justincward Good points: the acting is fine and the CGI period locations successfully evoke the sense that 'this is how it happened', even if it didn't. It's also useful to be able to put faces to names in the timeline of the growth of the US Mafia, which is confusing on the page. And Eliot Ness was indeed a hapless drunk who didn't bring Capone down at all.Bad points: the whole thing has a continuous chugging cello soundtrack, repeated use of the same establishing shots (no matter how long or far apart), and even use of the same incidental scenes and locations for completely different events. This reminds me of a really, really cheap cartoon series.Some of the talking heads are Sopranos actors - how this qualifies them to be authorities on the Mob escapes me - and combined with the music, the repeated cut scenes and Ray Liotta's intense narration (he left the Chicago series to someone just as mean-sounding) - makes the whole thing come across like Gordon Ramsay's Hotel Nightmares set in gangster Chicago or NY. "Al Capone must now run a huge criminal organization single-handed!!!" "Miraculously, Lucky Luciano survives!!!"Also, the actors, while they do a great job and have a vague resemblance to their counterparts, are simply too glamorous for a supposed historical series. The quickest Google of Mafia gangster images will tell you that these wise guys were singularly ordinary-looking, which helped them stayed under the radar. In this, Al Capone is a handsome heavy-set guy with dark eyes and a Roman nose, and Lucky Luciano is almost an Al Pacino lookalike (only tall). Naah.

lifelinespublishing Have watched this series and even though based on what I read about some inaccuracies in the facts, the acting here is truly superb...it's hard to pick if the Making of the Mob New York is better or Chicago, I love how the relationship of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone have evolved as well as Lucky Luciano's relationship with his buddies through the years.Overall, a must watch on those who fancy Mob Documentaries / Movies.

Mafia Walking Tour Much of the storyline was based on "The Last Testament of Lucky Luciano" -- supposedly taken from the "diaries" of Lucky Luciano -- which has been proved to be nothing but fairy tales. When it was first published, the FBI stated, "This book has no value to the FBI or anybody for that matter" and "It is unlikely that a mob boss would keep a diary, and if he did, whoever possessed it would not be alive to write a book." The Chief of the US Narcotics Bureau in Rome state, "Martin Gosch (author) is untrustworthy, a liar and an opportunist." Yet Hollywood (and many "experts") still use this book as a basis for research and entertainment. ****Just a few facts from episode one: -The characters featured in the show did NOT use Tommy Guns. In fact, Tommy Guns were extremely rare in NYC. -Luciano DID NOT create the Five Families -- Salvatore Maranzano did. -Luciano, Lansky and Siegel did not meet Frank Costello and Masseria like shown in the episode. -Luciano did not start working for Masseria like shown in the episode. -Rocco Valenti was gunned down two days after the failed hit attempt on Masseria -- not "weeks later." And the hit was an ambush by eight gunman in front of John's Restaurant on 12th Street as Valenti showed up with two bodyguards to a sit down called by Masseria. A seven year old girl and a street sweeper were shot in the crossfire. Nothing like in the series. Plus there is no proof that Luciano pulled the trigger or was even present. -Luciano, a Sicilian, can not pronounce the word "Consigliere"? (The "G" is silent.) -Half of the "experts" interviewed could not even pronounce "Luciano" correctly. (It's Lu-CHI-ano") These are just a FEW of the many inaccurate things in the first 30 minutes alone of the first episode -- Don't expect it to get any better from here. Come take a tour of the real mafia history and learn about all the Hollywood misinformation out there.

gilligan1965 I've only just viewed the first episode of this mini-series last night, but, I'm happy with what I saw and have high hopes that this is going to be monumental by covering new information, or, adding new information to old events.So far in this first episode, this has pretty-much followed along with the movie "Mobsters" (1991) starring Christian Slater (and, both complement one another).I believe that this is going to be a very good series so long as it doesn't continue to repeat events and occurrences that have been shown over and over again in so many documentaries and movies before this over the years.I enjoyed this first episode.