Gangs of New York (preview of review) (1 Viewer)

[DeeF]

I picked this up today, and watched it.

Am I allowed to say what I think about the DVD?

 

[Tom Oh]

I don't see why not. Where you got the DVD is the only restriction on the forum as far as I can recall. Internet review sites have a studio gag orders from time to time but I don't believe this applies to you. So how was it?

 

[DeeF]

I didn't see this movie in the theaters, so perhaps I'm reacting mostly to the movie, but I didn't think this DVD looked very good. The movie can only be enjoyed as a documentary of historicity -- the right clothes, sets that look right, hair styles, etc. As a documentary, it works well enough, but where was story, dialogue, point? Actually, it seems to be too many stories, about revenge, Five Points, immigrants in America, and the Civil War. Oh yes, racism and draft riots. I was particularly annoyed by the final scene between the main characters.

I do think that Day-Lewis's performance was quite spectacular, but he was working in a vacuum.

About the DVD: I just don't think the picture looked as good as it could have. I see what I think is a major amount of edge enhancement for a movie this recent. It looks... electronically enhanced, much of the time. The DTS sound is, of course, quite spectacular.

I've only just started wending my way through the features.

 

[Bill J]

Have you listened to any of the Scorsese commentary yet?

 

[Nick Sievers]

I thought GONY was pretty good, a solid 3 star (out of 4). It had great production values, I mean you could almost smell the streets. But the main reason i'll be picking up the DVD is the amazing performance that Daniel Day-Lewis gave. I can't wait to see the Butcher again.

Bit of a shame about the transfer. I hope there isn't excessive EE to be seen.

EDIT: Scorsese has an Audio Commentary on this disc? Don't know how that slipped by me.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

As long as you aren't a reviewer who is
receiving screener copies you can post your thoughts.

 

[DeeF]

Some more I've been thinking about:

I don't think Scorsese knows how to move people around very well. I think the crowd scenes in this movie are poorly done (although the fight scenes are OK -- probably there was a specific fight director). Many of the street scenes show crowds of people milling about with no purpose, and to no purpose. One of the things that characterizes very dangerous areas, presumably including Five Points, is lonely, deserted streets where no one pays any attention to crime. Had this been juxtaposed with crowded scenes like the draft riots, it could have been quite powerful. Instead, the movie has the virtues of a pageant, not an action-filled historical drama.

A particular spot I found false and shallow: in the brewery, which is made over into a sort of homeless shelter, there is a shot showing many floors at once, where the families have camped out. The people are shown waving their arms, moving about, over and over, and it seems very false, very actorly, and not real.

I think Spielberg might have been better as the director of this movie, because he knows how to film crowds, such as those in Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Indiana Jones, many others. Many directors don't know how to film crowds of people, because they don't really have to do it all that often. Even Scorsese thinks this may be the last movie to use real, epic-size sets, and thousands of actual extras.