A deepfake artist's attempt to make Robert De Niro look younger in 'The Irishman' is being hailed as superior to Netflix's CGI

YouTube/iFake

Netflix's attempt at de-aging Robert De Niro (left) vs iFake's attempt at de-aging Robert De Niro (right).

• A deep fake artist's attempt to make Robert De Niro look younger in 'The Irishman' is being hailed as superior to Netflix's CGI.
• The YouTuber, known as iFake, used freely-available deepfake software to de-age characters played by the likes of Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci.
• Despite Netflix reportedly spending millions on digital de-aging software, iFake claims it took just seven days to alter Netflix's de-aging effects.
• The YouTube deepfake video has been viewed over half a million times to date.
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If it's true that no amount of money can prevent aging, a little-known YouTuber has just hammered home that truth in style.

The YouTuber, a deepfake specialist known as iFake, has caused embarrassment for Netflix after using free deepfake tech to de-age characters from "The Irishman" more convincingly than the streaming giant - despite Netflix reportedly spending millions of dollars attempting to de-age them.

iFake, who has 24,000 subscribers at the time of writing, used free deepfake software to create de-aging effects on the characters played by Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and company.

The YouTuber claims it took just seven days to create the new effects.

Here's the video for your viewing pleasure:

iFake's work has been lauded by critics and fans alike, with Esquire calling it "a hell of a lot better than The Irishman's attempt," and pop culture publication What Culture claiming iFake had "fixed The Irishman's biggest problem."

Commenters on YouTube have also lavished the deepfaker with praise. One, going by the name "JRX." urged iFake to "do the whole movie and release it," and another, Fernando Maron, claiming that "De Niro [looks] like his Taxi Driver, Once Upon in America days."

In contrast, the de-aging tech Netflix tech used in the movie has been panned by many, with Fast Company deriding it as "distractingly" bad, and Esquire as "some hellish uncanny valley."

The significant improvement iFake has made on Netflix's work is particularly stark given the size of its budget for "The Irishman."

Though reports as to its size vary, it's been estimated as being as high as $175 million.

Yet, for all the flaws with its de-aging process, "The Irishman" has been widely praised by critics, with the movie holding an average 96% score from critics on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.

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