I'll have to say, I agree with that one. My favorite Pacino movie was When a Man Loves A Woman, with Melanie Griffith. Man, she's funny in that one and the chase scenes were great. Dude. Play along.
Nice post, Stedd, but you forgot what just might have been his greatest role, The Deer Hunter. Just an incredible film and De Niro? Words fail me.
Honestly, I have never seen deer hunter. Shocker, yes, but I have never seen it. Even Taxi Driver was before my time but I bought it and man, that was good stuff. I think the whole "of our generation" is incorrect because most of Pacino/DeNiro's great works are so long ago that IMO the actors of MY generation are Hanks, Washington, and Russell Crowe.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/WO4tIrjBDkk&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/WO4tIrjBDkk&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> Pacino gets my vote. Too many great roles already mentioned. I dont think deniro could pull off a tony montana
Both are my favorite actors but pacino has been in more of my very favorite movies so I prefer him and voted that way. I'd say deniro beats him in range though
I found the best of Pacino's roles and movies > than DeNiro's, so I go with Al. Also, I think the worst of Deniro is worse than the worst of Pacino, not that that really means much.
having acting range is pretty important..Al has played cops and criminals for all his notable movies. I'm not saying DeNiro didn't either, but he has much more personality range..by far.
I can't decide who's better; they both seem to draw from something unique and genuine in their own psyches, and I bet the right project could draw it out again. That having been said, I think there were too many good actors in the '70s for me to call either one of these two the best. Everytime I see All the President's Men, The Candidate or even Electric Horseman I wonder how Redford never gets into this discussion. I do think they should be commended for opening doors for Italian actors not named Sinatra.
I'd like to see either of them really stretch their range. Dudes in general love people who play good tough guys. They might even be good at emoting in that mode, but it doesn't make them "the" best actor. I'm iffy on the debate between the value of character actors versus personality actors. It may require a bit of madness to appear to become another person, but to be different kinds of emotional as basically yourself is just underwhelming when you look at performers like Day-Lewis, Depp, Oldman, etc. Which is more impressive/difficult? This debate reminds me of the all too common Scarface poster on every college freshman's wall. If Brando hadn't been in the original Godfather, I might not have enjoyed it as much as I did.
pachino has played a few good roles, but deniro is on another tier compared to pachino. i think a lot of people like pachino for the godfather's and also scarface, but deniro is obviously the choice. jack nicholson should be mentioned here, just because he's jack. who is the greatest actress of our time?
I have to put in my .02. Robert DeNiro is my 2nd favorite actor after Dustin Hoffman. So, I'm not going to even get into all the great roles, he's had, from Mean Streets through Analyze That. However, you can't say it's a landslide over Pacino. Most of his best stuff, his work in the Shakespearean theater (especially playing King Lear), hasn't even been seen by most. As far as his movies, he's certainly done comedy- check him out in a movie called Scarecrow with Gene Hackman. Anyone who's seen this movie can confirm Pacino's ability as a comedic actor. Then, you have roles as diverse as: The Godfather The Godfather Part II And Justice For All Serpico Dog Day Afternoon (brilliant in this) Author, Author Bobby Deerfield Dick Tracy Scent of a Woman along with many others, including recent ones, and you've have to say Pacino is very close to DeNiro. If anything, Dustin Hoffman has played more diverse roles than anyone I can think of. You want a: + Woman with an attitude? Tootsie + Autistic adult? Rainman + Thug who murders in cold blood? Straight Time + Preppy, highly nervous college student? The Graduate + Homeless man with a rapidly advancing sickness? Midnight Cowboy + Biting, on-the-edge standup comic? Lenny Bruce Too many others to think of.
