History YMMV / GangsOfNewYork

** Particularly remarkable because Bill does not display the flawless [[{{Chessmaster}} complex planning]] or [[ManipulativeBastard subtle manipulation]] that are normally associated with magnificent bastards. In fact, it is quite clear that he knows he's fighting a losing battle, and will go down fighting anyway for his principles, but is also a hypocrite with some of those same principles. Despite these significant failings, he is such an electrifyingly charismatic character that he manages to inspire awe rather than disgust. All kudos to Daniel Day-Lewis for managing to pull this off so gloriously.

* HilariousInHindsight: Daniel Day-Lewis played Abraham Lincoln in {{Lincoln}}. Extremely hilarious when you think about Bill the Butcher shouting "Down with the Union!" during a performance of ''[[UncleTomsCabin Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'' and throwing a knife through a picture of Lincoln earlier in the film.

* RomanticPlotTumour: See HighHeelFaceTurn in the main section for how unjustified Jenny's turn against Bill is.

** Particularly remarkable because Bill does not display the flawless [[{{Chessmaster}} complex planning]] or [[ManipulativeBastard subtle manipulation]] that are normally associated with magnificent bastards. In fact, it is quite clear that he knows he's fighting a losing battle, and will go down fighting anyway for his principles, but is also a hypocrite with some of those same principles. Despite these significant failings, he is such an electrifyingly charismatic character that he manages to inspire awe rather than disgust. All kudos to Daniel Day-Lewis for managing to pull this off so gloriously.

* HeyItsThatGuy: This wouldn't be the last time that Stephen Graham [[AlCapone played a gangster]] [[BoardwalkEmpire in the employ]] of MartinScorsese.

* HeyItsThatGuy: This wouldn't be the last time that Stephen Graham played [[AlCapone a gangster]] [[BoardwalkEmpire in the employ]] of MartinScorsese.

* HeyItsThatGuy: This wouldn't be the last time that Stephen Graham played [[BoardwalkEmpire a gangster]] in the employ of MartinScorsese.

* HeyItsThatGuy: This wouldn't be the last time that Stephen Graham played [[BoardwalkEmpire a gangster]] in the employ of MartinScorcese.

* HilariousInHindsight: Daniel Day-Lewis will be playing Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's upcoming Lincoln biopic. Extremely hilarious when you think about Bill the Butcher shouting "Down with the Union!" during a performance of ''[[UncleTomsCabin Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'' and throwing a knife through a picture of Lincoln earlier in the film.
** also, Bill's rival in this movie was played by LiamNeeson, who not only was the original choice for the role of Lincoln, but gave a notorious TakeThat against Day-Lewis and his [[MethodActing Method Actor]] style in an interview, claiming that he could rely on his own acting talent for a role and didn't need to "live like the part" the way Day-Lewis is famous for.

* AwesomeEgo: There are two occasions when Bill responds to a cheering crowd with a dismissive, even bored, royal wave. Rather than coming off as pretentious or pompous, his arrogance comes across as so totally justified that the moments appear on the CMoA page.

** also, Bill's rival in this movie was played by LiamNeeson, who not only was the original choice for the role of Lincoln, but gave a notorious TakeThat against Day-Lewis and his MethodActor style in an interview, claiming that he could rely on his own acting talent for a role and didn't need to "live like the part" the way Day-Lewis is famous for.

* {{Narm}}: Amsterdam's narration that the New York of his time was more like "a furnace where a city might someday be forged" comes off as an incredibly cheesy bit of exposition.

* RomanticPlotTumour

* [[DracoInLeatherPants Draco In A]] [[NiceHat Pimping Top-Hat]]: Bill Cutting. Not that anyone else in the movie is a good person, but for some reason Bill gets lionized above others.

* [[DracoInLeatherPants Draco In A]] [[NiceHat Pimping Top-Hat]]: Bill Cutting.

* MagnificentBastard: Bill the Butcher, who else?

* CrowningMomentOfFunny: Bill: "-I want you to go out there, and I want you...to punish...the person who's responsible- * sob* -for murdering this poor little rabbit."
** What makes it even funnier is how quickly Bill regains his composure, with a firm "Understood?"
*** And what makes it even funnier that that is the fact that the lament of a dead rabbit is coming from ''a butcher''.
** Also - the random elephant during the Draft Riots is also rather hilarious, and almost a BigLippedAlligatorMoment.
* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Too many to list in full.
** "Priest" Vallon belligerently unsheathing a sword hidden inside his crucifix in response to Bill's challenge is definitely a standout.
** The entire Draft Riot scene, especially when The Dead Rabbits and the Natives are all set for their final showdown...[[spoiler:[[RocksFallEveryoneDies and instead they get bombarded by cannons and shot by Union soldiers]].]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-8Lu7MRjQs&feature=related The final scene of the movie]], with Amsterdam saying [[spoiler:how life in the city would go on despite the carnage of the Draft Riots. This is followed by a time-lapse of the New York skyline from the 1800s up to the present day]], set to {{U2}}'s epic [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome The Hands That Built America]].
* CrowningMusicOfAwesome - U2's "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSGftwq-RVo&feature=related The Hands That Built America]]" at the end. Not to mention an instrumental of "Signal to Noise" by Peter Gabriel during the battle at the beginning.
* [[DracoInLeatherPants Draco In A]] [[NiceHat Pimping Top-Hat]]: Bill Cutting.

* MagnificentBastard: Bill the Butcher, who else?
* NightmareFuel: Just try not to get the willies during the film's opening sequence, wherein an army of barbaric Irishmen (and Irishwomen, too) tromp through the catacombs of their hideout with a bloody rabbit impaled on a staff while a marching band plays "Shimmy She Wobble" (a hellish fife-and-drum suite).

* HilariousInHindsight: Daniel Day-Lewis will be playing Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's upcoming Lincoln biopic. Extremely hilarious when you think about Bill the Butcher shouting "Down with the Union!" during a performance of ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' and throwing a knife through a picture of Lincoln earlier in the film.