Robert De Niro vs. Al Pacino

Robert De Niro vs Al Pacino

Robert De Niro vs Al Pacino, two of the best actors who have ever lived and two of the best actors, maybe the best actors, alive today. But which one is better? Both have had massive success and are household names. That being said who is the better actor, not necessarily who is the more successful, so in this blog post I will break down parts of their film careers to determine who is the best between the two once and for all. This post may span a couple of weeks so the winner may not be decided today.

Breakthrough Role:

Pacino: So Pacino’s breakout role is only one of the biggest and most memorable characters in film history, no big deal. That role would be Michael Corleone in the Godfather. Yes everyone has heard of the Godfather, most have seen it, and even more will agree that it is one of the single greatest performances ever put to screen. The character Michael is one of the saddest, but greatest characters in movie history, and for good reason. There are so many ways to interpret his story, and not just his story but his family’s story as well. That is the one of the best things about the Godfather trilogy, the massive amount of different interpretations that can be given for the films. And Michael is the key to the success of the Godfather, if Al had slipped the movie would be nowhere near as good or famous as it is, just look at Godfather Part III for an example.

Only slightly intimidating.

De Niro: It is actually really hard to pin a breakthrough role for De Niro, it is to a point a toss up between Johnny Boy in Mean Streets or young Vito Corleone in the Godfather Part II. Although they are both tremendously great characters his breakthrough role will be Johnny Boy for Mean Streets in this paper. This is the single role that started the greatest actor-director collaboration in history, and made people start to notice this young new actor. Johnny Boy was a great role for De Niro to jumpstart his career. It gave and demonstrated his signature intensity. This really showcased his ability to act and how well he can do it. Unfortunately Mean Streets is not well remembered or no longer well received mainly due to the visual style of the movie in today’s time.

Verdict: Pacino by a hair. It is due to the fact that his breakthrough performance and role are still very well remembered today. Many people forget about Mean Streets, everyone besides movie nerds and film critics from 40 years ago. So Pacino beats out De Niro in breakthrough roles by just a little bit.

Most Influential Role:

De Niro: Since we started with Pacino last time, we will start with De Niro this time. For Robert De Niro it is so hard to pick a best or most influential role. He has two of the greatest film performances ever, scratch that three, but two specifically are just that much better than the third. The two performances are Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver, and Jake LaMotta for Raging Bull. These two performances are possibly better than Al Pacino in Godfather Part I. Between these two it is extremely hard to pick but I think it’ll have to go with Jake LaMotta. Jake LaMotta is just that small little amount better than Travis because De Niro became Jake LaMotta. It is the ultimate method acting. Before the movie he gained close to 20 pounds of Muscle and learned to box, and just like the real Jake LaMotta before the movie. He participated in 3 real boxing matches before the movie and won two of them. For the last 6^th of the movie there was a four-month filming break so De Niro could gain 60 pounds of fat to more accurately play the older LaMotta. For this movie De Niro became LaMotta, he thought, ate, slept, and dreamt like the real boxer. This has been called the single greatest performance of all time. I realize that that phrase has been thrown around a lot so far but this seriously no one possibly ever has quite touched or beaten this performance in the history of cinema.

Al Pacino: Al on the other hand is a little easier to decide on, he has numerous great roles but one is obviously greater than the rest. Michael Corleone from Godfather Part II is his greatest role. This is his single greatest role and is so well portrayed. This showcases all of Al Pacino’s acting talent and wraps it up into a awesome and amazing package. This role he should have won a best actor Oscar, he really deserved it. This character has some of the best scenes in film as a whole and it is mostly thanks to Al Pacino. He is simply amazing and Godfather Part II launched him into Hollywood fame. He went down in history thanks to Godfather Part II. He becomes a monster in this movie and makes you believe it. Al Pacino is simply amazing in this movie and is his best performance.

Verdict: Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro. Once again no one ever has and quite possibly ever will beat this performance as Jake LaMotta, the real life boxer both an animal inside and outside the ring. Pacino also has some of the best performances of all time, but none can quite reach the level of De Niro in Raging Bull.

One of if not the best performance of all time.

