Worth Buying on DVD

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 2003)

(Possible Spoiler) From the director of Casino, Goodfellas, and Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese wins my affection yet again for this great movie. Everything from set design to Daniel Day-Lewis's performance made this movie an enjoyable experience. The film runs for around two and a half hours and features gold supporting performers in this circa Civil War epic. Liam Neeson (Schindler's List), John C. Reily (Magnolia) & David Hemmings (Gladiator) are only to name a few. Although the story was very fulfilling, the real treat was with the set design and cinematography. With the macabre undergrounds of a once thriving colony of gangs to the snow covered town center to which some of the most important scenes originate and thrive from, GONY's environment is a breath of fresh air. The acting in the movie was fair and sculpted together nicely to provide round characters with full-fledging emotions and thoughts. Daniel-Day Lewis, whose been on a five-year hiatus from his last work, The Boxer, stole the movie with his "Ghengis Khan with a bipolar disorder" palette. Even with the corrupt power he pitches and the arrogant aroma he sends off, by the end of the film, you can't help but like the guy.
Socsese stamps the theme of the movie at the end by showing it in the eyes of Lewis and DiCaprio. Following this key moment, Scorsese pays omage to the people of New York by showing the evolution of the city from a gravesite overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge. Here, Scorcese shows four evolution times in New York: 1864; The time this epic took place, ~1910's; early development of the skyline, ~1930's; Empire State building is added to the facade, & Present; The world Trade center towers over the New York Skyline; a bittersweet end to a great movie.