Rating: 
Summary: a MARTIN SCORSESE picture
Review: As I walked out of the theater I over heard a woman say.. "It was to gory and there was unnecessary nudity". Naturally I wanted to slap her. How dare she give her low key opinion. I trust Mr. Scorsese did his homework to give us an accurate film based on the gangs of 18th century New York. Daniel Day-Lewis is quite a presence as Bill the butcher. I've never seen him play someone so evil. No doubt an Oscar nomination for his stellar work here. Speaking of Oscar nods, there is much potential for..best director, cinematography, costumes, sets, screenplay and best film as well. I love Scorsese whether it be the violent "Goodfellas" or the elegant "The Age of Innocence". "Gangs of New York" is an over the top addition to the filmography of one of our finest filmmakers. The cast includes Leonardo Di Caprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz & Henry Thomas just to name a few of the familiar. I don't care if this is fiction or non-fiction. It's an amazing piece of filmmaking.
Rating: 
Summary: Great acting in awful movie!
Review: This movie was an utter disappointment. It's bloody content with seemingly no sense made me wonder how people can complain about violent video games. The acting in this movie was stellar and every actor deserves an Academy Award. But the actual story and plot were awful and flimsy as paper. Any moral message the movie might have conveyed was destroyed by a stupid and unsatisfying ending. I don't know who this movie was written for, older people will find the violence appalling and younger views will be shocked and horrified by it. Being 27, I found the movie a waste of time. The dramatic performances were dim lights in this awful historical mess. The fact that SO MANY critics loved this movie makes me wonder about their sanity. It was an absolute waste.
Rating:
Summary: Scorsese should have partnered with R. Brian Ferguson
Review: Martin Scorsese remained too loyal to Herbert Asbury's 1927 book, The Gangs of New York. The journalist was like so many of his era: he rarely let a few facts get in the way of a good story. Alas, this movie is far too similar to John Carpenter's two decades earlier Escape from New York. Scorsese provides us with a hyperbolic, if not even a comic book view, of the Civil War era lower Manhattan east side called the Five Points where crime and hideous poverty dominate the landscape. The pessimistic political philosopher Thomas Hobbes would have felt right at home. Life for many of the inhabitants is indeed nasty, brutal and short. Democratic values might be abstractly of interest, but staying alive is a full time consuming endeavor. The police and politicians are corrupt and one's safety is more likely determined by securing the protection of the local gang leaders. A very young Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) witnesses the brutal death of his father by the knife welding Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis). Some fifteen years later Amsterdam seeks revenge. Along the way he falls in love with pickpocket Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz). The violence is plentiful and Scorsese makes sure that we witness the gore up close and personal. We are superficially introduced to the themes of racial, ethnic, and religious bigotry. Nevertheless, the central purpose of this film is the bloodshed and we are never allowed to forget it. Scorsese should have attempted to be more historically accurate. Why didn't he contact scholars like cultural anthropologist R. Brian Ferguson of Rutgers University in New Jersey? The latter unhesitatingly contends that the previously mentioned Asbury exaggerated when claiming that "a decent person couldn't walk through this area without getting their ear bit off, and that just wasn't the case." There were indeed colorful gangs named the Plug Uglies, Dead Rabbits and Bowery Boys. But while they were not exactly angels, their power never truly rivaled that of the city's authorities. Is Scorsese possibly unwilling to listen to advice contradicting the original vision of a project which captures his imagination? My guess is that the great director tolerates no dissent from those working with him. Does this mean you shouldn't see this film? On the contrary, Daniel Day-Lewis is among our greatest living actors and alone guarantees that the Gangs of New York is well worth your time. You will never forget his interpretation of this sadistic, yet ironically honorable, slaughterer of men. Lewis pushed the character as far as he could without falling into the trap of caricature. Scorsese also knows how to put together a beautiful film. His talent in this regard is only a step below that of the ultimate master, Stanley Kubrick. This is a four and a half star movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Martin Scorsese's epic spectacle has its flaws
Review: Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, based on Herbert Asbury's 1928 history catalog, is a rendition of New York's political and racial madness that lasted from the mid-19th century to the Civil War. His film is both a brutal epic and a breathtaking spectacle. The accomplishments displayed in the film's authentic design (the production was designed by Dante Ferretti), masterful art direction and set decoration, costume design (by Sandy Powell), and cinematography (by Michael Ballhaus) are quite meritorious and mesmerizing (in fact, the elaborate sets were constructed at Cinecitta in Rome). Furthermore, the performances delivered by the stellar cast are powerful and colorful. However, Gangs of New York has its flaws. The movie's opening scene takes place in a nightmarish catacomb set beneath tenements. In the catacomb reside the violent "Dead Rabbits," a gang of Irish compatriots led by the fervent Irish-American Priest Vallon (played by Liam Neeson). The gang emerges from the catacombs onto snow-covered Five Points on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Here they face off with the "Nativists," a group of American-born rivals of the "Dead Rabbits," in a historical bloody gang battle of knives, swords, bayonets, cleavers, cudgels, axes, and shillelaghs. During the vicious fight, the leader of the "Nativists," William "The Butcher" Cutting (played by Daniel Day-Lewis and known in Asbury's book as Bill Poole), slays Priest Vallon in the view of Vallon's young son, Amsterdam Vallon. Amsterdam escapes into an orphanage, portentously named Hellgate House of Reform. 16 years later, in 1863, Amsterdam (now played by Leonardo DiCaprio) leaves the orphanage in his 20s, returns to Five Points, and is intent on avenging his father by slaying the still-ruling Bill the Butcher. Amsterdam does not reveal his true identity to Bill and becomes a part of Bill's team. However, Bill begins to treat Amsterdam as a father would treat a son, and Amsterdam doesn't quite know what to think of Bill when the antagonist of Amsterdam, Bill the Butcher, gives accolades to Priest Vallon as being an admirable opponent. Jay Cocks (who introduced Martin Scorsese to Robert De Niro and was also un-credited for his rewriting of the Titanic screenplay) wrote the story of Gangs of New York and co-wrote the screenplay with Steven Zaillian (whose great works as a writer include Schindler's List, Searching for Bobby Fischer, and Awakenings) and Kenneth Lonergan (whose equally commendable writing credits include You Can Count on Me and Analyze This). Because the talent of the screenwriters of this film is so very exceptional, it is no surprise that Gangs of New York is, for the most part, quite well-written. The dialogue of the characters is written both eloquently and realistically. The ultimately auspicious aspect to Gangs of New York is the brilliant characters and their colorful and eccentric personalities. Cameron Diaz plays a likable, wily pickpocket named Jenny Everdeane, who is in love with both Amsterdam and Bill the Butcher. Brendan Gleeson plays the role of Monk, who is a fighter turned barber turned sheriff and who galvanizes the film with his authoritarian personality. John C. Reilly is in the role of the tyrannical police officer Happy Jack. Jim Broadbent delivers an appropriately subdued portrayal of the historical William "Boss" Tweed, the ruler of the notorious Tammany Hall and the seller and buyer of votes. Daniel Day-Lewis eclipses everyone in his intense, ferocious, and frankly astonishing portrait of the bloodthirsty, albeit intelligent, Bill the Butcher. Day-Lewis provides the character with mannerisms that are elaborate, threatening, eccentric, and at times laced with humor. Bill the Butcher could have been a (slightly) hackneyed villain, but the talents of Day-Lewis make his character so wonderfully complex and over-the-top that Bill the Butcher is sure to become one of the great characters of modern cinema. Despite the many strong aspects of Gangs of New York, the film has its imperfections. The opening battle scene plays more like a music video than the grandiose spectacle it was meant to be. In addition, along with the movie's sheer over-length, its major weakness is its meandering story (particularly towards the end of the movie). It is not DiCaprio's performance that is flawed, it is his character. The protagonist Amsterdam Vallon lacks the ferocity and emotion that the characters which surround him possess, therefore, making his character more reserved and restrained in temperament and not a character that possesses more wild characteristics. Martin Scorsese is ultimately one of the greatest story-tellers of cinema. His ambition is displayed via all of his films, and Gangs of New York is no exception. Gangs of New York is not a film by Scorsese that can be called "great," but it is nonetheless an accomplishment and a spectacle made on a grand scale and deserving of accolades.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Movie that SHOULD Have Swept at the Box Office
Review: Scorcese's newest movie ranks up there with the likes of Goodfellas and Casino. At first, I questioned the entertainment that could be involved in a 3 hour movie that starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz, whether or not Scorcese directed it. Trust me, after the first scene of gang warfare where Liam Neeson and Daniel Day Lewis engage in battle, it won't matter. The three hours go by fast as you consistently feel the climactic battle looming ahead. The movie was overall great, but the ending is extremely corny. As far as acting goes, Daniel Day Lewis is superb and definetely deserves an Oscar nod. DiCaprio delivers a good performance, but I would not consider it Oscarworthy. Cameron Diaz is alright, but her accent feels off although it quickly fades in your mind. ... Anyway, definetely see this movie.
Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars: The Five Points
Review: Sometimes there are reasons why, either reality-based ones or cosmic, certain things do not happen when we want them to. Martin Scorsese has had the Dream of turning the novel, "Gangs of New York" into a film for over 25 years; yet only this week has his dream come to fruition with the opening of the film. But was the result worth the wait?
Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" is big, bold and bloody: beautifully shot and designed to reveal a world that none of us have any notion about: 1846 and 1863 New York City with the last time period played out against the backdrop of the Civil War.
Scorsese narrows in on the friction between the "born-heres" led by Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day Lewis) and the immigrants: mostly Irish, freed slaves, Italians, etc. Leonardo Di Caprio plays an Irishman, Amsterdam Vallon who, as a child, witnesses the death of his father (Liam Neeson) at the hands of Bill the Butcher. Revenge then becomes the driving force of Amsterdam's life and thus the main thrust of the film itself. Oddly enough Bill takes a shine to Amsterdam and takes him under his wing and thereby making of Amsterdam his Brutus to his Caesar.
One of the most interesting sections of the film are those involved with the history of NYC: as in the arrival of the Irish immigrants, after the potato famine in Ireland, who were immediately made citizens just outside the ship they had arrived on so that they would be required to immediately join the Northern Forces and be shipped off to the war in the South without having spent more than an hour or two in New York City! As one of the new recruits says as he boards the ship to take him to the South: "I wonder when they are gonna feed us." (This being the most important thing to him at the moment and not that he is off to fight for a country he knows absolutely nothing about) Needless to say, most of these young men never made it back to NYC.
"Gangs of New York" seldom soars, though and could certainly be trimmed of at least 15 minutes. What is surprising about this film is that one would think that this subject matter would be the perfect vehicle for Scorsese's vision of America: you get ahead not only by working hard but by working the angles. Think "GoodFellas" or "Raging Bull." On the other hand, the genteel world of Edith Wharton's NYC of the very early 20th Century (some 40 years after the world of Bill the Butcher) would not seem to fit into the Scorsese scheme of things but his film version of the novel is not only gorgeous to the eye but touches the heart and the mind as well.
Daniel Day Lewis is a spellbinding performer and his Bill the Butcher is something to see: tall, gawky, mean as a skinned cat, clever and suspicious. Day-Lewis transforms himself into this character, inhabits his soul and his being like almost no other actor can. DiCaprio is not yet as fine an actor as Day Lewis is, but his Amsterdam is his first adult performance and he handles it well.
Any Scorsese film is worth seeing as he is truly a visionary and master craftsman but in his wait to film "The Gangs of New York" he seems to have lost interest in it. It's as if, once the dream was realized, he had outgrown it.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't want it to end...
Review: I first saw the trailer for this movie about a year and a half ago when I borrowed my friends 'scary movie 2' DVD. And I have been absolutely foaming at the mouth to see it ever since. First I heard Xmas 2001 then July 02 and now its finally out.
Martin Scorcese and co. do not dissapoint. This movie was over 3 hours long and I couldn't get enough. Unbelievably cool movie. I don't feel like Im going out on a limb by saying it should win Best picture, Scorcese, DiCaprio, and especially D.D. Lewis should win Oscars. I still think they owe Leo one for Titanic!Even Cameron, who is usually all hype but absolutely shines in this, should at least be nominated. I feel going into Oscar night, It should be the favorite, but IM still waiting to see "Chicago" before I put the whirlbo stamp of aproval on it.
The movie is like a history lesson that you don't want to miss anything of. I came into this movie thinking I'll bet this, this and this happen, and they did. But it's what you don't see coming that really keeps you hooked.
Costumes, Cinematography, dialogue all should recieve Oscar praise. I simply cannot say enough about this movie. I feel it is my duty to speak highly of it. Because Im sure no one really noticed it was out everyone was getting ready to cuddle up to LOTR: Two Towers. Im sure the academy will agree with you rather than me.
Im looking for an excuse to see this movie twice, three times even if you wanna a partner, email me, I'll talk you into it.
Rating:
Summary: great acting, spectacular sets, BAD HISTORY
Review: Martin Scorsese new movie contains perhaps the most accurate sets of the untimate 19th century New York slum hellhole, the "Five Points" ever made. The attention to detail is truly miraculous. Daniel Day Lewis as Bill (the Butcher) Cutting is easily his most inspired job acting since "Last of the Mohicans", a villan which will live in your nightmares for weeks. There are many marvelous portrayals of the slum dwellers. And the costumes! And the blood and gore! What is missing here is history. There was a Boss Tweed and political corruption (later). There were dirt poor criminal Gangs - plural- in New York, Dead Rabbits, Plug Uglies, Bowery Boys, etc etc and they all fighting each other, always at each others throats. They were entirely of one ethnic group, Irish, German, Italian, Russian, Eastern Europeans or African American, etc. These different groups did not all get together to fight the "Nativists", they were too busy fighting each other. There was no fight of the "Nativists" vs the "Immigrants". The events in the story took place over 50 -100 years!!! The waves of immigrant ethnic groups who lived the intolerable conditions in these slums at different times, died, blended in, moved away or moved on, to be replaced by another.
