Taxi (I) (1998) User Reviews (132)

Nice French action comedy

[rbverhoef · 7/10 · 3 May 2004]

Written by Luc Besson (director of 'Léon' and 'The Fifth Element') this French film is funnier and with better action than most American blockbusters. It tells the story of Daniel (Samy Naceri) who starts as a taxi driver. He is an excellent driver but he never rides by the rules. With the police his taxi is famous, although they have never caught him or even seen a license plate. One day Daniel takes a woman Camille (Manuela Gourary) to her home and she says she will keep his card to call again. She does when her son Émilien (Frédéric Diefenthal) needs a ride. Daniel, who thinks Émilien works with IBM, of course disobeys all the rules and at the end of the ride Émilien reveals his true identity.

Fortunately for Daniel the police has some trouble with a Mercedes-gang. Bank robbers who even inform the police before they rob a bank, with a Mercedes as the getaway car. Since Daniel knows much of cars he can help Émilien solve the case and keep his drivers license. Émilien desperately wants to solve this case because he wants to impress Petra (Emma Sjöberg), the girl he is in love with but always looks down on him. Daniel agrees since his driving is his life. He has to miss a lot of quality time with his girlfriend Lilly (Marion Cotillard) for this.

I agree with you if you say the story sounds familiar. That part is not very original although it has some original touches. Daniel, for example, was a pizza delivery boy before he started his job as a taxi driver and the early scenes that deal with this fact are a lot of fun to watch. But the story is not what 'Taxi' is about. It is about funny moments and some good action. I have to admit there are plenty of funny moments, every scene between Daniel and Lilly is terrific, the action looks good and the cinematography for this kind of movie is perfect. Although the character of Daniel can get on your nerves, a little too much of a wise guy, Samy Naceri does a nice job portraying him.

In the end I enjoyed this movie very much. The clichés and simple choices sometimes (the bad guy grabs his gun the minute Émilien reveals himself as a police officer who wants to ask some questions) can not spoil the fun the movie has, and therefore the audience. Don't expect a 'Lethal Weapon' but it is not that far from it.

Lots of fun, action, laughters and spectacular race cars

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 2 June 2008]

The movie is developed in Marseille where a pizza delivery named Daniel, (Sami Naceri) drives a scooter, though he ultimately gets his wishes, a taxi license. The foul-mouthed cabbie join forces with a bungler inspector, a loser named Emilien(Frederic Diefenthal). Daniel is the fastest cabman with an attractive fiancée(Marion Cotillard), while Emilian goes after a gorgeous Inspector woman(Emma Sjoberg) and commanded by chief Commissaire(Bernard Farcey). The police Inspector is a complete inept behind the car and under skirts his mother. When Daniel is caught for speed infraction, then he's forced to collaborate with Emilien. They pursue a gang of violent German banks robbers and when they are on the heels of the band , the crooks drive a speed demon pursued by the taxi in a fast and furious race cars. This action-comedy film chronicling the relationship between the narrow-minded cabdriver and a botcher cop.

The motion picture blends action packed, cars pursuits, humor, shootouts, rip roaring and is pretty amusing. From the start to the ending the action pace is fast moving, provides fast and furious entertainment with spectacular scenes.Displays nonstop action and is extremely bemusing and hilarious. There are chases galore in breathtaking velocity and with impressive finale race cars, filmed by magnificent stunts and excellent visual effects. Luminous cinematography and adequate musical score fitting to action by Akhenaton. The picture is lavishly produced by great producer and director Luc Besson and well directed by Gerard Pirés. Followed by three sequels : Taxi 2(2000), Taxi 3(2003) y Taxi 4(2007), all directed by Gerard Kraczyc and same actors and an American version with Queen Lafitah and directed by Tim Story. The flick will like to adrenaline lovers and those young people looking amusing and strong emotions, It's a must see for the cars buffs.

Fun Ride

[kosmasp · 8/10 · 10 October 2007]

Of course a bit silly and not much plot to be found here. Still much better than the hideous US Remake (that can be found somewhere else here on IMDb, just look under movie connections. I have rated and commented that too)!

