I’ll see it just because DDL is an amazing actor.
Oh, and he’s hot. Cite: Last of the Mohicans
Definately Scorsese at the table.
I just got back and I liked it a lot. Except for the guy next to me that looked like he was going to puke at a little bit of caro syrup and food coloring. If you’re that much of a wuss, you shouldn’t see anything with “gang” in the title.
I was incredibly fond of the secondary cast- Jim Broadbent, the always lovely Brendan Gleeson, and Daniel Day-Lewis’ accent, which must be heard to be believed.
I found that the the story we half-get about Bill and Priest Vallon was more intriguing than Amsterdam’s story. IMHO, a far better movie could have been made about them and their respect for each other. But I’m a shameless Neeson fan.
What I had real problems with was the voice over. The images said things so much more eloquently at times, and the narrative cheapened it. Wheneve DiCaprio had a v.o., it felt like “Wonder Years” was on.
Watching reminded me why I started costuming (Hellcat Maggie’s claw-gloves)…and made me want to go back to it for half a moment.
AL
I was surprised at the inclusion of the WTC towers in the final shot.
BTW, while I had mixed views of the movie (mostly the ones here-“the Butcher” was 50 x more interesting than Amsterdam, it was uneven, but the sets were fantastic and the acting generally decent) I have one odd complaint: it had easily the worst closing credits I’ve ever seen. The U2 song and the close-up on the GANGS OF NEW YORK logo just simply didn’t work at all, anymore than the techno music at the beginning helped set pace.
Sampiro,
you’re right. I felt the same way.
I liked DDL’s performance, some of the scenes and set pieces, the costumes. But I felt that the movie just wasn’t put together properly. Maybe Scorsese had TOO much time to work on this movie.
applauded the inclusion of the two towers in the end of the film - hate movies / video games / trailers that go back and take them out…
hellcat - coolest character…
leonardo - can’t do / keep an accent for sh!t…
lewis was amazing…period. best line “I don’t sleep too much…got to sleep with one eye open…and since I only have one eye…” <shrugs> only gripe is that they should have digitally kept his fake eye inplace… instead of it watering and tracking with his other one…
diaz - only issue i had…no one that would show off her belly scar in that time would have ripped “abs of steel” with the tan…
I felt the movie was axcellent for good stretches, but faltered in others. DDL is the movie, really, a fantastic performance.
I HATED the radio announcer voice-over during the riots.
I left this movie feeling depressed… There wasn’t a single character with any redeeming characteristic anywhere to be found. Surely they could have wedged in at least one character that had some smidgen of humanity. I felt like I was watching a documentary about a pack of wild jackals where any vulnerability is an invitation to attack and they turn on each other in an instant. The movie would have been much cheaper to make if they had just filmed packs of mangy, starving dogs fighting each other in a dirty back alley. If nothing else, with an all dog cast they could have gotten the same number of tits into the film with only1/3 as many actresses. (or is it 1/4?)
On the other hand, this is a good movie to throw in the face of those people who romanticize the past - saying how we’ve now lost our way and how we need to reclaim our roots.
I wish Neeson had been more than a cameo.
Did you notice that the Butcher said his father died fighting the English in “Anno Domini 1814”, yet he told Amerstam “I’m forty seven” in what was either 1862 or 1863? This would make him at best posthumous and, if it was in 1863, it means he was either illegitimate or lying. Some explanation of how Amsterdam got his scars might have been interesting as well.
I was sort of “okay… whatever” at the almost namedropping inclusion of P.T. Barnum in the movie. I’m not an expert on him, but he never struck me as the type to go slumming and watch gangmembers try to kill each other. And does anybody know if the real Boss Tweed loved birds, btw? I was curious if there was any particular reason for the umpteen cages in his office.
I’d like to read something about the Irish who got straight off the boat and joined the army. Does anybody have any recommendations?
Since GANGS isn’t doing well, THE BEACH was an unqualified flop, TITANIC was five years ago, the success of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN can be chalked up to Tom Hanks (and probably won’t break $100 Million anyway), and most of his pre-TITANIC stuff wasn’t really that successful, I wonder if Leo can keep his place on the Hollywood shortlist?
For some reason, I really don’t think that Cameron Diaz was the right actress for that part.
Also, I thought the movie was a bit hard to follow. I agree with some of the other posters that the movie would have been better with the butcher and the priest, and not the later events.
Leo’s pretty big in foreign territories. The foreign film rights to
Gangs were sold for 65 million just on the basis of the Dicaprio/Diaz/Scorsese lineup. So there’s always going to be a job for him…same with Antonio Banderas, whose starring-role films have never done huge business in the States but do extremely well in Europe and Japan.
