Plenty of filmmakers have made use of New York City as a setting for their films, but no one has explored it quite as thoroughly asMartin Scorsese. His fondness for the city is evident through almost half the feature films he’s directed to date. Oftentimes, his movies take place in (then) contemporary New York, but he’s also made some historical dramas that show life in New York City 100+ years ago.
What follows is aranking of all his movies that have all – or a good chunk of – their action take place in New York City, starting with the decent and ending with the best. If a film has some parts set in New York, or maybe just some shots of New York, it’s not considered here for present purposes (sorry,The Irishman).
12’Who’s That Knocking at My Door' (1967)
Starring: Harvey Keitel, Zina Bethune, Ann Collette
Ahumble beginning of sorts for Scorsese,Who’s That Knocking at My Dooris seriously lacking compared to the majority of Martin Scorsese pictures that would follow.But it was a student filmreleased when Scorsese himself was still only in his 20s, and it isn’t a terrible exploration of a simple premise that revolves around some drama between a young couple living in New York City.
So, that New York City setting wasestablished just about from the very start of Scorsese’s directorial career, so that’s kind of interesting to see. The city looks cool in black and white, and having a time capsule of the area in the 1960s is also neat. Plus, this wasHarvey Keitel’s feature film acting debut, and he’d go on to have a pretty strong working relationship with Scorsese going forward.
Who’s That Knocking At My Door
11’New York, New York' (1977)
Starring: Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Lionel Stander
While it’s low down ranking-wise,New York, New Yorkis actually pretty damn good, or at least a good deal better than some give it credit for. Of course, given the title, much of the film takes place explicitly in New York, with the storybeing a romantic drama of sortsthat goes through some very rough patches in the years following World War II.
It’s a dark almost-musical about the entertainment industry, pursuing one’s passions, and navigating a relationship that seems doomed to fail, almost right from the start.New York, New Yorkis long, challenging, and unwaveringly bleak, but itreally comes alive during some of its more spectacular sequences, and the intenselynaturalistic performancesgiven byLiza MinnelliandRobert De Niroare also excellent.
New York, New York
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, John Goodman
New York City is big and much of it’s bustling, but Manhattan is the part of the city that’s especially chaotic, and the part that’s most likely to be the most intense. It’s therefore appropriately the setting of one of Martin Scorsese’s grimmest and most relentless movies,Bringing Out the Dead, which is extremely stressful – and occasionally nightmarish – by design.
The main character here isa paramedic played byNicolas Cage, and the film follows him as he unravels psychologically while having to work a series of continually strange and challenging shifts.Bringing Out the Deadis undeniablyan acquired taste, but if you can get on its admittedly hard-to-approach wavelength, it does end up being a rewarding watch, especially as a showcase for Cage’s (sometimes) underappreciated talents.
Bringing Out the Dead
9’The Age of Innocence' (1993)
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
The Age of Innocencegoes back a little over 100 years for the bulk of its story, showing New York City throughout the 1870s (and a little right at the end of the 19th century, too). It’s also a gentler and morefemale character-focused movie than one might expectfrom Scorsese, because it’s not about gangsters in New York City; rather, it’s about wealthy people and their love lives.
Well, a big focus ofThe Age of Innocenceis also on all the strange rules that these rich people live by, and so connections can be made between the exploration of codes of conduct there and the way Scorsese explorescertain rules and conventions present in the mob lifestyle. It’s also a pretty beautiful film to look at, andbenefits from some excellent acting, too.
The Age of Innocence
8’Mean Streets' (1973)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, David Proval
You can seeWho’s That Knocking at My Dooras something of a warm-up forMean Streets, whichalso starred HarveyKeitel and saw Scorsese really come into his own as a filmmaker. Both films have somewhat rambling plots and a focus on characters more than story, but there’s more style, vibrancy, and grit toMean Streets. All that stuff’s what makes it compelling.
Also,Mean Streetswas the first of many Scorsese films to haveRobert De Niro star in a prominent role, and it was his first real crime/gangster movie, too (unless you want to count the fairly forgettableBoxcar Bertha).The streets of New York City do indeed seem mean in this film, but that harshness, authenticity, and chaosare captured immensely well, and the film still has a certain degree of power 50+ years later.
