What makes it different from others?

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Gangs of new york is on of the best movies i ever saw great acting cool fight scenes it is a very long but it is all worth it

Atr first it was confusing to follow along but twenty minutes in I managed to sort of understand the storyline.It was interesting and I soon found out why the movie is rated R. I never heard of anything about the Five Points nor did I realize how violent people reacted to draft.

The story takes place during an era of American History that's generally overlooked in the history books, beginning in 1846 (for the opening sequence) through the early part of 1863 with the Civil War in progress. Some of the film deals with the New York City draft riots that occurred when Congress passed a conscription law, but the overarching story deals with the revenge sought by Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) some sixteen years after seeing his father murdered by Native gang leader, Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting (Daniel-Day Lewis).For those of faint heart and weaker stomach, it's not an easy picture to watch with the amount of violence and bloodshed, dealt out by individuals with little regard for humanity. Alliances are switched by members of the former 'Dead Rabbits' gang after their leader, Vallon's father 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson) is killed in a street brawl. It occurred to me at one point that the roles of Neeson and Day Lewis could have been reversed, that's how much they resembled each other as gang leaders.The movie doesn't rate that highly here on IMDb with a fair number of detractors in the reviews section. That surprises me somewhat, as the story is gripping from a historical perspective, and the performances by the principals are more than adequate. Because the film's locations are situated primarily in a congested area of the City known as The Five Points, you don't have the epic sweep of more highly regarded films like "Gone With the Wind", but that's a minor point. For me, the picture opened up an era of American History worthy of further study that was bypassed during my own education. It looks like I'll be spending some time there learning about The Tammany Hall years and the corruption that took place under the regime of Boss Tweed.

This film is compelling. It also catches the viewer off guard. At first, it begins to build itself as your average son-of-killed-man- gets-revenge-years-later plot line. Then it completely throws the viewer off, thereby creating very deeply emotional characters. They feel like they are real as more information is revealed. There is also no shortage of intrigue. It might begin to feel as though the film is too long, but when it is over the entire picture comes together and one sees exactly why it was played out the way it was. Most of the cast is brilliant; the accents are slight but noticeable enough to be believable. Each performance is gritty and well done. Daniel Day Lewis and DiCaprio play off each other beautifully- they're both excellent actors and could have easily over-performed one another, but it can be perfectly understood that Scorsese directed them well. Each main character's story has a purpose that makes sense and doesn't feel unnecessary. It is true, however, that many of the supporting cast is forgettable(mainly because they look very similar and are only seen once or twice), though the film tries hard to make you care about them when they die. And there is a lot of death in this film, specifically killing. When the word "gangs" is in the title, that's obvious. The film also does a great job of showing the plight of civil-war era Americans who were affected by the first draft, showing facts that not many remember these days. The end is sure to tug on your thoughts for sure, and it leaves the viewer pondering everything from America's history to the meaning of loyalty. Very well done.