Gangs of New York

Continuity mistake: When the four scapegoats are being hung, the man on the extreme left makes a speech. While this goes on, the man on his right has his noose tightly round his neck. When he finishes, the crowd clap and the hangman pull his hood down over his face the noose on the man next to him is still tight. The scene cuts to the front of the gallows, and the hangman now put the noose over the head of the man next to him.

Continuity mistake: After Amsterdam gets almost killed by Bill, Jenny is tending to him in a cave. She leans over him to kiss him, and while she does so a scarf that she had around her shoulders disappears. (01:44:05)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Jenny is picked as the queen at the stepping ken, as the older man walks up to her she is seen putting her hands on her waist. As the camera angle changes she is seen putting her hands on her waist again.

MCKD

Revealing mistake: When Bill the Butcher kills Priest Vallon at the Five Points battle, the blood squeezes from Vallon's flank wound in an obviously fake way.

Continuity mistake: In the shot when Amsterdam is lying on the table and Bill's cleaver is rotating in the air you see that he is wearing a checkered black-and-white scarf. This wasn't there before, and it's gone right after, and it would have been visible the way he was manhandled by Bill's men. (01:42:15)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Jenny and Amsterdam are lying in bed Bill suddenly sits in a chair next to the bed. He has an American flag draped over his shoulders. The way the flag is folded on the stars side changes when Amsterdam asks him if his shoulder is keeping him up, without Bill changing position. (01:22:45)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: In the battle of Five Points a witch-like women with steel claws jumps at a man, already flashing her teeth in anticipation of a good bite. Before she lands on him she lowers her head that it ends up below his shoulder, but when the camera angle changes she's biting off his ear. (00:08:50)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: Before the big battle of Five Points begins Bill's gang comes out from a decrepit house. In the first wide shot of the place there is no smoke coming out ouf the chimney of the adjacent house to the right, but a moment later when Bill's people start to emerge it's smoking heavily. (00:06:00)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Amsterdam is fighting Bill's henchman, Bill tells his other men to get Amsterdam off the man. You see his other men reaching for Amsterdam and when the camera angle changes, you see them reaching for him again.

MCKD

Continuity mistake: After saving Bill, Amsterdam makes a toast and puts his hand on his chest. Camera angle changes and his hand is by his side. (01:19:55)

MCKD

Continuity mistake: After saving Bill, Amsterdam is met by his father's old friend. As Amsterdam goes to walk away, he is grabbed by the friend. Camera angle changes and he is seen being grabbed again.

MCKD

Continuity mistake: When Amsterdam and Jenny are kissing after the dance, He tells her to wait and she is seen lying on top of him. Camera angle changes and she is now seen lying next to him.

MCKD

Continuity mistake: When the second battle in Paradise Square is about to begin, Vallon is holding a length of chain in his left hand. Shang, standing beside him, is carrying a pole with dead rabbits hung from it. In a later shot, just before the naval bombardment, Vallon is holding a knife in that hand while Shang is now holding the chain. (02:28:30 - 02:29:55)

Revealing mistake: When Amsterdam is looking at the dead bodies laid out with candles at the end of the movie, the dead are shown breathing. (02:31:45)

Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the riot, some rich men are talking while playing snooker. The balls are placed differently depending on the camera angle.

Dr Wilson

Revealing mistake: During the theatre scene, when the camera is behind the hanging actor and the crowd begins to throw fruit at the stage, the screen very briefly shakes; the cameraman was hit.

Continuity mistake: In the very beginning of the movie priest Vallon is shaving. The reflection in the mirror shows a wispy, short mustache, but when we see Vallon's face as he speaks to his son his mustache is thick and twisted. (00:01:40)

NancyFelix

Continuity mistake: When Bill is talking to the Mayor about politics, he is seen making gestures with his hand as he walks, but when the camera angle changes, his hand is tucked into his jacket.

MCKD

Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, priest Vallon cuts the right side of his face with the straight razor. Later on, when Bill and Vallon are belittling each other before the brawl, there is a scar on the left side of Vallon's face.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: In the first shot he was shown in the mirror.

Factual error: In the scene when Bill is throwing knives at the girl, right after he comes off the stage, the flag that drops as the band comes out has 50 stars on it.

KYoakum

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: The flag in the movie has 34 stars in it. Thank you for great observation.

Bill: He was the only man I ever killed worth remembering.

More quotes from Gangs of New York

Trivia: At the end of the film you see two gravestones, "Priest" Vallon and William Cutting. Behind them is a river, with a view of lower Manhattan after that. You see a bridge being built, and the city growing and changing. The two men had to have been buried in Brooklyn, rather than Manhattan for this view.

More trivia for Gangs of New York

Question: Can someone please explain to me why the audience and Amsterdam are supposed to hate Butcher so much and think he's a loathesome person? He killed Vallon during a fight, fair and square, and was nothing but respectful to his dead enemy. He almost seemed to have regretted killing Vallon. He didn't act like a worse scum than anyone else until quite a while into the film.

Answer: Well, rather obviously, Amsterdam hates him because he killed his father. I mean, wouldn't you? It hardly matters that the fight was fair and that Bill showed respect about it, Amsterdam's not exactly likely to turn round, say "oh, that's alright then" and walk away. William Cutting (or William Poole, as he was in reality) was a ruthless, vicious man, who pretty much stopped at nothing to cement his control of the area. Whether he was actually worse than many of the others is questionable, but the film is based on Amsterdam's view of things - in that view, Bill is the enemy and we're supposed to see him as such.

Tailkinker

Answer: Because he's very racist. That's why the audience hates him. He's very racist.

Answer: Because he was a racist? Secondarily while others might have acted that badly in his situation he was the one with the power and therefore the one holding a city hostage.

More questions & answers from Gangs of New York

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