Image: Bill/Phillips Italo/Judeo Productions
About This Quiz
When a 1976 film is hailed as “one of the greatest films of all time,†then you know that’s a cinematic classic there in front of you. This is what they say about the controversial anti-hero film, "Taxi Driver." Think you can muster enough strength to drive through this quiz? Then hop on and take it!
"Taxi Driver" has always been hailed as an "anti-hero†narrative, since the lead character is not that heroic in deeds and thoughts. Who portrayed the anti-hero in this classic flick?
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro played the role of Travis Bickle, the anti-hero, in "Taxi Driver." In this role, he became iconic in global pop culture for his looks and his lines, not to mention his acting.
Robert Redford
Montgomery Clift
Ricardo Montalban
Travis isn’t exactly in dire straits, but he applied for a job as a taxi driver because he can’t sleep at night. What do you call this condition?
narcolepsy
PTSD
bipolar disorder
insomnia
Travis is obviously suffering from insomnia, since it affects him for consecutive nights. It’s a mystery how he could even function at daytime if he can’t sleep at night.
In which US city does Travis drive the iconic yellow taxi cab?
San Francisco
New York
The iconic yellow cab is a fixture in New York City, USA. It’s good to discover that the hiring process for cab drivers is strict, but also humane.
Tokyo
Rome
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Travis also feels like he’s just floating around, after being discharged from this kind of military service.
US Air Force
US Marines
Travis got an honorable discharge from being a US Marine. At 26 years of age, that’s a really young veteran.
US Navy
US Armory
Since he can’t really sleep due to his insomnia, Travis took on this shift in his taxi driving routine.
night shift
Travis mostly drives his cab during the night shift, when he can’t get a wink of sleep. Plus, unlike other drivers, he’s not choosy in the destinations, and drives all kinds of passengers in all boroughs of New York, even the dangerous ones.
day shift
24-hour shift
weekend shift
It’s 1976, and Travis’ damaged psyche is apparently a result of — and a social commentary on — the US’ engagement in this war, where he was deployed as a Marine.
World War I
Civil War
Vietnam War
The US psyche is a bit damaged by what happened to the country in its involvement in the Vietnam War. Not equipped with dealing with after-war trauma, vets like Travis are left to fend for themselves when it comes to mental healing, at least during that time.
Cold War
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This "Moonlighting" TV actress portrayed Betsy, the subject of Travis’ affection, in the film.
Colleen Atwood
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd was a model first before being cast in movies. "Taxi Driver" was one of the first few films she worked on in her career.
Mariel Hemingway
Linda Blair
Betsy apparently works in the campaign office of Senator Charles Palantine who wants to run for this higher office.
Mayor of New York City
the US presidency
Senator Charles Palantine is the New York senator who is currently campaigning to become the next US President, if he gets nominated. Betsy is helping closely to make that happen.
US Secretary of State
Office of the Solicitor General
Seeing Betsy for the first time was memorable for Travis, since he finds her beautiful while wearing a dress as she glides through the streets of New York. What color is her dress that Travis also finds unforgettable?
red
white
Travis found Betsy unforgettable when he saw her walking and wearing a white dress. Even if he didn’t know who she was, he was determined to find out.
blue
green
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Aside from not getting enough sleep due to his insomnia, Travis gets these massive pains, probably as a result of, well, not sleeping enough.
flatulence
back pains
headaches
Travis tries to take some medication to alleviate his massive headaches. It’s really a mystery how he could drive without sleep or with headaches.
sore throat
It’s interesting to note that a loner character like Travis would do this kind of expressive activity on a regular basis, but he does. What is this hobby of his?
creates ice sculptures in Central Park
writing in a diary
Travis turns out to be an avid diarist. He writes what he does every day, from the more mundane things like what he had to eat, up to the deeper thoughts of what he thinks about certain events or people.
plays music at Birdland
paints with his blood
Yes or no: Does Travis live alone?
no
yes
Travis lives alone in a very small and decrepit apartment somewhere in New York. It’s not stated where, but it appears seedy.
yes, but only on weekends
yes, but only during the daytime
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Travis finds it disgusting that he sometimes washes this kind of liquid off from the back seat of his taxi.
blood
semen
none of the above
# 1 & #2
Since he drives at night, Travis picks up the more adventurous couples. That, or he also encounters violent people or victims of violence who leave traces of blood as well. Icky.
