Boardwalk Empire: Season 1

One of the most television series I've ever seen. I use it for pure entertainment.

When I fist saw a promo for Boardwalk Empire on Foxtel cable TV, I knew I had to await the arrival of the DVD on Amazon,as I didn't have the movie channel designated to showing it, in my package. It was obvious this would be something special. The total "look" of the series, the clean cut clear camera shots,the wonderful detailed backdrops, the lighting,and superb costuming are all the ingredients that made the BBC peerless with their period dramas. HBO series' are proving to be every bit as alluring,and entertaining. The Sopranos was testament to that.Now Director Martin Scorcese - the man who made so many unforgettable movies with DeNiro in the 70's, and many others after that - is back doing what he knows best, a study of American life,this time in the magical prohibition era.Steve Buscemi dominates Boardwalk Empire in Series 1, portraying the lead character Enoch "Nucky" Thompson who runs Atlantic city with a firm hand.Nucky is part gangster,part politician who overseers speakeasies, gambling,men's clubs and prostitution. He also takes care of the the battlers upon whose vote at election time he calls in to support the candidates of his choosing. Nothing happens without him knowing about it, and he is backed up by an odd collection of men. His own brother,Elias (Eli) - played by Shea Wigham - is a surly character who has a high position in the police department,and keeps his brother informed with what is going on within the department - giving Nucky an inside edge on his competitors.Unfortunately, Eli is suffering from the chronic disease of jealousy, and this eats away at him, especially when he has to rely on Nucky to get him reelected as Eli doesn't have the leadership qualities,character,and charisma of his brother. This is the wound that festers throughout series 1 and will no doubt be dealt with at some level in Series 2.There are some outstanding performances in Boardwalk Empire that deserve being noted. Michael Pitt (always with the same hair cut regardless of the role he is playing) is Jimmy Darmody, a dangerous character who can change from being gentle,kind,vulnerable, to a vicious cruel mobster in the blink of eye. He has returned from WW1 an emotionally broken man, and his behaviour becomes more erratic as the story progresses.Michael Shannon plays Agent Nelson Van Alden,a taxation officer who crosses the line by thinking the wrath of God should be brought down on the heads of these people involved in speakeasies,flop houses,and prostitution. He believes he has been designated by God to see they are all punished. Despite being pulled into line more than once by his superiors,Van Alden is obsessed with the evil he sees and becomes fixated on Mrs Schroeder, a widow with two small children,who is befriended by Nucky Thompson and later becomes his mistress.Kelly Macdonald,a Glaswegian born actor, gives an excellent performance as Mrs Schroeder. Gretchen Mol shines as Gillian Darmody - Jimmy's mother and a woman who has been around enough powerful men in her life to know how they think.And finally, Paz de la Huerta who is outstanding as Lucy Danziger,a prostitute who loves the good life, which her man Nucky Thompson can easily provide. Her confusion at being replaced by Mrs Schroeder was superbly enacted by de la Huerta, as she tries to regain her former standing.Gangsters from Chicago and New York are eyeing off Atlantic city as being the next place for them to expand their own business interests. The young, fearless newcomers with names such as Capone,Luciano and Rothstein realise that Nucky runs Atlantic city and he is too smart for them to topple - yet. The next series promises some interesting confrontations. I look forward to it.

