Angelus2 This is apparently based on true life and if it is...I find it very hard to believe that these gangsters had any kind of hold over anyone. I am reviewing this on the performance of the pilot, which in my opinion is terrible.Gangsters engage in random violence, try to extort money, and again engage in violence....As well as have sex with women, which doesn't even try to fit into the story.The actor who plays Alphone Gangitano is ridiculously over-hyped, and so are all the other actors. The storyline does not seem to exist, the dialog is awful, and more importantly it's very sad watching these 'Gangsters' try to act like the 'Sopranos' by having random meetings in random places.

mattrochman IMDb should actually have separate entries for each series, rather than filing in it as one show with three seasons. Each "season" is a separate crime story, set in a different era with different characters. My review of 8/10 is simply for season 1. The first season was a fascinating story and the series was fairly well put together, though it did become a fraction "soapie" at some points. Nonetheless, the tone set by the acting was well conceived and the accuracy was pretty much there, even though a few events and aspects were simplified. Engaging plot, engaging characters, a few well-placed humorous touches, great acting. Enormous success.Following this, we had the second year which was titled Underbelly: The tale of two cities. This show was set in the 1970s and 1980s and was, in a nutshell, unengaging. The story was a bit thin, it was hard to find characters to sympathise with and several mid-season episodes seemed to play no role in advancing the stories, while others covered areas and stories that were covered in previous productions such as Blue Murder. I lost interest and its dwindling ratings throughout the season were well deserved. The first episodes of the third "season" (The Golden Mile) has just been aired (at the time of writing this) and it similarly appears that the characters will be largely uninspired and a suspicion that material will run thin and ratings with dwindle.Why didn't they just leave it at the first "season" and launch other crime stories under a separate title? Answer: unoriginal channel 9 executives in Sydney!

laus07 What makes this watching (and I have a few episodes to go) is the real story behind it, not so much the acting and production values (though they vary in their quality).In terms of writing and complexity of character, or the intensity of the acting, this is no Sopranos, nor even the earlier brilliant Australian crime series (also based on reality), Janus and Phoenix.Unfortunately, most of the actors playing the crims, especially Vince Colossimo playing Alphonse Gangitano, draw from standard "bad guy" characterization, and as a result come across as two dimensional and cartoony. In many ways, this could be an extended episode of "Blue Heelers". It's very old school - don't give criminals any redeeming human values, just make them look like pantomime villains. OK, maybe that's harsh, but this is not a series which is breaking any new ground.Putting those gripes aside, I'll certainly watch this through to the end - it is very watchable, and the fact that it is reality, not just "based on a true story" more than makes up for any weaknesses.

eggflip66 OK, Underbelly is banned in part of Australia(Victoria) and I'm not going into any of the details, so just forget the hype surrounding this show and look at it for what it is.For starters, it's only the beginning. This is a 13 part epic saga, which so far only 2 of the parts were played, and I'm already hearing a lot of complaints about this show that there either wasn't enough violence or that it just didn't lived up to the hype. Well I say those people probably don't follow the news, because if you knew anything about the past 10 years of crime in the Melbourne Underworld you would not only want to see more after just 1 episode, but you would have a little more respect and at least let the series play out before you start firing guns prematurely like a mad Alphonse Gangitano. Speaking of which, actor Vince Colosimo was outstanding in his role of the prince of Lygon street. If anyone says otherwise they should go back to watching "Home and Away", because they obviously cannot appreciate a brilliant Australian actor when they see one. You also have a tremendous ensemble of many established Australian actors with a few fresh faces.With only seeing the pilot and with my knowledge of what is about to happen, I know this is going to be an epic saga and will be remembered I hope for being a gem in goldmines of the Australian film industry, and not for its controversy. Of course, so long as the poor Victorians get to see it. Lastly I won't spoil anything so long as you watch the news, so we should all know Carl Williams is the last man standing in the end. But right now he is just the "Underbelly".