Mean Streets
7’The King of Comedy' (1982)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Bernhard
Things are starting to get truly excellent now, and they’re only going to get better. Most other filmmakers could only dream of having their best film be as good asThe King of Comedy, but with Scorsese,it’s comparatively “mid-tier” when stacked up against the other classics he’s made. Emphasis has to be on “comparatively” there, because mid-tier Scorsese isstill an A-grade movie.
It was filmed in New York andfollows an aspiring stand-up comedianin the city going to great lengths to become famous, with part of his plan even involving the kidnapping of an entertainer he idolizes.The King of Comedyisn’t hilarious, despite having “Comedy” in its title. The comedy here is very dark, if it even counts as comedy at all, but the film functions so well as a thriller/psychological drama that humor or not, it’sstill a remarkable (and uncomfortable) watch.
The King of Comedy
6’After Hours' (1985)
Starring: Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom
There are a couple of New York-set Scorsese films that might put you off wanting to visit the city, withAfter Hourspotentially being one of them. Here, the SoHo district (in Manhattan)becomes a nightmarish world that one very unlucky man has to escape from, given he tries to go on a date there but ends up having a series of horrible misadventures.
It begins in a frenzy andends on a very memorable note, with everything in between striking atone between surreal, funny, and uncomfortable.After Hoursis certainly a cult classic kind of movie; not exactly accessible or for everyone, but it’s the real film of Scorsese’s output that demonstrates he has a knack for making genuinely funny movies (again, notThe King of Comedy, which is a banger for other reasons).
After Hours
5’Gangs of New York' (2002)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz
Going back to a New York City further back in time than even the one seen inThe Age of Innocence,Gangs of New Yorkhasits prologue take place in 1846, while the bulk of the movie’s story takes place in the early 1860s. New York is depicted as a particularlyrough, violent, chaotic, and intense area, with various forces both criminal and legit/legal fighting over control of certain areas.
All the while,Leonardo DiCaprioplays a young man out for revenge, and so everything kind of builds up and explodes into madness by the time the film reaches its especially grisly final act. It’s actually an amazing movie, or close to it.People have given it some heavy criticism over the years, but the time is right for a re-evaluation of sorts. It’s one of those rare expensive movies where you may see every dollar on screen, and in an era of movies likeSnow White(2025) andThe Electric State, that ought to be cherished/properly celebrated.
Gangs of New York
4’The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie
A movie that’s so New York it puts the words “Wall Street” in its title,The Wolf of Wall Streetis one of Scorsese’s flashiest,funniest, most profane, and most quotable moviesto date. It centers onJordan Belfort, showing how he grew an immense personal fortune by committing fraud on Wall Street, spending his money on a series of lavish parties while becoming addicted to various substances.
By the end of it all,The Wolf of Wall Streetis a pretty pessimistic movie, given Belfort gets away with most of what he did, and there’s this feeling of “Well, maybe crime shouldn’t pay, but evidently, it can.” It’sgot more nuance as a crime film than some might want to give it credit for, and it’s an interesting evolution of Scorsese’s approach to crime stories. It has the style of his gangster films, but it’sall about white-collar crime instead.
The Wolf of Wall Street
3’Raging Bull' (1980)
Starring: Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Cathy Moriarty
Raging Bullisn’t contained to a New York City setting for the whole of its runtime, but things begin in New York and end in New York, and quite a bit of it between those two points is in the city, too.It’s a dark sports movieabout famed boxerJake LaMotta, with the boxing sequences being especially brutal in showcasing the violence inherent in a surprisingly normalized sporting event.
But it’s the non-fighting sequences inRaging Bullthat end up being the most harrowing, given they explore LaMotta’s family life falling apart, with his vicious anger being the source of some horrific domestic violence and psychological abuse.Raging Bullis never an easy watch, but it isso immensely powerful that it’s easy to appreciate as not just one of Scorsese’s best efforts, but maybe even one ofthe very best films evermade.
