Mean Streets [1080p] (1973)

Having watched a number of (director) Martin Scorecese's profane/violent crime films - some good, some bad - his first entry here is very different from the rest in one crucial aspect: it's boring!! Love him or hate him, you can't say that about his other films.This film just doesn't have much life to it. Yes, there is some action but something is missing, perhaps characters that one could care about. After a while, I found I just did not care what happened...period. I canned it with 40 minutes to go. A dozen years later, I gave it another shot, and it was still just as boring and unappealing.The only interesting facet was to see such young-and-skinny well-known actors like Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. Otherwise, these "mean streets" are nothing but a dead end, so turn around and head in another direction. Don't waste your gas.

Mean Streets [1080p] (1973)

The screenplay for the movie initially began as a continuation of the characters in Whos That Knocking. Scorsese changed the title from Season of the Witch to Mean Streets, a reference to Raymond Chandlers essay "The Simple Art of Murder", wherein Chandler writes, "But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid." Scorsese sent the script to Corman, who agreed to back the film if all the characters were black. Scorsese was anxious to make the film so he considered this option, but actress Verna Bloom arranged a meeting with potential financial backer Jonathan Taplin, who was the road manager for the musical group The Band. Taplin liked the script and was willing to raise the $300,000 budget that Scorsese wanted if Corman promised, in writing, to distribute the film. The blacksploitation suggestion was to come to nothing when funding from Warner Bros. allowed him to make the film as he intended with Italian characters. 041b061a72