a lover of film's honest opinion

Rating: Null/10 (19 January 2003)

This film is amazing! I am a media student, I study films and it is true to say that Gangs of New York does not have a huge amount to say. It is not heavily symbolic and it is a mainstream money-grabber, however sometimes films do not have to be original or re-defining to warrant praise.
No one would deny that this film is visually stunning and contains some breathtaking action scenes, on par with Saving Private Ryan. This alone is a good enough reason to see it, yet there is so much more to this movie. The acting is first-class, Daniel Day-Lewis is brilliant and Caprio holds his own in a cast with overwhelming ability. The one thing that lets the acting down is the erratic Irish accents, a mix between American and Father Ted, but this is a minor gripe. Many argue the story is poor and the ending even worse, well the story (without spoiling it) has been seen countless times before and has been successful. As I said before, a plot does not have to be original to be effective. This story weaves perfectly with the action, drama and comedy and allows Scorsese to display his superb talent of portraying real problems with an entertaining exaggeration Gangs of New York should leave you thinking "wow" just watch it for fun and not to see if it's worth the hype.