Martin Scorsese's grand ambition.

Rating: 9/10 (24 February 2006)

"Gangs of New York" is everything that we would expect Martin Scorsese to deliver. It's like all his movies rolled into one hard punch. Portraying young Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) looking to take revenge on crime boss Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in 1863 New York, the movie shows what a historical epic should be. I can't believe that this didn't win a single Oscar; what does Scorsese have to do to win their respect? But the point is that "Gangs of New York" is a masterpiece. Scorsese showed the same flair for historical epics that he later brought to "The Aviator". Fine support from Cameron Diaz, John C. Reilly, Brendan Gleeson, Jim Broadbent, Henry Thomas, and Liam Neeson make this one solid flick. Perfect.