Because he drives anywhere during the night, Travis encounters people he calls “scum,†like the pimp named Sport. Who played this sketchy character?
Christopher Walken
John Travolta
Laurence Fishburne
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is a New York native. His career is as illustrious and diverse as the city in which he grew up.
If Sport is a pimp, then he sells women to customers, like the 12-year-old prostitute named Iris. Which Hollywood A-lister portrayed the young prostitute?
Goldie Hawn
Mary Tyler Moore
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster was already an acting veteran at the age of 12, from being an active child actor and TV commercial model. But the pros still wanted to make sure that her young mind could process the violent and adult content of her role and this film. She turned out alright, folks!
Mariel Hemingway
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Taken from Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo book, "Taxi Driver's" director not only appears briefly in his own film, but does a full scene with Travis inside his taxi as well. Who directed the film?
Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese portrayed a taxi passenger who wanted to spy on his cheating wife. It was from his monologues where Travis got the idea of buying a specific type of gun.
Francis Ford Coppola
Federico Fellini
Jean Luc Godard
Travis pretends to apply as a volunteer in Senator Palantine’s campaign office so he could get close enough to Betsy to actually have one of these with her.
a child
a date
Travis doesn’t seem to know the proper rules or etiquette of asking a woman out for a date. While he’s not rude nor abrasive, Betsy finds it different, so she finally agrees to one.
an orgasm
a marriage
Before he became a taxi driver, Travis watches these kinds of shows to help him sleep, but to no avail.
pornographic shows
New York is full of side shows and places to go to when one wants to see anything pornographic. From a live sex show to dancing nude people to X-rated movies, the city has them all.
cartoon shows
circus shows
freak shows
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Due to his dysfunctional hobbies, Travis blows his date with Betsy by taking her to see this kind of movie.
a documentary movie
a dirty movie
Betsy gets uncomfortable when Travis brings her to a theater that shows sex education type films. And since these are European in nature, they go all the way. So, of course, no more dates for him after this…
a Jackie Chan film
a silent film
Travis tries to woo back a turned-off Betsy by sending these fragrant and pretty things to her apartment.
teddy bears
chocolates
flowers
Betsy is being bombarded by flowers, as a sign of apology from Travis. But she’ll have none of it.
love letters
Feeling directionless after being blown off by Betsy, Travis decides to strengthen himself and buys some of these items to boot.
new shoes
handguns
Travis decides to focus on strengthening his body as a way to cope with Betsy’s rejection, and as a way of maintaining his health since becoming a taxi driver. He also hooked up with a friend who had a friend who sold him some handguns.
bowler hats
real estate
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Spoken like a true introvert: Travis once admits that “____ has followed me my whole life.†What is he talking about?
violence
loneliness
"Loneliness has followed me my whole life,†says Travis. You’d wonder what events in his life happened prior to being a taxi driver for him to feel this way, but it’s all a mystery...
gayness
married women
After acquiring guns, Travis busies himself by practicing how to hide them in his body, in preparation for this plan of his. What is this destructive plan?
to commit suicide
to assassinate Senator Palantine
Travis busies himself so much that he even creates specialized sleeves to hide his guns. This is in preparation for his grand plan of assassinating Senator Palantine.
to blow off Grand Central Station
to kidnap Betsy
Iconic line of all time: As Travis practices how to shoot his guns in front of a mirror, he also utters this famous line.
A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
I’ll be back.
Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
You talking to me?
Travis rehearses how to draw his guns from different parts of his body. He also utters “You talking to me?†as if he’s bravely addressing someone, which perhaps he can’t do in real life.
