History Film / GangsOfNewYork

* CurbstompBattle: Angry rioters and gangsters armed with whatever was lying around against trained infantry with rifles backed by artillery? The army takes at most ''one'' onscreen casualty vs. the dozens if not hundreds of people buried in unmarked graves.

----

* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The Union army delivers one to the rioters ([[ConflictKiller including both gangs]]) as soon as they're sent in to do deal with the unrest.

** It's also unlikely that Bill and Tweed, even if their historical counterparts had known each other, would have forged any kind of political alliance considering one was a Know-Nothing and the other a Tammany Democrat - in other words, bitter enemies.

15 years later, Amsterdam (DiCaprio) returns to the Five Points and infiltrates Bill's gang with his childhood friend Johnny's help, working his way into Bill's inner circle. Bill, who never recognizes Amsterdam as the son of his old rival, takes him in as a favorite and mentors him. Amsterdam secretly plots his revenge, but doubts his motivation after saving Bill from an assassin. Amsterdam and Johnny's shared attraction for Jenny, a pretty pickpocket and con artist, further complicates matters.

--> '''Priest Vallon (showing a medal of the Archangel Michael)''': And what did he do?
--> '''Young Amsterdam''': He cast Satan out of Paradise.
--> '''Priest Vallon''': Good boy.

--> '''Bill the Butcher (discussing permitted weapons)''': Bricks, bats, axes, knives... pistols?
--> '''Amsterdam''': No... no pistols.
--> '''Bill the Butcher''': Good boy.

-->'''Tweed:''' Can't get a days work done for all the good citizens coming here harrassing me about crime in the Points. Some even go so far to accuse Tammany of connivance in this so called rampant criminality. What can I do? I can't have this. Something has to be done.\\

* LargeHam: Daniel Day-Lewis must have been enjoying himself.
-->"'''WHO IS THIS UNDER MY KNIFE?!?!'''"
-->"'''I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU TO SPEAK ENGLISH WITH THIS FUCKING KNIFE!!!!'''"
-->"'''WHOOPSIE-DAISY!!!!'''"
-->'''"IT'S ELECTION DAY!!!"'''

* MeaningfulName: ''Amsterdam'' Vallon. New Amsterdam, of course, was the original name of New York. The irony doesn't escape Bill's notice.
--> '''Bill:''' Amsterdam? [[UsefulNotes/LEtatCestMoi I'm New York]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Amsterdam finally gets his revenge and kills Bill, but it's a hollow victory since Bill was fatally wounded by shrapnel beforehand and Amsterdam essentially gives him a Mercy Kill. Amsterdam leaves New York with Jenny and they'll hopefully be able to make a better life elsewhere, but the city was devastated by the draft riots and many on both sides have perished, doomed to be all but forgotten by history. Despite this, New York will be rebuilt.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Amsterdam finally gets his revenge and kills Bill, but it's a hollow victory since Bill was fatally wounded by shrapnel beforehand and Amsterdam essentially gave him a Mercy Kill. Amsterdam leaves New York with Jenny and they'll hopefully be able to make a better life elsewhere, but the city was devastated by the draft riots, and many on both sides are dead and will be all but forgotten by history. Despite this, New York will be rebuilt.]]

A 2002 historical crime-drama by Creator/MartinScorsese, based on a 1928 nonfiction book of the same name.

15 years later, Amsterdam (Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio) returns to the Five Points and infiltrates Bill's gang with his childhood friend Johnny's help, working his way into Bill's inner circle. Bill, who never recognizes Amsterdam as the son of his old rival, takes him in as a favorite and mentors him. Amsterdam secretly plots his revenge, but doubts his motivation after saving Bill from an assassin. Amsterdam and Johnny's shared attraction for Jenny, a pretty pickpocket and con artist, further complicates matters.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Amsterdam finally gets his revenge and kills Bill, but it's a hollow victory since Bill was fatally wounded by shrapnel beforehand and Amsterdam essentially gave him a Mercy Kill. Amsterdam leaves New York with Jenny and they'll hopefully be able to make a better life elsewhere, but the city was devastated by the draft riots, and many on both sides are dead. Despite this, New York will be rebuilt.]]

* RuleOfSymbolism: [=McGloin=]'s death at the hands of the Union Army - he was both a Dead Rabbit and a Nativist.

* BlackVikings: A substantial number of Chinese people in 1863 New York; while there definitely ''were'' some Chinese people living and working in the city at that point in time, there weren't enough to have their own community. Censuses show that during the 1850s there were about 70-150 Chinese men living in the city, and by 1870 there were still only about 200 Chinese people in New York.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Amsterdam finally gets gets his revenge and kills Bill, and he leaves New York with Jenny; but the city was devastated by the draft riots, and many on both sides are dead. Despite this, New York will be rebuilt.]]

* BlackVikings: A substantial number of Chinese people in 1863 New York. While there definitely ''were'' some Chinese people living and working in the city at that point in time, there weren't enough to have their own community. Censuses show that during the 1850s there were about 70-150 Chinese men living in the city, and by 1870 there were still only about 200 Chinese people in New York.

* FriendlyLocalChinatown: Where you get to listen to endearingly bizarre "ching-chong" opera music and ogle strumpets imprisoned in birdcages.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Amsterdam finally gets gets his revenge and kills Bill, and he leaves New York with Jenny. But New York was devastated by the draft riots, and many on both sides are dead. Despite this, New York will be rebuilt.]]

* BlackVikings: A substantial number of Chinese people in 1863 New York. While there definitely ''were'' some at that point in time, there weren't enough to have their own community. Censuses shows that by 1870, there were still only about 200 Chinese people in New York.

* SnowMeansDeath: The opening battle takes place in the winter with snow covering everything, which in turn is quickly covered in massive amounts of blood from the resulting massacre. By the time the battle ends, the camera slowly zooms out to show that that the main battle area is now covered in dirty pink mush.

* BoomerangBigot:
** The Irish-Catholic [=McGloin=], who joins up with the Protestant "Natives" to acquire more power on the streets. His alliance with Bill is also heavily influenced by his hatred of blacks.
** Bill himself is Irish, and even though he despises Irish immigrants, one of the first things he asks Amsterdam is what part of Ireland his family is from.

** Bill likes to refer to himself as a "Native American," but as a white man, he's obviously a descendant of immigrants at some point in his lineage. In fact, he specifically has Irish descent, and he seems to harbor [[BoomerangBigot particular disdain for Irish people]]. In fact, the first thing he asks Amsterdam is what part of Ireland he's from, upholds traditional Irish values ("ancient laws of combat", for instance), and gives Irish benedictions. Then again, Bill is an Irish Protestant, and it's Irish Catholics that he has issue with.

-->'''Bill:''' Then may the Christian Lord guide my hand against your Roman Potpurri!\\

* IronicEcho: Happy Jack hangs his watch on a lamp post, to demonstrate no one will touch it. [[spoiler: Jack's ''corpse'' is hung from a lamp post after Amsterdam kills him.]]