Film Al Pacino Vs Robert De Niro

A master piece will be a master piece, irrespective whether one or another high profile actor gets the role. So both were fortunate to be chosen in all those iconic mobster and Heist movies that everyone loves, like: Godfather, Scarface, Heat, Casino, Good Fellas etc., which were going to be iconic movies with them or with other high profile actors in their places.

Don't like this hero worshipping. Both did great things in a couple of great movies and about 90 % trash.
 
De Niro is easily the superior actor in my opinion and has the better filmography.
 
Always preferred Pacino. He is all about now and I think it ruined heat for me a little bit.

Thing about Pacino was his subtle changes during scenes. They are no longer subtle.

Pacino's range is more visible in movies like Frankie and Johnnie and Sea of Love.

There is a scene in Sea of Love when he is trying on these shoes and them gangsters walk in. Just his facial changes make that scene
 
Early Pacino had so much range and subtlety to his acting. He gave up around mid-90s, with maybe the random decent performance here and there.

Having said that, even caricature Pacino is fun to watch, cos no one does shouty as well as him.
 
When I consider my personal favourites, RDN wins out, but they're both absolute titans of the game with insane filmographies.

DeNiro
The Deer Hunter
Goodfellas
This Boy's Life
Meet The Parents
Silver Linings Playbook
Joker

Pacino
Scarface
Scent of a Woman
The Devil's Advocate
The Godfather

Left out the movies they starred in together. Heat is cinematic perfection.

 
Salt Bailly said:
When I consider my personal favourites, RDN wins out, but they're both absolute titans of the game with insane filmographies.

DeNiro
The Deer Hunter
Goodfellas
This Boy's Life
Meet The Parents
Silver Linings Playbook
Joker

Pacino
Scarface
Scent of a Woman
The Devil's Advocate
The Godfather

Left out the movies they starred in together. Heat is cinematic perfection.

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Dunno if you've seen them, but in Pacino's early work, you should also check out Serpico, Cruising and Dog day afternoon.
 
Yeah, Al Pacino's filmography in the 70s is nearly impeccable (Pollack's Bobby Deerfield seems to be the only hiccup). From his two low-key collaborations with Schatzberg to his works with big name director's like Coppola and Lumet, he was, from day one, a force to be reckoned with. It's incredible he didn't win that little golden statue during that period. Having said that, no one deserved it more than Denzel in 1993. He's my personal favourite of the two, but i admit that De Niro has a greater range. Also, in these discussions about movies in the 70s, i feel that John Cazale always deserves a mention. One of the biggest "what might have been" cases ever.
 
TheRedDevil'sAdvocate said:
Yeah, Al Pacino's filmography in the 70s is nearly impeccable (Pollack's Bobby Deerfield seems to be the only hiccup). From his two low-key collaborations with Schatzberg to his works with big name director's like Coppola and Lumet, he was, from day one, a force to be reckoned with. It's incredible he didn't win that little golden statue during that period. Having said that, no one deserved it more than Denzel in 1993. He's my personal favourite of the two, but i admit that De Niro has a greater range. Also, in these discussions about movies in the 70s, i feel that John Cazale always deserves a mention. One of the biggest "what might have been" cases ever.
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Cazale was considered to be the most talented out of that crop of actors, he was so good in all his roles. I love him in Dog day afternoon. Definitely would have gone on to have a stellar career.

What's crazy about Pacino is that he was seemingly a pretty introverted, insecure guy when he first started out.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Dunno if you've seen them, but in Pacino's early work, you should also check out Serpico, Cruising and Dog day afternoon.
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Saw Dog Day Afternoon a long time ago when I was probably too young to properly appreciate it. Serpico I haven't seen but feel like I have through osmosis, and Cruising I was only alerted to recently in the Friedkin thread. Hadn't heard of it prior to that. There are a few Friedkin movies that have joined my watchlist on the back of his death and that's one of them.
 
I think Heat is an extremely overrated movie. It’s not bad, but nowhere near where some people claim it to be.
 
They're both complimentary of one another in a Ronaldo/Messi kind of way. Likewise, once they depart there really aren't any Italian-American actors left who would come close to what they've delivered. The only potential missed opportunity is that Pacino didn't work more with Scorcese.
 
Salt Bailly said:
Saw Dog Day Afternoon a long time ago when I was probably too young to properly appreciate it. Serpico I haven't seen but feel like I have through osmosis, and Cruising I was only alerted to recently in the Friedkin thread. Hadn't heard of it prior to that. There are a few Friedkin movies that have joined my watchlist on the back of his death and that's one of them.
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Yeah I've also created myself a Friedkin watchlist, some new ones and some I want to rewatch. Great director.
HTG said:
I think Heat is an extremely overrated movie. It’s not bad, but nowhere near where some people claim it to be.
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In terms of the cop movie genre, it's pretty much up there, with actual characterization of both sides of the coin (life of crime vs enforcement), with no real judgment. It carries most of Mann's favourite themes and still works well almost 30 years after it was released.

