Gangs of New York (2002) Full Movie Reaction

Yes, those were hard times! But to be clear, the “true” Wild West really only existed from AFTER the Civil War when immigration from the East to the West began to hit its stride, until about the mid-1890s when telephone lines were beginning to be strung across the West and the railroads had connected all of the major cities and towns. Before that time, there were only White settlers in a select few areas; after that time, most people (White or not) lived in the cities, town, settlements, and reservations that had been constructed. A lot of the violence was directed at minorities particularly Native Americans, Mexicans, Blacks, and Asians - There were multiple group actions which were essentially pogroms and ethnic cleansings, where White settlers drove out people who they didn’t want to live near, or who had land or cattle that they wanted. Many of these have been ignored by historians because they paint past settlers in an unflattering light. However by the mid-1890s, most minorities in the West lived in cities or homogeneous communities for reasons of employment and personal safety.  Speaking of History- I forgot to mention, since you're interested in American history.. as I, Scorsese has already finished filming his latest movie and will be released in 2023 called "Killers Of The Flower Moon" an American western crime drama based on a true story starring BOTH Leo DiCaprio AND Robert De Niro working together as bad guys who've committed series of mysterious murders of the wealthy Osage Native Americans, after deposits of valuable oil were discovered under their land in the 1920s. They say this is Scorsese's most ambitious project to date!!

Joe Lazarus

yesss thank you for replying to this! i (Marian) did some research about America's history recently.. i always do after i watch a movie like this.. and found very scary facts about the Civil War that happened in 1860s or so.. the main reason like u said was the Slavery.. i believe they won for the north only.. the south kept their ways until late 1900s.. there is some remote cases of slavery as far as 1920s.. don't worry about history.. in most part the history is written by the winning party... we don't know 100% what really happen back then... Philippines History is as old as America.. when Spanish fleets discovered.. but Romania goes way back in time.. when it was Dacia and become allies with Rome after many years of fighting.. we still have original documents dating that time.. some older than Jesus himself

been replying for this one 2nd time now.. dunno what is wrong with Patreon. but yes the movie presents a fiction close to a fact.. but was good regardless. i been reading about America's history recently and yes ur right.. the riots that took place in 1860 or so.. around that era was one of the bloodiest.. but even so, the wild west was even more scary! while in big towns like New York, Boston and other places Riots happened more often than before.. in the west or other remote places, the bandits ruled. this is what happens when u get a lot of new immigrants and presented with a vast land where there is no governor, no security, no towns and justice...

hahaha i was amazed too, when they show this on one of the documentaries about human anatomy

This was a powerful reaction guys. It's very interesting watching non-Americans react to American history. Scorsese wanted to do this movie because he wanted to show how history isn't simple and nice where there are just heroes and villains. It was dirty and bloody and change happened violently. Marian refers to the American Revolution. Very simplistically, America was a colony of Britain, they rebelled, fought and defeated the British army, and then formed the United States in 1776. The Civil War took place about 90 years later and it was about the Northern states vs. the Southern states. The Union vs. The Confederacy. It was primarily about slavery. The Southern economy was heavily reliant on African-American slaves and wanted to break apart from the USA and go on its own. The war lasted 4 years. 620,000 dead. The North won and slavery was abolished. Racism sadly was not. If you're interested, the best Civil War movie in my opinion is Glory (1989) with Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. Don't worry about not knowing about US history. Trust me, we don't know anything about Romanian or Filipino history. Thank you again!

Ellie Miller

I enjoyed Gangs of New York for its entertainment quality. For historical value, on the other hand, the film leaves a lot to be desired. What was historically accurate about this film can be summarized in three succinct bullet points: * Yes, the Five Points of NY City really was an Irish slum in the mid 19th Century. * Yes, Tammany Hall really was a corrupt political machine, as epitomized in the character of Boss Tweed. *And yes, 19th C. urban ghettos really were violent filled with diff gangs, poverty-stricken hellholes where gang warfare between Protestant nativist groups and Irish Catholics was commonplace. Where Scorsese took artistic liberties, to a detrimental effect, was in his efforts to fit these historical realities into a simplistic Hollywood polarization of 'good guys' against 'bad guys'. Scorsese, in essence, wanted to portray the Irish Catholic immigrants as an underclass of underdogs who beat out the odds in the end - that classic, romanticized formulation of virtually every hero that's ever been featured in a Hollywood movie. In the beginning of the film, this simplistic characterization was historically and culturally innocuous. The Irish Catholics were, in Gangs of New York, little more than water boys for Boss Tweed, despite the fact that, in reality, the Irish controlled Boss Tweed, Tammany Hall and, for that matter, Democratic politics in New York - and everyone in New York City knew it. The Irish had an almost instinctive political genius that aroused the jealousies of native-born Americans the instant they became involved in urban politics, so that by the Civil War they were essentially running NY City's Democratic Party. Not quite the water boys Scorsese depicted. The 1863 Draft Riots were the largest and most violent race riots in US history (again, not hyperbole, but historical fact.) Large mobs of Irish immigrants took to the streets of New York, torches in hand, and burned down black homes, black-owned businesses, and black orphanages. Black men were publicly lynched, their bodies mutilated and left on display as a warning to other blacks, in the same manner that the Romans would leave the crucified up on the cross. One first-hand account of the riot described a 16 year old Irish boy dragging the nude, mutilated corpse of a black man through the streets by the testicles. Other accounts described horrific acts of public necrophilia. The rest I will leave to the imagination, as the details are too gruesome for me to describe. As for the film itself, while not 100% accurate, it was entertaining. Daniel Day Lewis' performance was brilliant and imo stole the show. And again Daniel's role was originally offered to Robert De Niro but had to turn it down because his schedule was full. For more Scorsese films... With Dicaprio... "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) based on another true story. "The Aviator" (2004) also based on a true story "Shutter Island" (2010) or Scorsese with De Niro "Raging Bull" (1980) based on a true story "Cape Fear" (1991)

Joe Lazarus

"Oh so we come from the pigs" 🤣🤣🤣.. funny stuff Joy.. Thanks for sharing your reaction with us..👍

PastaDon