The main characters (a cab driver and a police man) and their struggles (indivudually and with one another) are just great fun to watch. There are also a few running gags, that ran through the series (or at least some of the follow-ups), that started here, one involving the cab drivers girl friend. The storyline could've gone wrong, but it ultimately worked out (at least in the first installment). When you see ghosts, you know who to call, when you need a fast taxi, now you also know who to call ... ;o)

Cool, Clean, Comic, Car Caper on Crack!

[RICH! · 3 December 1999]

Why do people take films such as this SO seriously. Besson doesn't have to make the same film every time, he might want to do something for a laugh at some point, and that's what he's done here. The film is COOL to the maximum from the setting to the acting to the location to the soundtrack. It is a well rounded little baby of a film that Besson has knocked up in his spare time and just proves what an all round top bloke he is. Go see this film with an open mind and you can't fault it simple easy clean storyline lets the movie flow and move easily and when you stack on the petrolhead action on top of the layer of humour (which was okay) and put between good start sequence and highly amusing plot ending bread, you've got a veritable good movie sandwich. Once again French film is proven to be quite brilliant. Give this to some blockbuster US outfit and they'll create some half-assed dross that feels like walking through bubblegum. Instead its quick, slick and an all round top flick. Only the Italian Job comes close.

An OK French comedy!!!

[kevin_blaze · 6/10 · 7 January 2002]

Daniel is an aging pizza boy with only one thing on his mind - speed. For the past six years, he's waited for one day, and its finally here.the day he gets his taxi license. With his ride already souped up, Daniel is out on the streets in no time breaking speed limits. One passenger turns out to be Emilien, a bumbling police inspector who busts him. However, instead of sending him to jail, he makes a deal with Daniel - if Daniel helps him catch a gang of bank robbers, then Daniel's record will be wiped clean. Now the two must team up to stop the Mercedes Gang before they get away...again.

Taxi is one part racing, one part buddy cop flick. The formula works well here, though there's less racing than I would have liked. The movie is entertaining throughout, though the storyline remains a bit on the thin side.

Conclusion: It is an OK French comedy/action. Fun to watch but might be rated fairly. I mean this movie is not very bad and not very good. This movie is on the middle side.

Nostalgia hits in.

[undeaddt · 7/10 · 26 February 2018]

This movie is a real diamond. It brings so many great memories and I just can't say enough good things about it. The main character has a great personality and is a great actor, the cop is as funny as a guy can be, the car scenes are on point, it is fun and funny at the same time, altho the plot is very shallow. Having an exact replica from that Peugeot would be a dream come true for me...7/10

Fun

[Antagonisten · 6/10 · 14 March 2005]

French movies almost always appeals to me. There is a playful attitude to film-making in France that make their movies enjoyable even when the plot is paper-thin and the premise far from fantastic.

The Taxi-driver Daniel dreams of becoming a race-driver. But in the meantime he plagues the streets of Marseilles with his severely customized Peugeot. When robberies are being made by criminals in high-speed cars, the police enlist the help of Daniel and his car.

The plot is, like i said, nothing new. But still this movie is an entertaining ride, filled with both good portions of comedy as well as car-chases. The actors mostly do their parts, even though i feel the acting leaves a bit more to wish for. Especially Samy Naceri in the lead is more annoying than fun. Bernard Farcy as the police captain is hilarious though.

I recommend this to people who like watching car-chases and fast-paced light comedy. It might not be revolutionary, but it's fun. I rate it 6/10.

A great film all round!

[chalkoutline · 10/10 · 5 December 2002]

In my opinion this is the one of the best mainstream French movies in a long while. I know that for many of us subtitled French movies are not regular choices. The film didn't break any UK/USA box office records (presumably as people were put of by its subtitles and french origins) which is a real shame. Well why should you give this one a try? Here goes...

The movie was written and produced by Luc Besson, director of such films as Leon (aka The Professional in the USA), The Fifth Element (with Bruce Willis), Kiss of the Dragon (with Jet Li and Bridget Fonda) and Nikita (aka La Femme Nikita in the USA).

The story follows Daniel, a moped pizza delivery guy who has worked to fulfill his dream of becoming a Marseilles taxi driver. He has tuned and tweaked his own taxi into something a little special... something a little out of the ordinary... I don't want to give the game away so I'll leave it there!

