This motion picture event from acclaimed director Martin Scorsese earned 10 Academy Award(R) nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, along with 5 Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Picture, ... more »Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Song! Leonardo DiCaprio (TITANIC), Cameron Diaz (CHARLIE'S ANGELS), and Daniel Day-Lewis (THE BOXER) star in this epic tale of vengeance and survival! As waves of immigrants swell the population of New York, lawlessness and corruption thrive in lower Manhattan's Five Points section. After years of incarceration, young Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon (DiCaprio) returns seeking revenge against the rival gang leader (Day-Lewis) who killed his father. But Amsterdam's personal vendetta becomes part of the gang warfare that erupts as he and his fellow Irishmen fight to carve a place for themselves in their newly adopted homeland!« less
Averi K. (leolover) from ALACHUA, FL Reviewed on 4/19/2011...
This movie is by far AMAZING i remeber when i was little my dad told me it was good i did not lisin but then when i got older i watch it and loved it. i love the acting the wars how they make it look so real.I really thought Daniel Day-Lewis was really MEAN in this film. LEO was AMAZING like always. There is this one guy in the movie named johnny and he backstabs leo witch i hate but so glad he died.It was really long and intersting.
2 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.
Chad B. (abrnt1) from CABERY, IL Reviewed on 3/9/2011...
Would be a lot more entertaining if it was about an hour shorter. The film drags badly.
2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.
Drew E. from SEATTLE, WA Reviewed on 12/30/2010...
This movie is brutal, yet not in an exhaustive manner like some movies can be. The costumes and sets are great too.
By far my favourite scene is the very first opening scene.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Rolando D. from CAROLINA, PR Reviewed on 8/27/2010...
This is a loooooooooooooooooong movie, it takes 2 DVD's to watch it fully, but is a good film. Martin Scorsese's style of narrative and filmography are outstanding here. Is a crude look at the reality in New York in the time of the civil war. Daniel Day-Lewis steals this film. Great acting. Want to see an actor at its peak watch this film.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Brad S. (Snibot) from DALLAS, TX Reviewed on 12/5/2009...
I'm not sure it is the worst movie ever, but my wife and I agree that it sucked. How can this much talent produce this work of ... it can't be art. Pretty much everything about this movie was horrible; from its strange beginning to its equally weird end. I sat through the entire thing, but this is the movie that made me decide to never do so again. Usually there are some redeeming qualities, something in the movie worth seeing, but this one had none.
2 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Brian M. from RCH CUCAMONGA, CA Reviewed on 6/2/2008...
A must have. Get it now.
4 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.
Movie Reviews
Pretty Damn Dire
Gary F. Taylor | Biloxi, MS USA | 09/24/2010
(2 out of 5 stars)
"It is tempting to think of New York as it existed between 1800 and 1900 as awash with Victorian elegance--but that was true for only a lucky few, and while there was indeed a growing middleclass, much of the city was little more than a cesspool of corrupt politics and vicious mobs that robbed and killed at will. These gangs were documented by journalist Herbert Asbury. His 1926 book was titled THE GANGS OF NEW YORK, and it painted a searing portait of the Five Points district, the numerous gangs, Tamanny Hall, and most particularly the Draft Riots of 1863. The book eventually attracted the attention of one America's most celebrated filmmakers: Martin Scorsese, who was determined to make a film out of it and who failed miserably at it.
There are actually a few positive things about GANGS OF NEW YORK. The first is that it isn't quite as bad as MANOS, HANDS OF FATE. (Then again, nothing is.) That aside, the design side of the film is brilliant; the designers involved have created a vision of New York that has never really been attempted, much less realized. The sets, the costumes, the props, every detail is meticulously rendered. But sad to say, the rest of the movie stinks. Although Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as Bill the Butcher has many fans, it really isn't much more than characture. Leonardo DiCaprio is consistently mediocre and Cameron Diaz is relentlessly miscast. The script is uninspired--and sad to say the story is too, a ridiculous melodrama about a mere lad (DiCaprio, eventually) who sees his father (Liam Neeson) killed by Bill the Butcher (Day-Lewis.) Now grown up, he returns and seeks revenge. It's all very ho-hum stuff, and particularly so when you stop to consider the book that suggested the film. It contains hundreds of characters and stories. This made-up plot was the best they could do? With a run time well over two hours the whole thing feels interminable, and sad to say the bonus material on the second disk is considerably more interesting than the film itself.
Scorsese fans, people with a fondness for the leading actors, and those who truly have nothing better to do will likely enjoy GANGS OF NEW YORK, but I find it a tremendous disappointment and I think most people will too. Miss it.