There were two aspects of the film that I sat back and marveled at. One of which was the direction by Martin Scorsese: it's the sort of simplistic at times but incredibly effective at giving us detail that cements him as one of the best directors alive. The other aspect was the performance by Daniel-Day Lewis: there's a reason he's one of the most respected in the business. The story I felt had way too much going on unnecessarilly, and the core of the story was a little bit too simple for my taste: a plain old revenge for the death of the protagnist's father flick. The Cinematography and the supporting performances were great, but overall Gangs of New York ranks a little bit short of GoodFellas.