When BE first appeared in the trade papers I remember people questioning whether Steve Buscemi could carry an entire series as did the late, great James Gandolfini. I think he has proven beyond a doubt that he is one INCREDIBLE actor. I ordered this Season because I somehow misplaced (lent?) it to someone and so had to replace it. I have seen the entire 5 seasons and each one was a winner: great characters, great performances, incredible sets and camera work, tremendous writing, brilliant directing. Some of the actors took a little taking used to, especially Vincent Piazza as Lucky Luciano, Steven Graham as Al Capone and the actor portraying Bugsy Seigel (sorry buddy,, your name momentarily escapes me). A NY native (via Brooklyn) I found Piazza's "Newyorkese" a bit too exaggerated with it's sibilant "s" but over time grew to rather enjoy his increasingly nuanced performance; I've heard Piazza in other films and with the exception my earlier criticism, thought the manner in which he modulated his voice quite commendable. I was ambivalent about Steven Graham's performance of Al Capone which was quite over-the-top; granted Capone was addicted to cocaine, was suffering from what would eventually become tertiary syphilis (while being treated in a way today which would have been deemed malpractice and was the actual cause of his death) but I doubt he was that much of a clown and that off-the-wall to have survived as long as he did as Public Enemy #1. You don't rise to the top of that heap by being a dolt.Ruthless, vicious, Yes. Out of control, irrational, no. He stayed on top because his men feared him and they would not have feared someone they felt was crazy, outlandishly narcissistic as he is portrayed in most of the episodes. Along with their fear there was also a certain amount of respect for is position. these men don't want a "cowboy" running things I pretty much found Graham's Al Capone to be the same performance he gave as Baby Face Nelson in "Public Enemies"" and yet, as the series went on, his family scenes especially with his deaf son, and the one when he tells Jimmy that his son can't hear him when he plays the mandolin and sings to him, having need to touch his throat but never hearing the sounds were quite touching. I found his final scenes provided a balance to his earlier ones when resigned to his fate, he "plays the role" for his public while realizing it's only his farewell moment of "Glory" and his slight nod to the undercover cop who brought him down an admission of respect and defeat. Nice touch. I also doubt that Bugsy Seigel would have ever survived as long as he did if he were ever the eternal juvenile; they simply weren't tolerated by those who controlled organized crime in the day. I also doubt he had that whiny voice. He was called Bugsy because he was psychopathic with a hair-trigger temper, a lot like Abe Reles, so I found his characterization unbelievable however that is a question of interpretation and doesn't mean the man is a poor actor as much as it was the way the role was conceived by others.As for the rest of the cast, just as in "the Wire", "The Sopranos" and "Godfather's 1,2" and "Goodfellas" what makes these series and films so great aside from what I mentioned above are the other supporting actors and brilliant character actors and this entire production from Series 1-5 had an abundance of these: Kenneth Williams, Kelly MacDonald, Michael Pitt, Gretchen Moll, the various children...all too many to mention but each one perfect in their roles. Boardwalk Empire? ONE OF THE GREAT ONES.

i bought this have not had chance to watch yet but looks so good packaging good and very prompt service so winter nights watching this which i am looking forward too

great watch

Boardwalk Empire è una serie che adoro e che, non ero riuscito a seguire regolarmente in TV, come quasi sempre mi capita. L'ho voluta fortemente per la presenza, in più da protagonista, dell'attore Steve Buscemi, che già avevo ammirato nella serie I Soprano. Poi perché sapevo che è prodotta da Martin Scorsese, quindi garanzia di assoluta qualità. Infatti è una ricostruzione perfetta degli anni '20, respiri proprio quegl'anni, sei completamente trasportato in piena epoca del Proibizionismo. Un capolavoro assoluto.Peccato che non ci sia un cofanetto unico con la serie completa. Infatti ho dovuto comporre l'intera serie, comprando uno ad uno i cofanetti delle singole stagioni. E mi è costato molto di più. Ma ne è valsa la pena. Arrivati tutti nei tempi stabiliti, come sempre e in ottimo imballaggio.

