Gangs of New York is a 2002 American action period drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein. The screenplay was written by Jay Cocks, Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan and is based on the book ‘The Gangs of New York’ by Herbert Asbury. Gangs of New York was nominated for ten Oscars at the Academy Awards.

Rated: R (movie contains intense strong violence, sexuality/nudity and language)
Run Time: 2h 47min
Release Date: December 20, 2002 (USA)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Director: Martin Scorsese
Studio: Mirimax
Gangs of New York stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Gary Lewis, Cara Seymour, Stephen Graham, Roger Ashton and Joseph P. Reidy.
Gangs of New York is the story of Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) who as a small boy witnesses his father, ‘Priest’ Vallon (Liam Neeson) get murdered by Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) in a bloody battle between rival gang factions in the slum neighborhood of Five Points, Manhattan in 1846. The battle (or “challenge”) in Paradise Square was to determine who holds sway over the Five Points between the nativist, Protestant Natives led by Bill the Butcher and the catholic group of Irish immigrants, the Dead Rabbits, led by Priest Vallon. At the end of the battle, Bill kills Vallon and declares the Dead Rabbits outlawed. Having witnessed this, young Vallon hides the knife that killed his father and is taken to an orphanage on Blackwell’s Island. Sixteen years later, Vallon’s son, using an Alias of Amsterdam, returns to the Five Points seeking revenge and retrieves the knife he hid to kill the man who murdered his father.
Movie Quotes
“My father gave his life, making this country what it is. Murdered by the British with all of his men on the twenty-fifth of July, anno domini, 1814. Do you think I’m going to help you befoul his legacy, by giving this country over to them what’s had no hand in the fighting for it? Why, because they come off a boat crawling with lice and begging for your soup?” – Bill the Butcher
“Remember the first rule of politics. The ballots don’t make the results, the counters make the results. The counters. Keep counting.” – William ‘Boss’ Tweed
“When you kill a king, you don’t stab him in the dark. You kill him where the entire court can watch him die.” – Amsterdam Vallon
“How old are you, Amsterdam?” – Bill the Butcher
“I’m not sure, sir. I never did quite figure it.” – Amsterdam Vallon
“I’m forty-seven years old. You know how I stayed alive this long? All these years? Fear. The spectacle of fearsome acts. Somebody steals from me, I cut off his hands. He offends me, I cut out his tongue. He rises against me, I cut off his head, stick it on a pike, raise it high up so all on the streets can see. That’s what preserves the order of things. Fear.” – Bill the Butcher
Official Movie Trailer
Movie Stars
Leonardo DiCaprio as Amsterdam Vallon
Daniel Day-Lewis as William Cutting a.k.a. Bill the Butcher
Cameron Diaz as Jenny Everdeane
Jim Broadbent as William ‘Boss’ Tweed
John C. Reilly as Happy Jack Mulraney
Henry Thomas as Johnny Sirocco
Liam Neeson as ‘Priest’ Vallon
Brendan Gleeson as Walter ‘Monk’ McGinn
Gary Lewis as McGloin
Cara Seymour as Hell-Cat Maggie
Stephen Graham as Shang
Roger Ashton-Griffiths as P.T. Barnum
Joseph P. Reidy as Police Chief