Ambulance Driver...by Gonzo84

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

February 24, 2009: I really enjoyed this flick...I was 16 when I first saw it and to this day, I think it's one of Scorsese's most Underated films. I think that it's definitely a tribute to his masterpiece "Taxi Driver," and still just as good. Nicholas Cage is at the top of his game playing paramedic Frank Pierce. He's got the same sort of edge DeNiro had in "Taxi Driver" and delivers an outstanding performance that's seems to be overlooked. The story is wonderfully adapted from the Screenwriters own experiences as a paramedic in NYC in the early 90s. There's such gritty and edgey feel to this film that traps you inside this dark and mysterious world which has yet to be featured on film. I'm from NY and majority of my family is employed within the Healthcare system and this gave me sort of an inside look of the kind of madness they would have to deal with. I love how Frank Pierce, like Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver), suffers from insomia and works the night shift, which allows him to deal with number of crazy characters on the mean streets of NY. Scorsese is the perfect director for this film, since he knows NYC and all its beauty but also its horror. He beautifully captures a sort of Underground NY that tourists and such aren't aware of. Which is the same thing he did with "Taxi Driver." There's a nice colorful cast to go along for the ride with John Goodman, Ving Rhames whom plays a overly Religous preacher type, and Tom Sizemore whom is a psychotic mess that suprisingly makes you laugh. There is a lot of humor within this dark film, but there is also some tough drama and hard issues. It seems like since "Taxi Driver," the streets are still an open sewer and has yet to be cleaned up. Only Scorsese and Spike Lee know how to tell the true stories of the streets and to do it right. So if you want an edgy story with an amazing cast and crew with vivid images to go along with it, check this out...

I Also Recommend: Taxi Driver.

If you havn't done it, you probably wont get it.by Anonymous

Reader Rating:
See Detailed Ratings

October 31, 2004: I was a paramedic in the 4th busiest EMS system in the nation. I retired after 22 years. I was a transport medic not a fire fighter. When this movie first came out, I watched it in our guarters, while I was on duty. My partner and I both commented that ' we've had days like that' That's why there is probably such a mixed review. I believe anyone who has worked at least a few years on a rig, or engine, would have seen somthing in this movie that they could identify with.