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Out of character or what?: The loner Travis seems to have a soft spot for these people, as we see him writing a Happy Anniversary card-note to them. Who are they?
his children
his ex-wife
his parents
Travis' parents are still alive, and they live outside New York. He’s very gentle and kind in his writings to them that you’d never guess it’s the same person who practices gun slinging in front of his mirror.
his twin
A Wild West thing: Travis is seen wearing this kind of fancy footwear identified with specific types of people. What leathery footwear is this?
Doc Martens
Uggs
cowboy boots
Travis is seen polishing his fancy-looking cowboy boots one day. Perhaps by wearing them, he also feels like a cowboy out on a mission to help humanity.
snowshoes
In preparation for the execution of his big plan of the moment, Travis dons this kind of standout hairdo.
mohawk
Before the day of his big event, Travis had his hair cut in a mohawk. It looks like the middle part is all that's left, and hair on both sides are shaven off.
afro
bobcut
white side wall
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But it fails: When Travis was about to execute his assassination plan against Senator Palantine, he gets thwarted by suspicious specialized guards around the politician. What kind of guards are around him?
Secret Service agents
Secret Service agents are all over the Senator’s outdoor events, so any small move would be noticeable to their watchful eyes. By talking with one, Travis upped his suspicious element more to them, making him flee and forget his plan.
Kingsmen
NYPD
The Marines
A cowboy with many heroic plans, Travis also directs his rage at the scum of the city, and planned to do this to young prostitutes, specifically to Iris.
adopt them
kill them all
rescue her
Bothered by an earlier encounter with Iris, where she wanted to get away from her pimp and rode his cab, Travis redirects some of his energies into rescuing Iris, and possibly other innocent-looking prostitutes roaming the streets. He's bothered that these girls start so young.
put them to sleep
While he was driving around at night, passing by seedy places in New York, Travis wished that the city would be washed away of these scum by this.
hail
a flash flood
the rains
Travis narrates how he wishes the rains could pour down hard so that it would wash the streets of these scum people. By scum, he means all the degenerate-looking characters he encounters nightly, some not necessarily bad.
snowstorm
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Travis tries to “rent†Iris for the night from her pimp, Sport, but not to use her for sex. Instead, he does this to her.
takes her picture and sells it overseas
talks to her to convince her to leave prostitution
On the pretext of paying for her services, Travis takes Iris and talks to her in private about leaving this seedy industry. Through their talks, he gets to know her a little better, all the more wanting to rescue her from this destructive path.
paints her in the nude
recites poetry to her
One earlier event where Travis got to practice shooting his brand new handgun was during this unfortunate incident in a convenience store. What happened there?
kidnapping
police shootout
a suicide bombing
a holdup
Travis walks into a convenience store where a goon walks in after him and declares a holdup. Travis gets his gun and shoots the man in cold blood, and the store owner lets him go as a sign of gratefulness.
A trick for tricks: The teen prostitute, Iris, when asked what her name is, gives this name, for a better recall by customers. What is that name?
Babe
Girl
Easy
Iris wants her tricks to remember her name easily, so she goes by the name Easy. Yeah, too easy.
Chick
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Before enacting his assassination attempt, Travis pens a note to Iris saying he might be dead by the time she read the note, so he’s leaving her with some of this, to hopefully convince her to stop prostituting herself.
one of his guns
New York souvenirs
money
Travis keeps his money and encloses it in a note he leaves for Iris. Apparently, he also found her parents and made it possible for the teen to go home, which she eventually does.
his notebooks
He had to shoot someone: In the gruesome finale, Travis finally directs his pent-up rage at Sport and Iris’ current customer, and does this to the men.
violates them sexually
shoots them dead
Travis hunts down Sport and shoots him, as well as Iris’ latest customer and the man who oversees the transactions. The bloodbath ended with all of the sleazy men getting killed, while Iris screams amidst the violence, and Travis tries to shoot himself unsuccessfully.
decapitates them
cuts off their toes
You Got:
/35
Bill/Phillips Italo/Judeo Productions