Gangs of New York
Miramax Films | Release Date: December 20, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
27
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Gangs is a dream project Scorsese has wanted to make for 30 years. You have to honor its mad ambition. But sadly, it feels like a dream too long deferred. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
The problem here lies not in the abundance of blood--we've seen that before--but in the film's pounding insistence, which prevails for all two hours and 40 minutes, that we also absorb a rather thin and unreliable history lesson. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Cost well over $100 million, and the money is up there for the gawking. Illuminated by the orange flames of hell, the vast New York City set looks great. The least engaging aspect of the movie is its script -- which passed through the hands of three separate writers and perhaps even producer Harvey Weinstein. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyJohn Powers
Scorsese and his writers have saddled their dream with a corny plot apparently lifted from some old 1930s Warner Bros. film starring Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
"Gunsmoke" meets "Planet of the Apes" in Martin Scorsese's overlarge, overcooked epic of 19th century Manhattan. You should see it anyway. Read full review
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The movie is strange and muddled -- a disorganized epic -- but Day-Lewis, disporting himself with royal assurance, does what he can to hold it together. [23 & 30 December 2002, p. 166]
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The flaw that separates Scorsese's film into its components is its lack of a crystallized theme. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Under its scope and reach and passion, Gangs of New York is pretty ordinary stuff. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Epic, meticulously researched and ultimately disappointing, Martin Scorsese's bloody valentine to the birth of his beloved city is less than the sum of its parts. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Starts off with a lot of promise and excitement but winds up 165 minutes later feeling empty and affectless. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
An elaborately worked-over opus that's as tarted-up and artificial as Scorsese's '70s classic Mean Streets was gritty and real, Gangs of New York feels like a movie musical without the songs. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Scorsese and his team have created a heavy-footed golem of a motion picture, hard to ignore as it throws its weight around but fatally lacking in anything resembling soul. Read full review
More From This Movie

72 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL