It’s hard to imagine a Martin Scorsese film could ever be considered “underrated,” let alone “forgotten.” Even including the films of his that are almost considered disappointments, they’re still lightning rods of conversation and sometimes controversy that people actively care about. That makes it more confusing that a film like Bringing Out the Dead, his one-time collaboration with Nicolas Cage, would feel all but wiped away from retrospectives on the legacies of either of these men. Released in 1999, the movie was a massive commercial bomb that got decent enough respect from critics, but got swept under the rug rather quickly. This is a shame, as it’s one of his most deeply spiritual films that sends you on a journey through the hellscape of Manhattan to reach transcendence.

What Is Martin Scorsese’s ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ About?
Image via Touchstone Pictures

Frank (Cage) is an ambulance driver who roams the nocturnal streets of Manhattan, desperate to satiate his cavernous savior complex. He needs to be there to help people in their final moments, even as he knows he barely helps anyone, since people usually die on him. Even though he sees the literal ghosts of everyone he hasn’t saved, it’s not enough to stop him, as his addiction to the rush of “God passing through [him] for a moment” when he saves someone’s life is simply too strong to quit. (It’s fitting that he should have to do his job in a purgatorial vision of New York, where everybody seems to be under the influence of some kind of drug, be it literal drugs, food, lust, or violence.) When Frank fixates on “saving” the life of a man who’s stuck on life support, he becomes infatuated with the man’s daughter, Mary (Patricia Arquette), and that sends Frank through an almost-literal dark night of the soul.

Nicolas Cage and Martin Scorsese’s Supernatural Drama Was a Box Office Bomb

Few filmmakers have as deftly captured the hellish euphoria of the iron grip of a drug high as Martin Scorsese has repeatedly done, and maybe that’s why Bringing Out the Dead bombed so badly. It’s a repellent and visually noxious concoction, with all the characters strung out under garish spotlights, lit from above to highlight every crevice in their skin, which made it look like the zombified dead walked the Earth. He used radically uncomfortable camera techniques to show how untethered Frank’s perception of time is in his state of unhinged (yet lethargic) mania. Even its portrayal of supposedly trustworthy institutions like hospitals is bleak and cruel, as everybody involved only seems capable of saving lives once someone is literally on the brink of death. Plus, the film largely has no structured plot, instead being a series of nights and nightmarish episodes as Frank stumbles and claws his way towards some kind of spiritual reward for all his suffering. Given all of this combined, maybe it isn’t that surprising that audiences largely shirked this film, with it being dropped at a time of great excitement and optimism in America with the upcoming Y2K.

But all those aspects are the exact reasons you should seek the film out now! You get Nicolas Cage giving another of his masterful slow-motion implosion performances in the vein of Leaving Las Vegas and The Weather Man. You get an all-star supporting cast including Patricia Arquette, John Goodman, Ving Rhames, and Tom Sizemore, all so richly detailed and bursting with fervor. You get even more of Marty’s favorite band — The Rolling Stones — using songs that you’ve never heard of before every over and over. Most importantly, you get one last team-up of Scorsese with writer Paul Schrader, giving us yet another version of his “God’s Lonely Man” fixation, with the film acting as a sneaky remix of Taxi Driver as a ghost story. Give it a shot, maybe you’ll find salvation by the end of it.

Bringing Out the Dead is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Watch on Paramount+