The GANGS of NEW YORK was a great movie!

[green papaya]

anybody like this movie? I thought they did a nice job on recreating life back in 1860's Civil War era New York City

the costumes, the dialect, the acting, etc

my favorite character was "Bill the Butcher" this movie was so well made that it kind of made me feel like I traveled back in time to 1862

the way Bill the Butcher talked and the dialog he used sounded so authentic, great acting!

I also like the victorian era or life back in the mid to late 19th century

 

[Twitch]

I enjoyed that one too. And if you saw it on DVD it showed how they recreated the set of old NYC.

 

[Story]

Ya need de' hat, Green Papaya

http://www.baronhats.com/Bill_B.htm

 

[Tomasso]

And if you saw it on DVD it showed how they recreated the set of old NYC.

Yes, that was quite interesting.

 

[scotrace]

The ending was excellent.The men of the time felt so passionately.... as we all do. But the grave makes all equal, and in 100 years it won't mean squat.

"...we observe Empire Day, when we remember all those who died... to KEEP CHINA BRITISH!"

 

[Baron Kurtz]

t'was a grand movie. don't know how the hats would work without the rest of the get-up.

bk

 

[Feraud]

This is a great Film. I will always have a complaint or two regarding casting but overall an A+ for this one.
Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor who puts his heart into a role. I appreciate Martin Scorsese using real sets and less cgi as opposed to doing most of the film on green screen like Lucas would have done.

fftopic: As a quick aside, parts of Goodfellas (another Scorsese film) was filmed in Queens. I had the pleasure to stand next to the man himself and watch some scenes go down!

Back to topic....

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

I thought it was an interesting movie, but in terms of authenticity it was pretty terrible.

 

[deanglen]

I thought it was an interesting movie, but in terms of authenticity it was pretty terrible.

Really? Tell more, Vladimir. I often wondered how authentic it was. I would have thought they would have gotten it right. I do know the military's role and employment of the Sixth Corps was not quite correct. But I'm not sure exactly in what way. Didn't the navy do some shelling? Or was that in the film. and not correct? I can't remember.

dean

 

[Tomasso]

I Agree!

Daniel Day Lewis is a great actor who puts his heart into a role.

Unfortunately, he makes relatively few films.

As an aside; I recall the SAG awards show, where DDL won for best actor, and in his acceptance speech he said that John C. Reilly was the best actor that he'd ever seen. And, that it scared him into focusing on his performance in the role. Interesting.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

The authenticity problems in Gangs are largely ones of scale. For example, the military was involved in the riots but not in the way shown in the movie. The clothing was a bit "off" and stylized, apparently to make the characters look "larger than life." There were also some firearms handling errors.

In all, the movie is inaccurate for its view of the time period and location in question. At best it presents a very biased and selective view.

 

[deanglen]

The authenticity problems in Gangs are largely ones of scale. For example, the military was involved in the riots but not in the way shown in the movie. The clothing was a bit "off" and stylized, apparently to make the characters look "larger than life." There were also some firearms handling errors.

In all, the movie is inaccurate for its view of the time period and location in question. At best it presents a very biased and selective view.

Thank you for your reply. As usual, when someone knows something, the more they tell you the more you want to know.

dean

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

Historical inaccuracies aside, this is one of my favorite movies of all time. Action, drama, and a bit of romance. Add genius directing and an amazing musical score, and there you have it. Of all of my DVDs I am pretty sure this is the one I've watched the most. As mentioned before, Daniel Day Lewis really made this movie what it was. The costuming may have been inaccurate, but there were still a lot of great hats, and the scenes with the gang "battles" were just awesome.

OK, I'm done gushing. Yeah, I liked Gangs of New York.

 

[Feraud]

Historical inaccuracies aside, this is one of my favorite movies of all time.

Had Cameron Diaz not been cast in the film I might be saying this too... :eusa_doh: lol

 

[Hemingway Jones]

The ending has quite the punch as the city ages and the sky-line rises up and until the Twin Towers are seen. It reminds you that the story of a city is a story of a struggle of millions of people who may never be remembered.

It was not, of course, Scorsese's intent to make an historic documentary, but rather a compelling piece of drama rooted in the draft riots of the Civil War. In this, it was a resounding success.

And of course, from a pop culture point of view, "Bill the Butcher" may well emerge as one of the greatest villainous film characters of all time. We'll see how this film is treated on cable. Usually, it is in the re-showing of these films that legends are made.

 

[Tomasso]

It's Not A Documentary.

The authenticity problems in Gangs are largely ones of scale. For example, the military was involved in the riots but not in the way shown in the movie. The clothing was a bit "off" and stylized, apparently to make the characters look "larger than life." There were also some firearms handling errors.

In all, the movie is inaccurate for its view of the time period and location in question. At best it presents a very biased and selective view.

A bit of creative licence is allowed, no?

 

[DancingSweetie]

Had Cameron Diaz not been cast in the film I might be saying this too... :eusa_doh: lol

I agree, I didn't understand how they came to choose such an inferior actress.

 

[Tomasso]

I agree, I didn't understand how they came to choose such an inferior actress.

And, Leonardo is Olivier?


It's all about the Q score.


http://www.qscores.com/performer.asp

 

[Mr_Misanthropy]

I thought Leo was great in this movie. In fact, I haven't seen many movies I didn't like him in. Aviator, Catch Me If You Can, The Beach, Basketball Diaries, all great flicks in my book!!

I agree Cameron Diaz wasn't right for this role. She's a good actress and all, but she just doesn't have a historic look/appeal AT ALL.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I really liked the film - it splendidly immersed us in a time that we really hadn't seen in any detail before.

While it took some license with history (I had read Tyler Anbinder's excellent book on the history of Five Points before seeing the film), it got an awful lot of stuff right... However, I thought that Leo and Cameron were badly miscast - neither of them really has the right stuff for a costume picture, they're just so *contemporary* - and while they did the best that they could in their roles, their whole plot just sort of laid there. But when the film concentrated on Bill the Butcher, Boss Tweed, the Civil War, uptown vs. downtown, "natives" vs. immigrants, etc., it did great, and the art direction/sets/costumes were really something. A very moving ending too.

A flawed gem that I suspect will be appreciated more as time goes by.