Consistency:

Al Pacino: Al Pacino’s career has had its ups and downs. His absolute best period is from 1972 through 1983. Throughout this time period Al Pacino was able to deliver constant great performances with almost every movie. It started with the Godfather, then continued throughout with classics like Godfather Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, and Scarface. After 1983 Al Pacino fell into a slump with a lot of lesser movies, although in 1992 he had a short comeback for some of the 90s. Overall Al Pacino hasn’t had the greatest consistency he goes or went through distinctive time periods in which movies were in general good or not so good. Even though his constancy isn’t perfect Al has one of the strongest and greatest time periods for any actor, that 1972-1983 time period. Many great performances came from Al Pacino in that time. Especially recently, Al hasn’t had the best track record as of late.

Robert De Niro: De Niro’s career has had more of a steady constancy. His career really started in 1973 with Mean Streets. From his good start his great period lasted through 1995 at least, and even arguably 2000. Robert De Niro’s Martin Scorsese collaboration went through 1995. After he did his one time team up with Quentin Tarantino in 1997 and did Analyze This, and Meet the Parents during these five years. Those last ones are debatable, for I really like Meet the Parents, but I hate Analyze This, and I know other people who have the opposite opinion. But his golden age 1973-1995 is longer and throughout even more consistent in pulling out good movies. After at least 2000 De Niro really hasn’t been making anything worthwhile. Every once in awhile we get something good like his performance in Silver Linings Playbook. But even though his movies for the past about 15 years have been generally disappointing, it is consistent.

Verdict: Robert De Niro. Robert De Niro has had a pretty consistent career in which he has gone through two big time periods both consistent with what he is producing. Al Pacino has gone through more of these switches in time periods, which bring switches in qualities of movies changes. Overall De Niro has had more consistency throughout his career.

Range:

Robert De Niro: You want Intense De Niro, you got it, you want funny De Niro, no problem, scary out of your mind De Niro, sure, sick and weak De Niro, yep, mobster De Niro, plenty, Athletic De Niro, check. Basically any role that is thrown De Niro’s way, he can do. He can play a character that is in a coma for half the movie and he still steals the show. When it comes to the character spectrum in movies, De Niro basically has or can reach either end or everything in between.

Al Pacino: Al Pacino has a more limited spectrum of characters. Intense Pacino, crazy Pacino, and over the top Pacino, granted he plays these roles very well but it is basically the limit to his acting abilities. All of his stabs at comedy have flopped, anything basically not drama, gangster and cops movies he doesn’t have a very good track record with. Remember he can play these roles brilliantly, especially intense Pacino, but after that the performances are not on the same level.

Verdict: Robert De Niro. Once again almost any type of role that is given to him he has or can play. The method acting, at least in the past, has a huge part to do with this. Pacino, of course does method acting but not to the same extent which in part has an affect on the range of characters that he can play.

That One Role that Shouldn’t Have Worked, But Did:

Al Pacino: Pretend to be a Cuban, do a ton of drugs on screen, scream obscenities and foul language every other minute, but hey everybody knows Scarface! Scarface was a remake of the 1931 classic (that is very overlooked), and is written by Oliver Stone, who basically hasn’t made any good movies except Wall Street and writing Scarface. Yet after the movie was done and five years past it is a classic, it is in almost every dude’s movie collection and is well known and often quoted. It was such a risky role that could have sunk Pacino’s career if it was not properly executed. But it turned out just great and is one of not only the most memorable but also one of the most haunting performances.

De Niro: In 1991s Cape Fear, De Niro plays a tattoo covered, bible quoting, psychotic rapist who was just released from prison and is now stalking and toying with the public defender and his family that chose to lose him the case 14 years ago. Another remake this movie doesn’t have a very big fan base and isn’t well known, neither is the 1962 original version, this movie could have been utterly stupid if De Niro and Scorsese had messed this up. Instead the movie was amazing and extremely well done, better that the original if you ask me, and De Niro even got a Best Actor Oscar nomination from the Academy, and they really don’t like many movies like this. This ended up being one of De Niro’s least well-known roles but is just so good in it. Again going back to the method acting, spending $5000 to mess up his teeth for the movie, then $20,000 to fix them, yes Robert De Niro will go to that length.

One of the most chilling performances ever given, and De Niro's scariest.

Verdict: I’ll put it this way, if a large portion of the population was polled and asked, if they knew who Tony Montana from Scarface was, most would say yes. If then asked what about Max Cady from Cape Fear, unfortunately most would probably say no. Al Pacino gives one of the most memorable and most quoted characters of all time, so Al Pacino takes That One Role that Shouldn’t Have Worked, But Did category.