The film is a fast paced thrill ride that crosses the boundaries of action, comedy, romance, farce and buddy movie amongst many other genres. The characters are likeable, the humour is quick and snappy and the driving is fast and furious (some of the best chases seen on screen for a few years). After a short while you barely realise that you are reading the subtitles. The storyline may not be particularly original but it is well executed overall. The soundtrack is funky and fits in perfectly with the film.

It's not Shakespeare, but it never sets out to be Shakespeare. So if you are looking for a nicely shot film, suitable for just about anyone, give it a try.

Entertaining Comedy Thriller

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 12 October 2005]

I knew TAXI was a French film with a screenplay by Luc Besson but that was all I knew about it . I speculated that since it was written by Besson we'd be seeing a very violent thriller but that's not what TAXI turned out to be since it's an entertaining comedy

Pizza delivery boy Daniel Morales drives his own unlicensed taxi and one day makes the mistake of driving ( In his own illegal manner ) Emilien to his place of work which is bad news for Daniel because Emilien is a police inspector . Daniel is given the choice of helping the police catch a bunch of German bank robbers dubbed " The Mercedes Gang " or lose his driving license

Did I say this was entertaining ? It's also very likable and much of that's down to Besson's screenplay which is devoid of the sometimes sickening violence which did spoil for me NIKITA and LEON and they only hint that it was written by Besson being the fact that policemen are stupid . You do get the impression from all of his movies that Besson has a pathological dislike of cops but thankfully he doesn't get too polemical this time . Director Gerard Pires complements the screenplay by casting two young and likable actors in the lead roles

There are a couple of flaws to TAXI . While being the chase and crash sequences are well directed it's unlikely cars flip up into the air as seen here . There's also a plot hole in that if the cops know where the raids are going to take place they don't bring in helicopter surveillence , but again being a Besson script the police are portrayed as being terminally stupid so I don't know if it's a plot hole as such . One thing that did annoy me is Daniel and Emilien sharing a joint which is a scene that certainly wasn't needed in the film

But I saw several films the day I saw this and TAXI was undoubtedly the best movie I saw that day . It's not too difficult to see why the French film industry has been so successful over the years

A breath of fresh air

[justine_3 · 10/10 · 10 September 2001]

I normally avoid action films and car chases bore me, but I watched Taxi on a friend's recommendation and have to say that it is one of the best films I've seen in a long time. Everything about it is pure class which may be something to with it being French. The premise of the film is beautifully simple - a speed-freak taxi driver Daniel and an inept policeman have to work together to catch some bank robbers. The relatively trivial nature of their mission is the perfect vehicle (excuse the pun) for the ever-so French humour of the script. They aren't out to save the world or stop evil for the good of all mankind (as is too often the case in American action films), but both want to stop the criminals for their own purely selfish reasons. In this setting the witty banter of the heroes is perfectly natural, especially compared with the cliched one-liners said in the face of doom found in most films in this genre.

A mismatched pair of heroes is pretty much standard in action films (Lethal Weapon being the most famous case), but here is works well as they manage to be more than just stereotypes and are believable even if their circumstances aren't. Both characters come across as real people, flawed, but likeable, especially the roguishly charming Daniel.

Despite being an action film, special-effects are kept to a minimum and although they are a large part of the film, the high speed car sequences are never self-indulgent, peppered with humour and brilliantly directed so as to hold the attention of even of the most "seen it all before" viewers (i.e. me).

All in all a refreshing change from Hollywood comedy or action films and one which I would happily watch again and again.

decent wasn't all that great

[atinder · 6/10 · 8 June 2014]

I was little disappointed with this movie, I thought would have been better then it was.

Wells, it's miles better silly Hollywood remake that was turned this action movie in into kind of chick flick.

I thought the movie was decent at all, there were some great funny moments that made me laugh out loud.

I did think there would be a lot more action in this movie, there some actions in scene , which were good but nothing really stood out.

The acting was decent wasn't all that great

6 out of 10

A most excellent film...

[cooper-dale · 10/10 · 3 May 2006]

I bought this film by accident, not realising it was French, and when I did I just stuck it in a cupboard and thought I'd pass it off onto someone else. Some months later I actually open it up and stick it in, thinking I'd may as well see what I'd bought.

