Taxi Driver

Continuity mistake: Travis and Betsy are having their snack during her break. During the conversation there are several instances when vehicles you can spot through the window behind De Niro do not move to Cybil Shepherd's side, or vice versa suddenly show up behind her appearing out of nothing. For instance when he says he says "quite a few problems" the orange car does not travel in between shots, and then a taxi appears behind her. Then there's a bus behind him which is suddenly gone between shots, etc. (00:25:00)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: During the chat the protagonist and Cybil Shepherd have at the diner, the passersby outside often walk back and forth. Easily recognizable for instance a redhead with a white shirt, blue skirt and a red ribbon tie, a woman with a blue tee and grey hair, another one in a pink tailleur and straw hat, and many more. (00:23:30)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the last part of the 'stool pigeon' bit between Cybill Shepherd and Albert Brooks, the paper sheet rolled in the typewriter has moved without Tom operating the device at all between shots. His hands also change position between shots (for instance, he points his finger with both hands joined at first, but at the cut just one is raised). (00:19:50)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: When Betsy pranks Tom with the paper cup, she 'spills' it with the right hand in the front view, and holds it in her left hand in the reverse shot. She then lifts it well above shoulder level and turns it upside down to show that it is empty, but in the next shot it is at the same height and angle as before. (00:18:25)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the first scene with the fellow cabbies at the diners, Wizard introduces Doughboy and Charlie T to Travis. Charlie in the very first shot has his toothpick on the right corner of the mouth, but in the close-up it is all the way to the left. (00:16:00)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Travis is at the concession stand of the theater and has all his candy bars on the counter. Even after he draws the popcorn in, the bars are off the mag the dismissive cashier is reading. She reaches for the cheap cola she somehow manages to pour, and when she puts it with Travis' stuff the magazine is open at a different page and the candy is on top of it. (00:09:25)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: After applying for his job, Travis walks towards the exit of the garage, jacket unzipped. In the next shot, the passersby change and his jacket is zipped 1/3 way. (00:04:35)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: The guns Travis purchases from Easy Andy are (regardless of what Andy calls them), from left to right, a Smith and Wesson Model 29, a Smith and Wesson Model 36, a Smith and Wesson Escort, an Astra Constable. In the overhead shots at the gun range when Travis goes to practice immediately after, some of the guns change: the first 44 Magnum is the same, but the 38 becomes a Colt Detective Special, the S&W Escort a Galesi-Brescia Brevetto 5, the Astra a Walther PPK (which is what Andy called it earlier).

Continuity mistake: The close-up of the taxi fare meter during the scene with Martin Scorsese's cameo has lighting inconsistent with the rest of the scene. (00:41:00)

Sammo

Taxi Driver mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When the store owner beats the carcass of the robber, Travis' pistol is either to the right of the box on the counter or to the left, together with the gun of the robber. (01:09:30)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: Travis Bickle is preparing for his mission. He puts the flowers in the sink and burns them, he cuts one sleeve from his shirt so he can accommodate a special retractable holster, and then...then he is writing a note for Iris, wearing a shirt with both sleeves, in a room still full of wilted flowers. (01:33:00)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: When Travis joins Easy Andy in the cab, cars and people in the street behind him change in the reverse angle. (00:54:00)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the close-up of the stabbing, Murray Moston's hand looks different compared to the previous shot. (01:41:20)

Sammo

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the man has DeNiro pull over to the curb and says he is going to kill his wife with a .44 gun, there is a close up of the meter clicking over to $2.75. In the next shot from the backseat, the meter reads $0.65.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The reason for that is because after Travis stopped the car, he turned off the meter. Then Scorcese's character asks what he's doing, and to put the meter back on. The $.65 indicates "$.65 first 1/6 mile" as clearly painted on the cab.

As the text of the original mistake stated, there is a close-up of the meter. A biiig one, that follows by quite a few seconds the meter being turned off. You can see the 0.65 before that close-up, you can see it after, it then changes to 0.75 and so on. This correction is totally wrong and the original post is correct.

Sammo

More mistakes in Taxi Driver

Travis Bickle: [Into the mirror.] You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin' to? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here. Who the f**k do you think you're talking to? Oh, yeah? Okay! [whips out gun.] Huh?

More quotes from Taxi Driver
More trivia for Taxi Driver

Question: Is there an official explanation to the ending of the movie? Some people say that it was Travis's dream sequence, and others say it was Travis going back to his manic depressive self again. What caused Travis to get so startled when he was looking at the rear vision mirror? Did Scorsese deliberately make the ending very vague or is there supposed to be an explanation to the ending?

Answer: This is just my opinion. Remember Iris's line "Have you ever tried looking at your own eyeballs in the mirror?" or something to that effect. Well, Travis sees the madness reflected in his own eyes, doesn't like what he sees (as it reminds him of what he has done, what he might yet do).

Answer: There is. Both Scorsese (in the audio commentary) and screenwriter Paul Schrader in multiple interviews establish that the ending is not to be taken as a dream sequence or anything of the sort. I love the previous answer, by the way, it does nail what has also been stated; while Travis survived this time, it's very likely there will be a next.

Sammo

More questions & answers from Taxi Driver

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.