Hulver's site || Comments || the elizabeth sequel sucks.

from the writer of by dr k (2.00 / 0) #1 Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 02:04:12 AM EST

First Knight and Firelight, and the writer of "The Tudors". Historical dramas are always a great risk for the viewer.

I was trying to watch Gangs of New York the other day. Either the DVD started to skip towards the end, or the director lost an argument with the studio, or maybe both. But not, as you say, dreadful.

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Historical accuracy. by Christopher Robin was Murdered (2.00 / 0) #6 Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 05:09:31 PM EST

If accuracy is a measure of these things, then Gangs completely fails on that count. It's some bizarre mix-and-match of random bits, and doesn't really make any effort to sort itself out. Characters from different time periods mixed together, entire neighborhoods that shouldn't exist, lots of curious things like that.

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: history as a backdrop by dr k (2.00 / 0) #8 Mon Oct 15, 2007 at 05:43:34 PM EST

Truth is stranger than fiction, but fiction has better cinematography. Gangs should have been split into two parts, the first concluding with Amsterdam's revival of the Dead Rabbits. The second part should have followed a parallel story leading up to the Draft Riots, with the Bill/Amsterdam conflict as a background detail.
The long panning shot of the soldiers getting on the boat while coffins are unloaded should have been the opening shot of part two.
Elizabeth probably could use a similar treatment. Don't rely on the ensemble cast structure when you want to show another thread of a continuing story.

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