Gangs of New York

[JimmyCracksCorn]

I just saw this movie last night and it didn't make one bit of sense. They make New York city off to be just one big street brawl, and if you step out your front door, you're bound to get slugged by some random person for no reason.

SPOILER!






It starts out with a big street fight between some Irish immigrants and some Natives English Americans who want them out. The fight is pretty cool, but really gruesome. Picture a street fight where everyone is armed with butcher knives and axes. Then we see little leo dicaprio watching his father die, after which he is sent to reform school for 16 years. Once he gets out, he wanders around the city looking for a gang to join and randomly sees all the people from his father's old gang, and 16 years later, still recognizes them. Amazingly though, he ends up joining the native gang that killed his father, and the boss loves him.

Then they show this gang setting fire to a building, and the fire brigade shows up to put it out. Then another fire briagde shows up, and the first briagde, instead of appreciating the help, decides to brawl with the other brigade and forget about the fire.

Many fights later...

Leo is exposed as being Irish, and his father's son. The Native gang is now against him. So some politician who I never did quite figure out who it was, comes to Leo and says he wants a new friend in the five points (where most of the movie takes place) because he had formerly been allied with the native gang. So then they have this Irish guy run for sherriff for some reason, and he is about to win the election, but then the native boss kills him. So then leo and a big group of irish people are standing at the docks with candles mourning him apparantly. They are met by the native gang who says he'll come back later. So now they plan a big brawl, and just when you think leo is creating a mob to fight the natives, he is actually forming an anti conscription mob, and this is when the movie gets really crazy. Him and his mob, and lots of other mobs, go through the streets and just set everything on fire they can see - they smash windows, hang people, whatever they can do to cause a ruckus. Then after the whole city is on fire, I guess Leo decides its time to confront the natives, so he takes his mob to the designated spot to meet them. Just then, the army shows up to put down the riots. While Leo and the Natives are about to showdown, a cannon ball from a gunship in the harbor happens to land right in the middle of the fight. Apparantly, Leo and the Native boss were blown into the same pile of rubble because the scene switches to them both lying almost dead next to eachother. They get up for one last crippled fight to the death, and of course, Leo wins.

The End.

I liked it though, I'd go see it again. It was just f*cking wierd.

So go see Gangs of New York. Now!

[Sprayber]

http://r2.gsa.gov/fivept/fphome.htm

They did a couple shows about the movie and the history of the 5 points area on the History Channel. From what the History Channel described the movie was kind of accurate. Maybe some local New Yorkers could provide some insight.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Sprayber

http://r2.gsa.gov/fivept/fphome.htm

They did a couple shows about the movie and the history of the 5 points area on the History Channel. From what the History Channel described the movie was kind of accurate. Maybe some local New Yorkers could provide some insight.

I know New York was rough, but you have to see the movie. Its just insane.

And not even just the fighting, that was just a bonus. The plot, characters, fighting, everything was just madness. It went in so many different directions in so little time.

EDIT: And that site you listed says this:

To outsiders, Five Points was a frightening slum; from the inside it was a thriving working-class neighborhood.

Anyways, you have to see the movie.

[reds4ever]

Maybe some local New Yorkers could provide some insight.

..they'd have to be VERY old to give any real insight

[Dis]

yes very old. I didn't read the spoilers. I may see this movie tomorrow.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Dissident
yes very old. I didn't read the spoilers. I may see this movie tomorrow.

Oh, you won't be disappointed. Be sure to post here when you do.

I liked it, it was kind of like a Fast and the Furious, only in Civil War New York with immigrant street gangs and no cars.

[FrustratedPoet]

Spoiler:

Isn't this the kind of thread the spoiler box was implemented for?

[trickey]

This is exactly the thread the spoiler box was meant for.


OTOH, i want to see the movie. It looks good, even if it is a bit unrealistic.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet

Spoiler:

Isn't this the kind of thread the spoiler box was implemented for?

We have spoiler boxes? How do you make them?

Threadjacker

[Dis]

how unrealistic is it? I can't imagine it is that much. It is based off a true story I think. But of course being a hollywood movie they have to dramatize it.

[FrustratedPoet]

Just put spoiler and /spoiler in the square brackets.

You should have been able to see how it was done when you quoted my post.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by trickey
This is exactly the thread the spoiler box was meant for.


OTOH, i want to see the movie. It looks good, even if it is a bit unrealistic.

It wasn't even that it was so unrealistic, I mean, it COULD have happened I suppose. It just seem unlikely. It was just that it was so insane.

Now, granted, I was a bit, shall we say, high, during the movie. So that may have blown it kind of out of proportion for me. But thinking back on it it still seems like 3 hours of madness.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Dissident
how unrealistic is it? I can't imagine it is that much. It is based off a true story I think. But of course being a hollywood movie they have to dramatize it.

Its more that they just don't do a good job of explaining whats going on. Things just happen out of nowhere. I'm not too familiar with Five Points history, like the majority of people who will see the movie, so I think they should have taken it into more consideration. Although it just added to the madness, so I'm glad they didn't

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Oh, and did I mention I watched it off of a bootlegged tape I bought in the subways in Boston? You know the kind, where the guy goes into the theater with a camera and sells it before it goes on tape.

Maybe that didn't help either

[Shi Huangdi]

Just got back from seeing the movie. I agree, this was a pretty good movie, though it got really confusing at points. That politican you were talking about was Boss Tweed, an infamous NY politician known for steeling vast amounts of money from NY. But yes, that the one of the most chaotic movies I have ever seen, it was hard to tell what was going on at points. One thing though, why couldn't they have gotten an Irish guy to play the Irish leader instead of DiCaprio? Oh well, at least they got someone from another Catholic immigrant group.. I'd reccomend this movie though, just so long as you are ok with violence. Gangs of New York is a very violent movie.......