Rating: 
Summary: Amazing for a beginner
Review: This is a film that filmmakers dream of doing in their lifetime let alone at such an early film. "Mean Streets" like most of Scorsese's films is not about Crime but about America and the human soul and whats its capable of doing when faced with the absurd. "Mean Streets" is a simple story of new york italian thugs. The Charectors are all struggling with interinal conflicts and when trouble comes they let it out. Not alot of filmmakers in American can deal with subjects like these as power as Scorsese can. The film stared two amazing actors in their early careers. Robert DeNiro never had to grow up in Scorsese's films, he knew what he was doing and this film shows it clearly. The second actor was Harvey Keitel and this could possibley be his best roll. The film truley sparks when both actors are put together in full force and display true raw emotion. Martin Scorsese is possibley the best American director and anyone who is a fim fan needs to see all his films and study them carefully.
Rating:
Summary: An early gem from Scorsese
Review: Sure this movie doesn't have much of a plot. SO WHAT? Not all movies have to have straight forward plots in order for them to be great. This is an example of one of them. Scorsese's flaming camera work and use of great music is simply as enjoyable as they come. See this movie, it's great.
Rating: 
Summary: What's The Big Deal?
Review: P.T. Barnum once mused "no one ever went broke underestiating the intelligence of the Amercan people." Martin Scorcese made a fortune with this movie. I was 11 years old when "Mean Streets" hit the movie theatres, and I have been in love with the oldies since I was 17 years old and started listening to WCBS-FM. Those are the two, and only two, things that Means Streets has going for it. The soundtrack features such superb classics as "Please Mr. Postman," by the Marvelettes, "Ship Of Love," by the Nutmegs, and "Mickey's Monkey," by Smokey Robinson. I love the cars, too, especially the midnight blue 1970 Chrysler New Yorker Harvey Keitel eventually crashed. I don't see anything else the movie has going for it. Other than Robert DeNiro owing Richard Romanus money with Harvey Keitel running interference, and Keitel being in love with DeNiro's epileptic cousin, it is impossible to figure out what's happening. In one scene, "Chollie" says to "Tony," the club owner, "you got a habit of saying one thing then sliding right into something else like no one's supposed to notice." That's Mean Streets. I don't understand why it's called "Mean Streets," because it's not about a runaway or prostitute; it's supposed to be about the comings and goings of a bunch of young wiseguys. The plot slides from Keitel's Catholic guilt to DeNiro's debts to shylocks to an attempt at collecting money owed, on and on and on ad forever. Unlike the movie "A Hard Day's Night," having no plot did not work. And last but not least, please explain to me why three people have to ride together in the front seatof that land yacht of a Chrysler New Yorker?
Rating:
Summary: the most influential independent film
Review: "Mean Streets," simply put, is the greatest independent film ever made. At the very least, it pioneered what modern audiences have come to associate with the best of indie cinema, and what, by the late '90s, has become so essential to our perception of so-called "hip" movies that the once daring and exhilarating techniques are now mostly used as frustrating cliches. The picture itself, made in 1973, is most famous for kick-starting three major careers. Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro later collaborated as a director/actor team on four more masterpieces: "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" "The King of Comedy" and "Goodfellas." Harvey Keitel, in the leading role, went on to play other memorable characters, like "Pulp Fiction"'s Mr. Wolf. Cast as Charlie , a small-time, young gangster in New York's Little Italy, Keitel struggles to make sense of his Catholic background and help his troubled friend (DeNiro) stay out of the powerful Mafia players' way. What seems to be a familiar scenario, used as far back as the classic Bogart/Cagney vehicles, gets an unusually complex treatment from Scorsese. A conventional, linear plot structure with big speeches and witty one-liners from main characters is abandoned for a grittier, naturalistic approach. The film consists of a series of telling episodes, related only through their participants. "Mean Streets" has much more in common with the works of Italian Neo-realism or French New Wave, rather than a typical gangster drama. Its unorthodox, original, yet unpretentious camera work gives the film an unprecedented vitality that young filmmakers have attempted to recreate for decades. Now commonplace shots, such as a subtitled introduction of a particular character, a fight sequence tracked through the four corners of a room in a single take, a swaying hand-held camera to create the sense of an alcohol-induced stupor, have all been popularized through this movie, a veritable Bible of dynamic cinematography. Another revolutionary aspect of "Mean Streets" is the virtual lack of a script. Most of the key scenes were almost fully improvised, thus sounding far more authentic than the old-style, theatrical delivery used in most American films up to that time. The actors' speech is so profanity-ridden that no screenwriter of the time could have possibly doctored anything even close. De Niro's flamboyant turn as a youth on the edge of sanity is unlike anything before. In fact,the swear-fests of later crime movies (and indie classics like "Clerks") owe a direct debt to his extraordinary performance as Johnny Boy. One of Scorcese's most groundbraking achievements was his incorporation of popular songs into the soundtrack. All of the icluded music originates elsewhere- Italian traditional recordings (Opera arias, Folk tunes) and for the most part, glorious, irresistable Rock'n'Roll of the early 60's (Motown, the Stones, Girl Groups, DooWop).The easily identifiable hits serve as atmospheric settings, adding an extra, personal dimension to any given scene. George Lucas' "American Graffiti", released in the same year, operated by the same principle, establishing a tradition that seems to expand with every coming year. As it is often the case with true independent cinema, "Mean Streets" was ignored at the box office, despite an underground acclaim which helped launch not only the great talents behind it, but an entire school of filmmaking.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie of All Time
Review: If I could give it six stars I would
Rating:
Summary: horrible
Review: i'm a huge deniro fan, and this movie is horrible. I'm sure it was considered good when it came out, just has not been able to stand the test of time. Nothing happens in the movie, they talk stupid and then go and get in an uninteresting fight. I had to turn it off it was so boring.
Rating: 
Summary: DAMN ITS NOT AS GOOD AS I ASSUMED
Review: Taxi Driver is by far the best scorcese/deniro flick around. Cape Fear was ok and mean streets is less achieved. I sure as hell thought this film would be really really good but it left me to believe you cant win em all. I'm not saying the movie sucked, I'm just saying I expected a lot better seeing as how this was the film that started the whole scorcese/deniro revolution. Still, its a good film. see it if you love the director and deniro. Keitel is brilliant in this one.
Rating:
Summary: Captures life in NYC of small time hoods in the 1950s.
Review: Story of small time hoods in the early fifties in little Italy, New York City.Charlie(harvey keitel)is torn between his gambling degenerate friend johnny boy(robert deniro)and his girlfriend teressa.Each has his or her own problems.The music captures the fifties and the time.
Rating:
Summary: "EXPLOSIVE, A TRUE WORK OF ART
Review: When Martin Scorsese's masterpiece Mean Streets flows on to the screen, it's magic. From start to finish you are absorbed into this highly sensational, gripping, piece of art work. Great performances all around, including the likeable Johnny Boy, played by DeNiro, and Charlie, wonderfully portrayed by Kietel. This is an explosive, well done film that should be watched and stuidied by all film goers and critics.
Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest films ever made.
Review: This is the first great movie of De Niro, Keital and Scorsese. Definitely Scorsese's most personal and moving film. With excellant camera work, dialouge and a great soundtrack, a must for any fan of the three people I've mentioned or just any fan of great movies.
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