I am VERY glad I did, this film is excellent, and put me onto the path of discovering foreign cinema by starting at the best. Sure it may not have the high budget thrills that Hollywood seem to think are necessary in such films but for breathtaking action and some hilarious comedy moments Taxi is amazing. Filmed on location for a lot of it, there are some stunning shots of Marsielle, the marina and countryside etc.

So for brilliant action, comedy, and a fair bit of sexiness, Taxi is an ideal film. Tres bon!

Uneven but Amusing Comedy.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 28 October 2012]

No one can accuse this movie of being slow. All the multiple car chases aside, the editing is fast, the unexpected incidents are piled one atop the other, and the speech is REALLY fast. I think I read somewhere that the French take the palm when it comes to syllables per minute in the Indo-European League.

Naceri is a brand new taxi driver who unwittingly takes a police officer for a quick spin at 120 klicks in a 30 zone. His punishment is to be swept up as a driver in the police man hunt for the Mercedes gang, a handful of Germans who drive scarlet Mercedes to each of their bank robberies and somehow escape.

The police are constantly calling Naceri in for emergencies, interrupting his love-making with his girl, Marion Cotillard. The police detective, Diefenthal, is similarly interrupted at awkward times. Naceri finally figures out how the gang is pulling these stunts off -- it's a little tricky -- and out-drives and out-wits them, seeing to it that they're captured. Naceri and Diefenthal both receive decorations. Naceri is finally able to get together with his girl and Diefenthal, a schlub who has discovered self confidence, gets to make it with the blond giantess who works in his office.

I was confused part of the time but laughed out loud thrice. I'm laughing as I write this because I'm replaying one of the lesser gags in my head. We've all seen vintage cop movies in which the police cars rush seriatim from their underground garage through a narrow doorway, sirens screaming. We see it here too, except that after a few police cars rush out of the garage door, two of them try to squeeze through at the same time and come to a sudden stop after crunching together side by side. It only lasts a few seconds but in this film nothing lasts much longer than that.

I was a little disappointed though. The chief reason I watched this was the presence of Marion Cotillard, a sexy little gamin. I used to be in love with Madonna but it was, I now realize, only a "crush." Now my tastes have matured and I love Marion Cotillard. I have sent her innumerable billets doux and have received no answers. The girl is probably too shy, too reserved, to respond to my declarations of undying love. I enjoyed her presence immensely in "Public Enemies", in which she was a half-Indian French Canadian. Here, I'm afraid, her part is too small and she wears far too many hampering garments.

The rest of the cast is just fine, in the sense that they can all speak more quickly than I can think. And, my God, you have never seen so many glossy new cars smashed to pieces on roads and highways. It's worse than L. A.

Well, I'll give you another gag, just to add some of what the Japanese call the fifth sense of taste, savoriness or "umami", partly because I like that word. Diefenthal burns his house down by accident and he brings his mother over to Naceri's house to stay for a while. Naceri must leave his dissolute young girl friend with his elderly woman who enjoys only cooking. The two men must leave, but Cotillard is anxious because she and the other woman have absolutely nothing in common, so how can they talk? When the men return, hours later, they find both ladies laughing in an unbuttoned manner because they are thoroughly stoned on some Jamaican grass.

If you don't expect a masterpiece and if you're prepared to pay close attention, you'll find this a successful mood-lifter.

Dumb and outdated.

[jancoverduin · 2/10 · 25 February 2020]

Saw it yesterday, 22 years after it was made and if it was any good, it didn't age wel. It is dumb, sexist, not funny, not thrilling, totally predictable and totally forgetable. I was surprised that they bothered to make sequels.

Fast & Funny

[bob the moo · 26 July 2001]

A light film - the comedy is refreshingly simple and not slapstick style. Also the car chases are mostly pretty simple and not full of the excesses of Hollywood movies where everything MUST crash and everything MUST blow up in big style.

It's got style and it's got speed.

What more do you want?

Quality entertainment.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 7/10 · 7 October 2007]

This is basically some great nonsense to watch. It has an almost non-existent story, crazy action and a fast pace. It's the sort of movie that purely entertains and give you a good time, without trying to achieve anything else.

