Excellent and resonant

Rating: 10/10 (22 September 2009)

Within the first few minutes this epic builds up great tension. The proud Irish take a serious battle march with music that still sticks in my head. Their battle royale with obstinate natives does not disappoint, and is actually more brutal than the civil war battles in most movies dedicated to the mid-1800s.
For the film, it was very well done. I had the Blu-Ray and the quality looked fine to me, apparently it was not a good transfer. Daniel Day Lewis is a savant, DiCaprio holds his own, Neeson maximizes his short time and Jim Broadbent playing Boss Tweed is tremendous. The set has to be one the best ever and the extras show that. The ending was a good twist on what was expected earlier in the movie.
For the general content, the rough melting pot is old New York, and a libertarian experiment, perhaps dream. I won't belabor it but the actual police are ignored or beaten and the gangs police down to blatant discrimination. Taxes are privatized, fire squads are fueled by theft and pride, and hookers are seemingly everywhere.