'Gangs of New York' is probably one of the most disappointing films I've seen in my entire life. Epic? Lawrence of Arabia is epic. 'Gangs of New York' is just long, as far as I can tell, with a few historical sidebars thrown in here and there to flesh out an otherwise rambling and somewhat pointless story. This was a fascinating time in our history, no doubt about it. But with the facts and dates all re-arranged and the main story boiled down to a simple revenge tale... I'm just not sure what Scorsese is getting at. While the turf war theme certainly plays into our current and horrifying political situations, that alone doesn't make me feel anything for these characters. Daniel Day Lewis does a fantastic job, no question. And Leo isn't half bad either. But with a couple of terrible musical choices (ending with a U2 song? It's the 1800's, for the love of pete!) and no discernable visual style (it seems Scorsese said all he needed to say about fighting in 'Raging Bull'. You'll only get warmed over Braveheart fighting here), this movie became my least favorite of Scorsese's otherwise brilliant career.