Judging what constitutes a “unqualified flop” is difficult. Lots of movies that do poorly at the box office manage to make back their money and then some once they get into ancillary markets (DVD/video sales, pay-per-view, cable/TV rights, merchandise, etc.) even if it takes a few years.
I just got back from this one myself. I really liked it. Allow me to defend a few points, however half-heartedly:
- “The main character was boring; Bill the Butcher should have been the main character.”
Is it possible that we’ve all been fooled my movie conventions and Bill the Butcher actually was the main character? He certainly had enough screen time.
- “Unnecessary historical facts interfered with the telling of the story.”
Again, I think we’re forgetting what the movie is really about. It’s not about Amsterdam’s revenge so much as it is about New York during that time. Amsterdam’s story is just used as a window into the real story.
- “Leonardo DiCaprio’s accent wasn’t very good. It slipped in and out.”
Isn’t that the point? Isn’t this movie about a time when immigrants were becoming Americans? I thought this point was rather realistic. Why is it that when DDL’s accent wavers between “New Yawk” and Olde World, he receives praise, but when LDC’s wavers between Irish and American he is criticized for it. Yes, I realize that given the two actors’ histories DDL can be better trusted to have done so on purpose, but still.
And I was curious about that accent. How accurate was it? Why didn’t any of the other actors use it? And was DDL ripping off Robert DeNiro just a little bit or what?
Anyway, I thought it was pretty good. I’d like to see it again. And I’d like to see the extra long DVD version too.
Oh yeah. And:
They showed all the right breasts. I have no interest in Cameron Diaz’s, and the dark-haired honey with DDL in the brothel was just lovely.
Oh yeah again. And I agree that the weird synth soundtrack in the first battle was a major distraction, and the U2 song at the end SUCKED. As a brief aside, U2 seems to suck all the time lately. Yup. Suck suck suck.
Thank you.
I just saw it and although I really liked it, did anyone else notice how they made DiCaprio seem huge? He seemed to tower above everyone. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t he kind of short in real life? They really made him seem like he could be Liam Neeson’s son.
Kyomara
I loved the track you speak of–I think you are referring to Peter Gabriel’s Signal To Noise. But I realize it was perhaps a bit off the wall.
Kaspar Hauser*
From seeing DiCaprio in other movies, I really do not think he is short. I’ve read that he is six feet, but do not know for sure.
I wanted to cry at how disappointing this movie was.
I went in completely open-minded and with minimal expectations, and… found myself struggling to enjoy it for the three-hour duration. Of course, I won’t deny that this was a huge undertaking, and the movie’s heart was definitely in the right place. But the numerous plot lines were all dull to me, the pacing left a lot to be desired, the the performances were all so-so.
It wasn’t terrible. It was just mediocre.
Glad that a lot of other people seem to be enjoying it, though. And at least I got to see the Kill Bill teaser! Jesus I can’t wait.
I liked about 1/2 of it: that is, the ending half, after Leo gets knifed and branded by Butch. Oh, the first scene too. It made my personal list of best 10 movies of 2002, but I guess it’s actually a “best 9-1/2” list, considering.
Best line in the movie: when Butch starts to go all soft and weepy, and you think he’s either getting human or wimpy, when he tells the cop, “I want you…to PUNISH…the man who…MURDERED…that POOR LITTLE RABBIT!”
Oh, and Hellcat was a freaking awesome character - I kept hoping to see more of her throughout the film.
Sort of a bump, I just saw this last night. It was in the smaller theater of my local cinema, but that was almost sold out. There were about 7 empty seats left. Not bad.
Anyway, I want to say that I really enjoyed this movie. I think the whole thing was perfectly awkward: the notion of Bill not being the main character, the stories that seem more or less uninteresting are given huge focus, etc etc… all these complaints are well made, but when the cannons were firing and Bill and Amsterdam were still wanting to fight, it sort of settled in for me, and the ending sequence with the graveyard sealed it: the point, as I saw it, was to make it awkward. They were awkward times, and everyone felt their issues were larger than life, but it was the story of one streetcorner in the end, and the impact these people had were in a sense washed away and really not all that big.
I don’t know, maybe a different perspective.
The only problem I had was how long it took Amsterdam to do anything. Really, was he torn between just living his life and hating the man or what? It never seemed clear. I get the feeling a lot of time was supposed to pass for him to come under Bill’s wing, but maybe not and I just need to watch it again.
I was happy that Amsterdam didn’t send Bill his eye… that would have been cheap, I think.
I agree Diaz didn’t belong in the film, though I liked her character.
I’m inclined to be a bit more charitable. I thought the movie was excellent in spite of LDC. I don’t blame Scorsese for using him (maybe to get the movie made) and applaud him for getting DDL. Bill was convincing, hell his moustache alone could have ruled old New York. I can overlook the historic inaccuracies. I heard a radio interview in which Scorsese basically said he wasn’t making a documentary but an opera.