Scorcese definetely deserve this award several times over, even though the departed can't come close to the greatness of raging bull and taxi driver.
when i saw lucas in the audience i had an immediate tipoff that scorcese was going to win the award, and i felt for certain when three of his best friends took center stage.
where were lucas other famous friends, i did'nt see DePalma, Ron Howard, or Robert Zemechis.
by the way i was thrilled that another ilm exployee won a techinical award Jon Knoll for dead man's chest. though they did'nt mention ILM, but it was ILM that did the effects for that film. so score another one for mr. lucas effects department.