Producer and writer Luc Besson's touch is definitely notable throughout the movie. It has the same sort of humor, pace and overall style as his directed movies. It's the sort of entertainment he himself could had directed.

The movie is filled with some big fat deliberately overdone action sequences. It's done in such an overdone way that it becomes part of the comical aspects of the movie. On top of that the action, driving and the stunts are good and professional looking. Yes it- and the story are quite formulaic but it's executed in such a refreshing and fun way that it becomes original nevertheless.

It's really one of those movies in which the story gets pushed to the back and you don't care about that. The story really is quite thin and not that well written but this in no way harms the movie or its entertainment value.

It's definitely way better than the failed Hollywood remake with the same name. It didn't seemed to understand what it was that made this movie so entertaining to watch and it totally missed the mark in terms of entertainment.

A recommendable fun simple movie.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Just watch for the stunts.

[Markmainwaring · 7/10 · 20 February 2006]

This is quite a stylish, action packed film from France.

To me the French are amongst the best film makers in the world. But this film, which unfortunately will be many peoples only experience of French cinema, is quite bad.

The script and characters are terrible. It is however very stylish (more so than most Hollywood films). It also as some of the best car stunts I have ever seen. It is still, however, probably fifty times better than the recent American version.

Have the fast forward button handy. Just watch the stunts. And maybe the women. There's not much else going on.

How'd this end up with sequels?

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 13 February 2004]

Not that I'm complaining, I watched the three Taxi films out of order and find this is the weakest. This is the film that sets the series in motion, new taxi driver ends up mixed up with a semi-failure cop after he gives the cop's Mom a ride. Its a formula movie with some funny spots but so much time is lost to set up, something the later films didn't need to do. While its not a bad film, it certainly isn't the other films which are much more manic than this one. Try it, but realize the better films come after this one.

don't look at the score. This an extremely well made film. funny, fast and action paced

[sam_smithreview · 10/10 · 2 May 2016]

This is what movies should be like. It is an extremely well made film, It really has great script, which Luc Besson mastered and made this action comedy movie, just a fun to watch. I'm not a fan boy, but i do love this film. Although I do know that it is hard to find an English Dub, I enjoyed this film in Russian. Russians tend to dub more French films then America.

The story is of a useless cop who freezes when he gets behind a car's wheel, and then on the other side we have Daniel who was a pizza legend driver of scooters until he finally got his taxi license and decided to become a taxi driver, as the two meet in a lucky circumstances Daniel is forced work for Émilien. The two become friends in their struggle of having a social life and form a bond.

The film has great chemistry between all of the actors, and incredible driving scenes. in my opinion better filmed and better executed then the Fast and the furious films.

If you get the chance to see this film either Subbed or Dubbed.

Typical Luc Besson and french from Marseille, although caricatural

[norbert-plan-618-715813 · 6/10 · 23 October 2022]

The mechanics of the buddy film forced to live together work perfectly in this made in France, made in Marseille (as such, the film contains beautiful images of the city and is a superb catalog of them).

The dynamics work, but the cogs are rough. The direction of the actors is not subtle. The on-camera stunts retain their charms (in the age of CGI porn that the all-digital will come after) and the film is a festival; the texture of the "on-camera" stunts really gives something different from the all-digital. The actors seem mechanical, but they do the very caricatural job of their characters. Precisely: caricatured characters, collection of clichés about Marseille, lazy people, policemen, people living in Marseille, people that are not from Marseille, Germans. Germans who take pleasure in ridiculing the Marseilles police with their German cars, who respond with scooters.

The music dates the film furiously though, the songs seeming ridiculous with time.

The film keeps a certain level of curiosity, especially if we consider the four following films, which for the three following ones will be a copy of this one, with the main actors more at ease in their characters.

Vive la France!

[jokkedrengen · 10/10 · 14 January 2002]

This film is one of the best action-movies I've seen for the last few years. I want entertainment and that's what I get. The car-chases are really intense, you really get the expression that the speed is up. The humor might not be intelligent, but it's still a lot better than what you see in the majority of American action-movies. What really makes this movie a banger is the sound-track: French hip-hop at its very best. Like the genre or not, it really fits well into the movie. "Gentlemen, start your engines..."

Great actors, hilarious script, cool cars, hot women - a total winner!