BOARDWALK EMPIRE ist eine amerikanische Drama-Serie, in "Atlantic City" während der amerikanischen Prohibition spielt. Im Mittelpunkt steht der "Bezirkskämmerer" ENOCH "NUCKY" THOMPSON (Steve Buscemi), der sich durch Mord, Erpressung und Bestechung zum mächtigsten Mann der Stadt aufgeschwungen hat. Die Figur des "NUCKY" THOMPSON lehnt sich an der Person ENOCH LEWIS "NUCKY" JOHNSON an, der fast 30 Jahre lang Atlantic City unter seiner Kontrolle hatte. Sein Leben diente als Vorlage zur Serie "Boardwalk Empire".Nach außen mimt "NUCKY" den liberalen Politiker, der sich gegen Alkohol und für die Prohibition einsetzt, doch im Hintergrund zieht er die Fäden und hat "seine" Stadt fest im Griff. In Atlantic City geschieht nichts was "NUCKY" nicht billigt, um seine Interessen durchzusetzen geht er förmlich über Leichen, scheinbar skrupellos und ohne Reue.Im Laufe der Serie wird aber klar, dass NUCKY auch eine zweite, eine gütige, Seite hat, und er sich sehr für andere Menschen einsetzt und insgeheim von einem intaktem Familienleben träumt.Aber "NUCKY" THOMPSON muss sich nicht nur gegen Gangster aus New York und Chicago behaupten, auch in den eigenen Reihen weht ihm der Wind ins Gesicht und mit dem Prohibitionsagenten VAN ALDEN (Michael Shannon) hat er einen fanatischen Widersacher, der sich an seine Fersen heftet.Neben "NUCKY" THOMPSON sind "JIMMI" DARMODY (Michael Pitt) für den "NUCKY" schon seit seiner Kindheit sorgt, dessen Frau ANGELA (Aleksa Palladino) und die Witwe MARGARET SCHROEDER (Kelly MacDonald) weitere wichtige Hauptfiguren.Gut finde ich, dass in die fiktive Handlung auch "reale" Figuren wie "LUCKY" LUCIANO (Vincent Piazza), AL CAPONE (Stephen Graham) oder MEYER LANSKY (Anatol Yusef) eingebaut wurden. Das verleiht der Story Glaubwürdigkeit und Authentizität, inwieweit diese Story nun Fiktion ist und was sich tatsächlich zugetragen hat, kann ich nicht sagen. Fakt ist aber, dass die Handlung sehr glaubwürdig und überzeugend ist, der Zuschauer hat den Eindruck, dass es sich tatsächlich so abgespielt haben könnte.Zur Glaubwürdigkeit gehören auch unbedingt Kulissen und Kostüme, auch hier haben die Macher großartige Arbeit abgeliefert. Beispielsweise wurde die Strandpromenade von Atlantic City detailgetreu und sehr aufwendig nachgebaut, diese Detailverliebtheit, für die u.a. die Produzenten MARTIN SCORCESE und MARK WAHLBERG stehen, ist wirklich beeindruckend.Mein Fazit: "Boardwalk Empire" ist eine spannende und unterhaltsame Serie, die mich voll gepackt hat und die ich in Rekordgeschwindigkeit verschlungen habe. Die Produzenten haben die Rollen nahezu perfekt besetzt, die Spannung wird von Beginn an hochgehalten, das ist aller feinste Serienunterhaltung - topp!Die Macher scheuen auch nicht davor zurück Gewalt darzustellen, allerdings niemals übertrieben und reißerisch, sondern immer im Rahmen und um die Glaubwürdigkeit der Handlung zu unterstützen.Mir hat die Serie sehr gut gefallen, deshalb kann ich sie auch guten Gewissens weiterempfehlen, allerdings nur dann, wenn man auf diese 30er-Jahre Mafia- und Gangsterdramen steht.Meine Bewertung: 9 von 10 Punkte.

Ich finde es schwierig eine Bewertung abzugeben, für Film, Musik oder Bücher, jeder hat einen anderen Geschmack!In dieser Serie geht es um die Zeit des Alkoholverbots, klein Gangstern und Großen Haien und alles was damals dazugehört!Die Optischen Ansprüche für die Zeit werden erfüllt! Hier und da sind mir die Schauspieler noch ein wenig zu glatt!Die Story trägt sich dahin, wie in jeder Serie gibt es spannende Momente und wiederum zähe Dialoge!Wer gerne in diese Zeit eintaucht wird hier auf jeden Fall belohnt!