Best Line:

De Niro: “You talkin’ to me?” Taxi Driver 1976

Yea maybe I am, so what?

Al Pacino: “Say hello to my little friend!” Scarface 1983

I don't really want to. Thanks anyway though!

Verdict: Yep, everyone has heard of and probably quoted Al Pacino in Scarface with his little friend, and unfortunately less people and even more unfortunately even less of our age group has heard De Niro’s “You talkin’ to me?” dialogue. Al Pacino takes this one rather easily.

Quality of Recent Films:

Al Pacino: As of late, or more or less the past 15 years, Al Pacino almost seems to make fun of himself. He plays basically the same character he did when he won the Oscar for Scent of a Woman. In a way, that is one of the worst things that have happened to Al. After he won the long deserved Oscar, and then said well this works, so I’ll keep on doing it. But more recently he has just gone off the rails a little bit. Most directors now give him to much leach and just let him do what he wants. He pulls the occasional good thing out of the bag but not often or consistently. He has had some especially bad ones recently; must I mention Jack and Jill?

Robert De Niro: Well, sad to say De Niro has not been too much better for the past 15 years. A number of big flops and sellouts, sometimes it seems when a job offer comes to his desk he just slaps a stamp on it and sends it back in the mail. Granted unlike Pacino, De Niro has gotten an Oscar nomination in the past 15 years; he got nominated for his performance in Silver Linings Playbook. But very rarely has he done anything that is considered good. Often doing lots unnecessary sequels like Analyze that or Meet the Fockers, neither good and this is just the beginning of the list.

Verdict: Both have had some trash piles in recent years, and De Niro has had probably slightly more. But, Al Pacino playing the same person, making fun of himself actually gets annoying very fast. Because of the annoyance factor De Niro takes this. Remember most are not good or quality films but he doesn’t get annoying on screen.

 Collaborations with Directors:

Robert De Niro: De Niro has had only the single greatest actor director partnerships in the history of Hollywood. The 8-film collaboration with Martin Scorsese has given the world some of the best films there are. These are arguably De Niro’s best works, all of them at least good, many of them great. Some of the best films of the 70s, possibly the best film of the 80s, and some of the best of the 90s, prove that this pair is a force to be reckoned with.

Al Pacino: Al has had a number of little partnerships with a number of directors. Usually about 2 films with them, so not much of collaboration, but they will count. If Al Pacino had gotten the main role in Apocalypse Now, Coppola would be his partnership, but that role went to Martin Sheen so that doesn’t count. Michael Mann he has done two films with, but only one was good. So that basically leaves Brain De Palma. He did Scarface and Carlito’s Way with Mr. De Palma, Scarface we have talked about, but Carlito’s Way not so much. Carlito’s Way is similar to Scarface in a number of ways and is basically the same movie in a different region and different background. Since there is much that is similar it isn’t as strong as Scarface, but it is not a bad movie. When all is done, AL Pacino hasn’t done to many partnerships with directors, some small ones here and there but nothing on the level of De Niro and Scorsese.

Verdict: De Niro and Scorsese, was there any doubt? Not really, I’ve touched on this in previous installments and in other blog posts. But when talking about Robert De Niro or Martin Scorsese, the other also has to be talked about. De Niro takes this one by a long shot.

Okay, story time. This picture was taken on the set of Taxi Driver in 1976. In this photo De Niro and Scorsese are waiting for Jodie Foster to get out of school for filming. They are waiting because she is in detention. Needless to say, neither look very happy, De Niro might not even be in character, that is pretty rare.

Best Gangster Movie other than the Godfather series:

Al Pacino: Since Scarface has already been talked about quite a lot, so I will not focus on it. Instead Donnie Brasco will serve nicely. In Donnie Brasco AL Pacino doesn’t play some head of a crime family, or the ultimate drug lord in Miami, no he plays a low level mafia enforcer, or the guys who “get their hands dirty”. He brings a sense of mortality and human nature to the character. They aren’t the big heads or anything no being the little guy on the latter makes for a very interesting look at not only the mafia, but also focuses on the guys who aren’t untouchable in the mob. This is one of his best roles and is constantly overlooked in the mob movies. It even has a very good performance by Johnny Depp, which some of you may know I do not like.