[Torgo_Approves · 7/10 · 4 September 2006]

(r#61)

It'd been a while since I last saw this movie, and I was worried that I saw it through rose tinted glasses - what if it wasn't as good as I remembered it? As the riveting Misirlou started pumping through the opening credits, I realized that I had been right - Taxi wasn't as good as I remembered it. It was much, much better.

Daniel Morales (hilarious Samy Naceri) is a pizza delivery guy who is just planning to cross over into the world of taxi driving. He meets Émilien (Frédéric Diefenthal), a loser cop who can't seem to get anything right and is obsessively chasing a group of German bank robbers known as the Mercedes gang. Fooled into thinking that Émilien works at IBM, Daniel is caught red-handed practicing his very personal way of driving. Émilien lets him choose between losing his car or helping him, Émilien, to catch ze Germans. "That's like choosing between death and humiliation", Daniel says, but eventually agrees. Can his street smarts help poor Émilien to finally stop the Mercedes gang?

The movie is filled to the brim with spectacular racing scenes. A pumping soundtrack helps, as well as the hilarious script (written by Luc Besson, one of my fave directors), which keeps the story going at a high pace that never lets up. Samy Naceri is hilarious as the sarcastic Daniel and Diefenthal is perfect as his pathetic character Émilien. These two also develop a fantastic chemistry that is rarely seen in this kind of buddy movie. Swedish Emma Sjöberg and Marion Cottilard are sexy and beautiful as the leading ladies, and Bernard Farcy is hilarious as the deliciously incompetent police officer. Overall this is a hilarious, fun summer movie that will definitely get your adrenaline pumping.

Basically, everything that The Fast and the Furious tried to be. See it.

Fast, funny and French.

[markpcom · 10/10 · 21 July 2001]

This is an amazing film right from the word go. You have to take most of it with a pinch of salt, but it is so funny. The comedy is very european so I doubt many people will get it and this may be the films down fall.

The plot is simple, the super cool taxi driver, loses his driving license (for speeding). The only way he can get it back it to work with the people he hates most (the police).

A chase/caper comedy film ensues. This film isn't all laughs but its definatly one of my favorite films of all time.

If you like this film but would like to see something more serious (and French) take a look at "La Haine".

Best taxi...

[Thanos_Alfie · 7/10 · 28 January 2015]

"Taxi" is a movie that has to do as the title of it shows with a taxi which is different from all the others. On the one hand we have a taxi driver who is really obsessed with speed and on the other hand we have a loser police inspector who wants to be great and the best in his department. We watch those two try to catch some German bank robbers in order to succeed to their own goals.

I liked this movie and I found it really hilarious because of the plot and the storyline. The direction which is made by Gérard Pirès was outstanding. About the taxi I want to say that i found it beautiful and it reminded me those cars that we have watched on the James Bond movies. About the interpretations now, I have to mention the outstanding interpretation of Samy Naceri who played the crazy taxi driver and he was simply magnificent on it, Frédéric Diefenthal who played the loser inspector and he was equally good as the previous one. Of course in this movie we have the beautiful Marion Cotillard who played really good.

Finally I have to say that "Taxi" is a great movie with which you will have a great time. I really liked it and I strongly recommend it to everyone.

Just bad... very, very bad

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 4/10 · 5 April 2004]

I had expected this movie to impress me with good action scenes, and probably some good humor too; I was heavily disappointed. I knew it was about cars, but come on, nothing else? The movie consists of scene after scene involving cars racing. It might as well have taken place at a race track. The humor mainly consists of the main character constantly being kept from having sex with his girlfriend. The action scenes consist of a lot of people shooting, without it ever being very clear what the hell they're shooting at. Now, I'm not a big racing movie fan, in fact, I mostly hate movies that involve a lot of car racing, but some good movies involving cars have impressed me(The Matrix Reloaded, for example), but I must admit, the car scenes in this movie were simply nothing special. The plot is instantly forgettable. The characters are annoying. The stunts are nothing that isn't seen hundreds of times before. The movie is in no way entertaining, impressive, or just mildly worth your time. Skip this one, no matter how big a racing movie fan you are. I don't recommend this movie to anyone, unless they are so into cars that they can't stand the thought of not having seen every single movie involving them. 4/10