The Worst Film Ever

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

As Good As It Gets

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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.

It can be inferred that Gangs of New York is a very violent movie because it takes place during the civil war. There was a lot of disunity, and many northerners were not willing to be drafted to help fight for black equality. The polt did jump around a bit, making it slightly hard to follow but the blood, gore, and romance keeps the audience engaged in the film. The love hate relationship between Amsterdam and Jenny helped further establish their characters and the inner conflict they possessed within themselves. Flashbacks were a key point in the movie as they helped the viewer get an idea of what characters were like from the near beginning of their life. Though some of the more bloody scenes deemed to be unrealistic, the characters were also portrayed well by their actors.

The start was slow, and the plot seemed to jump around and was hard to follow at times. Often, it threw us into situations without any reason as to why they were there. Some situations were also unnecessary to the plot of the movie. Those are the problems I had, but I appreciated the main character's motive and how he developed his relation with the man who killed his father. The overall character development was thorough as well, and the historical setting as a motive to some actions also fit cohesively. I enjoyed watching this movie, except for a few parts

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.