Gangs of New York (2002)

Very well executed

good film but with many flaws

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Beginning the director-actor collaboration between Martin Scorsese & Leonardo DiCaprio on a promising note, Gangs of New York paints a fascinating portrait of its era and is a meticulously researched period drama but pretty much everything about it is overshadowed by the exceptional performance from Daniel Day-Lewis.Set in mid-19th century New York, the story of Gangs of New York follows an Irish immigrant who witnessed his father being murdered by the leader of an opposing gang as a kid and returns to the place years later to avenge his death. Meanwhile, the forced conscription in the ongoing Civil War ultimately leads to city wide riots.Directed by Martin Scorsese, the 19th century New York comes to cinematic life in splendid detail and is a result of painstaking research & era appropriate set pieces. Scorsese's direction has the drama going up & down throughout its runtime, for many segments are highly engaging while others are poorly handled & tediously paced.Production design team does a spectacular job at transporting the viewers back to its timeline and the entire cityscape has an authentic feel to it. Camera is expertly operated, utilising many of the director's trademarks. The pace only gets worse as plot progresses plus there are many scenes that the film could have done without. And Howard Shore turns in a fitting score.Coming to the performances, Gangs of New York is spearheaded by a memorable showcase from Daniel Day-Lewis whose rendition of Bill the Butcher easily ranks amongst his finest acts. Leonardo DiCaprio also chips in with a strong input in his supporting role and so does the rest of the cast but none of them hold a candle to Day-Lewis magnetic screen presence & sheer commitment to his role.On an overall scale, Gangs of New York nails the period details of its story but the drama isn't entirely compelling and the only aspects that keep it together are its historical depictions & Daniel Day-Lewis' electrifying performance. Opening on a violent, chaotic & instantly gripping note but losing its grasp in the middle, Gangs of New York impresses in bits n pieces but it's nonetheless worth a watch for Day-Lewis' riveting act alone.

This movie was a bit slow in the beginning. For me, the movie did not exactly capture and hold my attention. This was mainly because is was also hard to follow. There were many parts of the movie where I was a little confused. I wasn't sure who was who or what exactly was going on. I do however think that Gangs of New York was very educational. I think that it accurately depicted New York in that time period and what it was like to live there at the time. It showed the different ethnicities and religions that were in New York, and how they interacted and got along (or lack thereof). It also helped give an image to the revolts that took place after drafts. On another note, there were definitely some sections of the movie that were a bit of a stretch and hard to believe. For example, the first big fight of the movie between the two rival gangs took place in the winter and there was snow on the ground, so you'd think that you'd see all the blood people lost. However, for the amount of people that were lying dead on the ground there was not nearly enough blood. Then comes a scene where two people are fist fighting and there is a ton of blood! Also, there is a part where The Butcher is shot in the chest, and lives. Now I don't know a lot about medicine, but I know back then people weren't exactly getting shot and then going out and drinking the next night. It was hard to believe that The Butcher could get shot and then seem to be fine the next day, only having a sling on his arm.Overall, this movie was definitely a little slow in the beginning, but it does pick up. It gives a decent portrayal of life around the Civil War in New York, but it is a little unrealistic at points.

Atr first it was confusing to follow along but twenty minutes in I managed to sort of understand the storyline.It was interesting and I soon found out why the movie is rated R. I never heard of anything about the Five Points nor did I realize how violent people reacted to draft.

The story takes place during an era of American History that's generally overlooked in the history books, beginning in 1846 (for the opening sequence) through the early part of 1863 with the Civil War in progress. Some of the film deals with the New York City draft riots that occurred when Congress passed a conscription law, but the overarching story deals with the revenge sought by Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) some sixteen years after seeing his father murdered by Native gang leader, Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting (Daniel-Day Lewis).For those of faint heart and weaker stomach, it's not an easy picture to watch with the amount of violence and bloodshed, dealt out by individuals with little regard for humanity. Alliances are switched by members of the former 'Dead Rabbits' gang after their leader, Vallon's father 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson) is killed in a street brawl. It occurred to me at one point that the roles of Neeson and Day Lewis could have been reversed, that's how much they resembled each other as gang leaders.The movie doesn't rate that highly here on IMDb with a fair number of detractors in the reviews section. That surprises me somewhat, as the story is gripping from a historical perspective, and the performances by the principals are more than adequate. Because the film's locations are situated primarily in a congested area of the City known as The Five Points, you don't have the epic sweep of more highly regarded films like "Gone With the Wind", but that's a minor point. For me, the picture opened up an era of American History worthy of further study that was bypassed during my own education. It looks like I'll be spending some time there learning about The Tammany Hall years and the corruption that took place under the regime of Boss Tweed.