely right on but missing "Taxi Driver," am I right?

Is a Bronx Tale any good? I never bothered to rent it.