Why do you feel it's overrated?
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Cazale was considered to be the most talented out of that crop of actors, he was so good in all his roles. I love him in Dog day afternoon. Definitely would have gone on to have a stellar career.

What's crazy about Pacino is that he was seemingly a pretty introverted, insecure guy when he first started out.
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Yup, fantastic talent. Dog Day Afternoon is the first time i saw him and he looked absolutely amazing in it. Interesting bit about Pacino in his early days. I remember Pfeiffer saying that he was so full of himself when they were shooting Scarface that she didn't have to act to make her character look cold and distant. :lol:

@HTG For what it is, it's excellent. It may get the extra points of being the first film to put Pacino and De Niro in the same scenes, but it's very well written and directed. Even the secondary characters matter and play a significant part in the plot. The bar was set high and everything was in its right place.
 
Salt Bailly said:
When I consider my personal favourites, RDN wins out, but they're both absolute titans of the game with insane filmographies.

DeNiro
The Deer Hunter
Goodfellas
This Boy's Life
Meet The Parents
Silver Linings Playbook
Joker

Pacino
Scarface
Scent of a Woman
The Devil's Advocate
The Godfather

Left out the movies they starred in together. Heat is cinematic perfection.

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Someone on here thinks Heat is meh, just cannot remember who.

e - above a few posts.
 
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Raoul said:
They're both complimentary of one another in a Ronaldo/Messi kind of way. Likewise, once they depart there really aren't any Italian-American actors left who would come close to what they've delivered. The only potential missed opportunity is that Pacino didn't work more with Scorcese.
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James Gandolfini would have had an interesting career in total if he didn't pass away so unexpectedly early.

But not in the DeNiro / Pacino strata obvs.
 
Jippy said:
Dunno about overrated, it's a decent film, albeit very long. The ending is a bit weak for me.
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Its a long film with a peculiar cadence. The ending, abrupt and anti-climactic as it was, was also oddly satisfying.
 
calodo2003 said:
James Gandolfini would have had an interesting career in total if he didn't pass away so unexpectedly early.

But not in the DeNiro / Pacino strata obvs.
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He was incredible in his Sopranos role, but struggled to get any traction otherwise, largely due to being typecast as Tony.

For example, he played an Army Colonel in 2001's The Last Castle (starring Robert Redford) and was ok, but nowhere near the magic of his TV work.
 
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Raoul said:
I feel like he was incredible in his Sopranos role, but struggled to get any traction otherwise, largely due to being typecast as Tony.

For example, he played an Army Colonel in 2001's The Last Castle (starring Robert Redford) and was ok, but nowhere near the magic of his TV work.
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I thought he was good in that & in The Thick of It adaption to film. He also stood out to me as the gay hitman in The Mexican, stealing the spotlight from Pitt & Roberts.
 
Raoul said:
Its a long film with a peculiar cadence. The ending, abrupt and anti-climactic as it was, was also oddly satisfying.
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Would agree with the first bit. I get they wanted some backstory for secondary characters, but the stand-in driver is a real contrivance to smooth the plot. After his backstory he only gets to drive 50 yards before being shot. The prolonged shootout works really well though.

Not sure about the ending. I think McAuley was more pragmatic and wouldn't have bothered with Waingro. Michael's motivation to do the last job was inexplicable too.
The ending in Mann's LA Takedown original TV movie version is better, though wouldn't have had the De Niro/Pacino emotional ending.
 
Raoul said:
They're both complimentary of one another in a Ronaldo/Messi kind of way. Likewise, once they depart there really aren't any Italian-American actors left who would come close to what they've delivered. The only potential missed opportunity is that Pacino didn't work more with Scorcese.
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Leonardo di Caprio?
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Yeah I've also created myself a Friedkin watchlist, some new ones and some I want to rewatch. Great director.

In terms of the cop movie genre, it's pretty much up there, with actual characterization of both sides of the coin (life of crime vs enforcement), with no real judgment. It carries most of Mann's favourite themes and still works well almost 30 years after it was released.

Why do you feel it's overrated?
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It might partly be the genre itself. I’m not too big on cop films. And I’m not a big fan of Mann in general. His movies are usually good, but I wouldn’t call any of them great.
With Heat I wouldn’t point to any specifics. It’s mostly a lack of interest in the characters for me. I often had the feeling the characters themselves didn’t matter, as they were just a vehicle to finally get De Niro and Al Pacino to star in the same scenes. So I basically didn’t really care what was happening. It was all a little underwhelming for me and I left the movie feeling that I didn’t get exactly what I was promised.
In itself it’s still a good movie. But it wouldn’t make my top 100.
 
Rooney in Paris said:
Leonardo di Caprio?
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Scorsese‘s biggest mistake in my opinion. A good and talented actor who peeked early and never bothered to perfect his craft. Can’t compare him to a great like De Niro in my view.
 
Surprised the answers are so mixed. De Niro is the far superior, subtler actor and has way more iconic roles. Take away the slightly overrated Godfather franchise and Al Pacino's bio doesn't look all that amazing.
 
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