Robert De Niro: Well, I bet you thought I made that Untouchable reference for a reason right? Well I didn’t, other than young Vito Corleone in the Godfather Part II: Jimmy Conway from Goodfellas is Robert De Niro’s best gangster performance. He brings such a sense of realism to the character. He seems to come alive on the screen. The lifestyle isn’t overdone or huge and luxurious. No he is more or less a regular guy but also a gangster and robs a lot of airports. He doesn’t live in a big house or anything, no he brings that what the life in the mafia is really like. He also brings his intensity and ferocity into this role; it is simply amazing to watch in the movie. Actually it is so hard to pick who is the best actor of the three main ones in Goodfellas, De Niro is so good but so are Liotta, and Pesci. Anyway this is a stunning performance and great imitation of real life gangster Jimmy the Gent.

Intimidating De Niro and friends!

Verdict: So hard to pick, but this one has to go to Robert De Niro again. He was playing someone from real life and nailed the role. It is amazing and awesome to watch him act. Al Pacino plays great mobsters too, but just not on the level of realism and intensity as De Niro.

Face-to-Face: So Al Pacino and Robert De Niro have been in three movies together. Godfather Part II but they never met on screen because they both took place in different time periods. In 2008 they did this awful piece of trash together called Righteous Kill, we will not talk about that for I will get depressed like Holden or something. But, in 1995 they did this cops and robbers movie called Heat. This movie is a masterpiece. The shootout after the bank job in downtown LA, single best shootout in film maybe, in the top 3 at least. Anyway there is this one scene; I will paste the link below. I will be talking about it and spoiling it. So if you haven’t seen the movie, for one go watch it, for two at least watch the scene below. It is about 6 minutes or so, but in my opinion well worth it. If you don’t watch it just be warned there may be spoilers ahead.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gyfIvMd4T0

Robert De Niro: During this face-to-face scene at the diner you can tell just by watching it that the performances are elevated by just that much. Finally two of the greatest actors meet and aren’t shooting or chasing each other, no they are having coffee, and the scene is filled with perfect, what seems to be to natural therefore unscripted dialogue, storm. De Niro is just playing classic him, with the whole hardened criminal and is so menacing at the table. Just so perfect with how he responds to Al. Cool, calculating, and deadly is given off by his eyes. And how he and Al actually seem to help each other in the scene. They help interpret their dreams and give some advice actually. This piece is brilliant and so well done, the dialogue and the intensity, the quiet intensity is just brilliant. De Niro does such a good job to, he realizes and knows he is talking and acting with one of the best, and it just elevates his performance that much more.

Al Pacino: Al also kills it in this scene. Very calm, not over the top like he is for other parts of the movie and is controlled. He also realizes that he is facing another one of the greats, and it is visible that he knows it and at a few points it looks as if he is trying too hard to outperform Robert De Niro. And unfortunately it doesn’t quite work. When watching the scene it is easy to think they are trying to compete against each other, and for Al Pacino it seems unfortunately true. In fact towards the end of the scene he seems to be trying so hard that he accidently cracks a smile. It just always brings me out of the moment right then. He doesn’t try but it appears out of character. So Al in the end, seems not to perform quite as well in the scene when going head to head with De Niro, he tries and for most of the time does fine, it is just until that very end that he slips in his acting.

 

Verdict: Robert De Niro, De Niro just can compete and act alongside his fellow great actors better than they can in almost all situations. Whether it be Al Pacino in Heat, or Marlon Brando in The Score, De Niro knows how to handle the intensity and pressure of working with them and deliver a better acting job.

Final Verdict: The category Count is 7 for Robert De Niro, and 3 for Al Pacino. So congratulations to Robert De Niro for winning the Geordan Stukey Official Best Actor Award! Actually there is no such thing unfortunately. So De Niro edged out Al in the end. The biggest winners for De Niro were the Range, and the Most influential role categories. If Al Pacino had won these categories it would have been a tie and I would give it to him, but he didn't so he ends up in the rear. Now please do not think Al Pacino is a bad actor or anything, he just doesn’t or cannot compete against De Niro. Al has had some truly great movies, possibly the greatest movie that has ever been made. But when comparing actor to actor he gets beaten out by the legendary Robert De Niro!

And in case you thought they were enemies or something, hear is a picture of them hanging out on the Godfather II set.