Boardwalk Empire: O Império do Contrabando

With production values that are mind-boggling, cast, and a budget to die for HBO is now what film studios were in the 1930s, they have the clout and the ability to go way further than most films can - and you get episode after episode.

the detailing is beyond accurate and lavish - every stitch, every furnishing, every telegraph wire looks and feels authentic and it is all shot and lit to the highest standards of film not TV.

The story of prohibition and Atlantic City is fully detailed, complex, with Steve Buscemi heading up a great cast. I have a gripe that the F-word was not ubiquitous at the time and strikes a jarring note in an otherwise near perfect production.

Where this shines is in the details - I just hope the story lines and acting live up to the promise - they certainly have so far.

I have never written a review on iMDb. I have never given a TV show a straight 10/10 before. No other ending has ever left me in the total shock that this ending left me. Apart from a very few exceptions (e.g. The Sopranos, Breaking Bad), no other show has done such a phenomenal job at character development. The music, the atmosphere, the (historical) characters are simply spectacular. Pretty much all the characters are extremely memorable, since the viewer gets really, and I mean, REALLY invested into their entire personality, their dreams, their fears, their yearnings, their aspirations. Do yourself a favor and start watching this masterpiece right away.

I just recently finished binging this show and I've gotta say I don't know what took me so long to watch. It's an amazing show with great characters and as a history buff I really enjoyed how they incorporated real life people into the story. Beautiful settings and costume designs as well. For anyone who hasn't yet watched this do yourself a favor and start now.

This show has to be one of my personal favourites, I would always recommend people to check out. In terms of the show itself, you've got an awesome cast of great actors, with some the most beautiful cinematography, and hands down the story is just fantastic. You've got historical true elements mixed of course with fictional aspects, more so on the fictional side but it's just amazing to see these actors play out some the most iconic historic mobsters, Stephen Graham as Al Capone is just amazing, one my top favourite actors to see on screen. And ultimately one the best endings to a show, with no spoilers the story comes full circle, with a satisfying end.

At first when I started this series, I thought it would be just another typical gangster TV show with not much of a plot or well developed characters. However, season 3 onward, the show really grew on me.

The overall story arcs I found really engaging and interesting. You weren't just watching one gangster shoot another gangster, you were watching characters you cared about get into interesting and varied predicaments. Though each season was often slow at the start, though I didn't mind this personally, the way they built up to the finales was fantastic, not a single one disappointed.

The characters were also really well developed. Again unlike your typical gangster flick, where you like the characters because of the stealing and murdering and racketeering they get into, in Boardwalk Empire you actually get the sense that the mob bosses are real people with real motivations. This is best seen in Nucky Thomson but also with others, though in Al Capone's case I found he got crueller, nastier and less humorous as the seasons went by.

The setting and cinematography was also great, helped by the show's choice of music. Previously, I'd never thought of Atlantic City as much of a place, being an Englishman, but by the end I felt like I had gotten to no and love it. Overall, a great TV show which I would think is suited to quite a wide audience, not gangster film fans.