Amsterdam Vallon's (Leonardo DiCaprio) father, Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson), is killed in a gang fight by William Cutting, a.k.a. 'Bill 'The Butcher' (Daniel Day-Lewis) at the Five Points, New York City.

Amsterdam is only young when his father is killed. When he grows up he comes back a'lookin' for revenge... The love interest is provided by Cameron Diaz (Jenny Everdeane) a pickpocket.

"Daniel Day-Lewis has always frightened me. When I heard that he completely disappeared in to his character in this movie, I lost my regular toileting pattern. I haven't been able to direction my 'number ones' downwards since."

"Bill, tough guy, rough guy, brawler type: a unique performance of the Whoopsie Daisy phrase. Both chilling and Mary Poppinsesque in a mustach at the same time. It's uniqueness is one of a kind."

"I love nothing better than a big bustle on a woman. It's such a shame that Diaz doesn't have an enormous veiny crinkled ass."

"Did I spy Mr Scorsese in that posh house? Oooh, roughing it with the scallywags too good for him was it?"

"Bill, you are a glass eyeballed, wonky nosed, greasy mustached triumph of viciousness. However, if they ever do a smelly scratch card feature for this movie, try to avoid scratching the Bill the Butcher one. I bet he smells of a combination of butcher shops, tobacco, and urine all rolled into one."

"Stunning masterpiece release delayed due to September 11th. A long but very worth while movie."

Amsterdam attempts to kill Bill the Butcher at the annual anniversary celebrations of the defeat of the dead rabbits (his father's gang, thus they are celebrating Amsterdam's father's murder.) This fails and Amsterdam (his true identity now revealed by his 'friend') is beaten to within an inch of his life.

He is nursed to health again by Jenny and he reforms the dead rabbits. He challenges Bill and they both die in the ensuing riot which is finally put down by federal forces.

Is this, finally, the last movie ever to be made like this? A real set made in Italy, correct in every detail, and filmed as if the event is on going? A masterpiece of everything, this movie is pretty much perfect for its type, although there are a few too many tall hats for my liking! Only kidding kids, the number and height of the top hats are sheer perfection, and every detail, including the pigeons nesting in the top of some of the head attire, is just one of the countless details to which Scorsese strove for, and achieved. Well done me old bugger.

A long, almost 3 hour movie, but there is no slow bit to speak of. You get your $90millions worth and the DVD is stuffed to the rafters with extras, including a tour of the set in Italy. According to the DVD commentary, Scorsese's original cut was almost 4 hours - something to look forward to in the inevitable directors original cut version of this movie.

The problems with the filming were quite well covered at the time - filming took much longer as the Italian authorities enforced a maximum working day, and there were a number of on set accidents, some involving pigs. And the September 11th attack delayed its release. None the less a triumphant piece of cinema. As close to perfection as makes no difference.

In the about to street fight your pets position of 'one more pip out of any of you and I put this can opener down right this minute and you go hungry tonight!' Ya hargh hargh.. In me power...

At this moment in history nobody every bathed and no time is wasted showing our heroes in such positions of cleaning in water. Every one stunk at this time in history and were proud of it.

Yes this movie, at times, is horribly violent. Bill the Butcher tortures Amsterdam and asks the audience to call out which part of his body is he to cut out. A nasty moment of movie history, and we feel sure Day-Lewis spat and dribbled just as his character probably would have done for real.

A funny moment when Bill bludgeons to death the elected representative, telling the audience 'this is the minority vote', is both violent and very funny.

Dogs are great fans of mustaches and believe that this is another sign that humans really want to be dogs.

Cats may be shocked at how tall Leonardo DiCaprio is, they always got the impression, looking like we was about 13 and all, that he was cat sized. Not any more. Expect grudge whining and possible phantom pregnancies to divert attention away from this movie, which, in cat years, is 17 hours long.

Crocodiles will enjoy Bill the Butcher considerably. Not since Crocodile Dundee will they laugh so.

Ensure you have the $300 on hand to avoid the draft if they ever make that deal again. Always follow the fashion of the gang you want to be associated with and learn to fight early on in life (like at school) so that you can win fist fights without even thinking about it later on in life (you will find this is a surprisingly useful skill to have).

Never cut your hair until it hits your shoulders. Always have a stiff upper lip when you are being hanged, and try to design a completely new accent to keep everyone else on their toes.

In England, at this time, men who fist fought removed their shirts as the shirt they were wearing was probably the only one they had. Clearly, in the land of plenty, and this lot are supposed to have nothing, they had tons of clothing, and even more clothes still that they were happy to paint with red stripes to show they are the dead bunnies, or whatever they wanted to call themselves.

Any hat of this time in history - you may be using them as a pot plant stand in your home, look carefully.

Yes, DiCaprio and Diaz do their best to help keep the troops happy. Watch out for a pash killer: Bill the Butcher watching you sleep after an evening of pash with your new girlfriend... Run for the bathroom (i.e piss out of the window, at once!)

A real masterpiece.

The scope of the set is truly mesmerizing and you get a feeling of authenticity. Bill the Butcher is a horrible character and is likely to star in a number of nightmares.

July 4, 2003