Gangs of New York
2002 Directed by Martin Scorsese
Synopsis
America Was Born In The Streets.
1863. America was born in the streets. In this movie, we see Amsterdam Vallon returning to the Five Points of America to seek vengeance against the psychotic gangland kingpin Bill the Butcher who murdered his father years ago. With an eager pickpocket by his side and a whole new army, Vallon fights his way to seek vengeance on the Butcher and restore peace in the area.
Cast
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Martin Scorsese takes us into an amazing journey of the 1863 New York City with The Civil War, the violence, the hate, the gangs. Every time a see a movie from him I can feel the passion that he has for cinema. This always passes through what we are watching and that's why he is one of my favorite directors and I always love a film that he makes. This film can be disturbing but also moving and portrays all the hate that America been through at that time.
Leonardo DiCaprio always impresses me I think he's one of the best of his generation and he's getting better and better. Daniel Day-Lewis is just amazing, another memorable character. I usually don't like Cameron Diaz performances but she had a decent performance.
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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"The blood stays on the blade"
To be fair, those first fifteen minutes are worth this star rating all by themselves. No, really, they are. You've got the tracking shots of Liam Neeson walking through the tunnels and catacombs, carrying that cross, his son next him, just doing the most badass walk ever seen, the other members of the gang joining him, walking out into the snow-covered square, standing together, just waiting.
Then it pans round to the building on the other side of the square, showing the Natives gradually spilling out of it, led by Daniel Day-Lewis' Bill The Butcher, lining up opposite the Irish gang.
Then one of the most brutal fights I've seen happens. Trust me on that. Brutal, and still beautifully shot.
And that's only the first fifteen minutes. And it still manages to get better. -
I adore this film. Daniel Day Lewis gives one of my five favorite performances of all time as Bill the Butcher and the rest of the cast also knocks it out of the park. This was actually the movie that made me like Leonardo DiCaprio.
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"Here's the thing... I don't give a tuppenny fuck about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed shit-sack... That's pretty much the thing"
The 75th Academy Awards fucked Martin Scorsese, the entire creative team behind this motion picture AND most importantly... fucked Daniel Day-Lewis!
Dodgy "Oirish" accents aside, this is an excellent film. The direction, the editing, the cinematography, the score, the script.
This is no way a lean movie, and considering the plot is cobbled together from both fictional and non fiction characters, places and historical events, this could've been an unwieldy cluster-fuck. Instead we have a "close-quarters epic". Enthralling, poetic and visually stunning in places.I could bore you with glowing praise for the stand-out performances from the leads but…
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Daniel Day Lewis is just AMAZING.
Don't let the lengthy duration of this movie deter you, it's a very enjoyable thrill ride.
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An overlong film with a great performance from Daniel Day-Lewis and an adequate one from DiCaprio. I grew bored near the end but I'm glad I stuck with it because I got a pretty good film in return. Not one of Scorsese's best but definitely worth watching.
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No me moló una mierda.
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Martin Scorsese takes us into an amazing journey of the 1863 New York City with The Civil War, the violence, the hate, the gangs. Every time a see a movie from him I can feel the passion that he has for cinema. This always passes through what we are watching and that's why he is one of my favorite directors and I always love a film that he makes. This film can be disturbing but also moving and portrays all the hate that America been through at that time.
Leonardo DiCaprio always impresses me I think he's one of the best of his generation and he's getting better and better. Daniel Day-Lewis is just amazing, another memorable character. I usually don't like Cameron Diaz performances but she had a decent performance.
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Absolutely electric performance from Day Lewis but I found this to be an indulgent, over sprawling mess in general. There are scenes here that will have you transfixed and gripped (the production design and cinematography is grade A) undoubtedly but it tries to cram too much in around a rather perfunctory revenge tale without doing much of it justice.
Still, Day Lewis - wow. Greatest living actor.
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Completely brutal, wonderfully edited and a fantastic cast delivering brilliant performances, Gangs of New York is classic Scorsese. The cast are all excellent, even Cameron Diaz who manages to deliver a great performance and avoids becoming annoying. Daniel Day Lewis is once again incredible this time as Bill the Butcher a truly terrifying and overpowering gang leader of the streets of early New York. Leonardo DiCaprio is his usual fantastic self and this film was the start of his great and hopefully long-lasting collaboration with Scorsese. The editing and music is fantastic and matches the tension of scenes when needed. The set design, costume and props are all brilliant in giving the feel of 19th century America and the final…
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While a great effort in direction, acting and story, Gangs of New York ultimately fails in connecting all those three to a compelling movie.
The setup is great, the camera captures so many details you can't take them all in upon first viewing, DiCaprio and Day-Lewis arguably deliver stellar performances - but ultimately it's not coherent enough to justify the long running time. I admire it for what it wants to be, but as a movie it didn't click for me. -
Bill the Butcher. Terrifying.
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DDL AW YEAAAAAAH
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Sheer production value make/save this film. Good but should be better. Not enough happens to warrant a 2.5h runtime. And then there's the matter of Cameron Diaz being totally miscast.