Rating:
Summary: Eye opening and Thought Provoking
Review: I just saw this movie a couple of days ago. I wanted to go out and find a book on the history of the gang wars that took place in this time in history. At the same time I left the movie with the realization that it is a wonder that I am here today. So many people were killed right here in America that never even really got the chance to settle here. This is truly a historical eye opener at its best.
The actor and actresses were phenomenal. Leo does his usual great job such as in Gilbert Grape, Basketball Diaries, titanic, and so many others. Day Lewis, he didnt play the character but was the character. The only thing I didnt like about the movie was the short lived "The Priest" role, Nieson was showing GREAT potential to be really big in the part and was for no longer than he got to play it. Diaz gleamed but who wouldnt playing opposite the great looking Di caprio. Diaz did, I must say, play the part to the hilt.
A little bloody for the one's that have weak stomachs. But I loved it. I would love to see a sequel to this movie. But only if it kept the same momentum.
Rating:
Summary: Rewarding but problematic.
Review: Gangs of New York is Martin Scorsese's epic depiction of the New York underworld in the mid-19th century. It is an easy movie to admire, but, like so many of Scorsese's films, not an easy film to like. The film opens with a prologue set in 1846, as rival gangs face off in a bloody battle to determine who will control the turf around the Five Points area, a den of murderers, thieves, prostitutes, etc. Bill "The Butcher" Cutter (Daniel Day-Lewis) is the victor, leading a gang of 'nativists', native-born U.S. citizens who resent and fear the arrival of the newer immigrants, particularly the Irish (much of this has to do with religion, the nativists largely being Protestants). Cutter has achieved his victory by killing 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson), the leader of the immigrants; Vallon's young son Amsterdam has witnessed all this, and, after growing up in an orphanage, returns to the Five Points 16 years later as a young man (Leonardo DiCaprio) to seek vengeance. There is also a love interest for young Vallon in the form of Jenny Everdeane (Cameron Diaz), a beguiling pickpocket who has her own reasons to dislike Cutter. Gangs of New York reportedly cost nearly $100 million to make and the money is all up there on the screen, with production designer Dante Ferretti's awe-inspiring sets (an city block was recreated at Italy's Cinecitta Studios) and Sandy Powell's marvelous costumes dazzling the eyes. Some of the special effects shots are glaringly obvious, but there are fortunately not too many of these. However, considering the movie as a whole, Gangs of New York has some decided flaws, most of which are the result of the script, which was written by Jay Cocks, Steven Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan. The first hour of the film has some very choppy storytelling (though I suspect that this is the result of severe cutting to reduce the running time). The main character of Amsterdam is woefully underwritten, thus sapping the film of any real dramatic fire, and also making the whole revenge story ultimately rather lackluster--especially compared to the subplots that involve the political shenanigans of Tammany Hall and the divisive issue of military conscription, which led to the draft riots of 1863--having this riot be the climax of the film only serves to underscore the lameness of the main plot. On the other hand, Scorsese is undeniably one of our greatest directors, and the movie does manage to remain gripping through to the end due primarily to his narrative verve. He pulls off some terrific set-pieces here, such as a long "tracking" shot showing immigrants just off the boat being corralled into the U.S. Army, outfitted and being sent aboard another ship to head south to the battlefields, as coffins of Civil War dead are being unloaded. Gangs of New York also features Scorsese's usual brand of gut-wrenching violence. The opening battle between the gangs is quite graphic, but the movie grows ever more bloody--the climax literally shows blood flowing through the streets. It's brutal and tough to watch at times. Possibly the greatest aspect of Gangs of New York is the absolutely stunning performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, a turn of such staggering proportions that he could very well win his second Academy Award. He glowers, he grins, he pounces, he coldly murders--and then, in a scene with zero violence--just Cutter reminiscing--Day-Lewis mesmerizes with a soft, gentle, marvelous monologue. He's just dazzling in this film. Given that he has such an uninteresting character to play, DiCaprio's ability to remain charismatic is something of a triumph. Still, there are times when he does appear to be wishing himself elsewhere. Diaz comes off much better--her charm and warmth is a welcome respite from the film's darker, colder aspects. The supporting cast includes John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Jim Broadbent (as Boss Tweed) and Brendan Gleeson--but, again, given the deficiencies of the script, none of these people have much to do. Gangs of New York is not the masterpiece that one would like and it will probably be a tough sell for audiences, but it has its rewards and is definitely worth seeing, especially on the big screen to fully appreciate the quality of the spectacle.
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