Had a geezer flash recently and saw Gangs. (I thought I was in the right movie cubby to see The Two Towers again). Day-Lewis is definitely over the top, but like the good actors of the 40's and 50's he makes you believe it anyway. Near as I can tell the authentic historical parts are: lots of immigrants living in an abandoned Brewery in N.Y., there really was a notorious character named Bill the Butcher, and there was a Hell of a civil-war riot in NY sponsored by the poor folk, mostly Irish as usual, who couldn't buy their way out of the draft. The story itself was more of a fantasy than LOTR.

But the music was great. Is there a sound track recording?

O'Meara