From Terence Winter (Emmy®-winning writer on HBO's The Sopranos) and Oscar®-winning director Martin Scorsese, Boardwalk Empire is set in Atlantic City in 1920 at the dawn of Prohibition. The series chronicles the life and times of Enoch Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), the city treasurer whose double role as politician and bootlegger makes him the city's undisputed czar at a time when illegal alcohol has opened up highly lucrative opportunities for rumrunners and distributors. In a city defined by notorious backroom politics and vicious power struggles, Nucky must contend with ambitious underlings, relentless Feds, rival gangsters -- including Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano and Al Capone -- and his own appetite for women, profits, and power.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #351 in DVD
• Released on: 2012-01-10
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Running time: 733 minutes

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In fine (and bloody) style, HBO's Boardwalk Empire returns to 1920 when the ban on booze led to a syndicate of bootleggers and smugglers. Created by Sopranos scribe Terence Winter and coproduced by director Martin Scorsese, the story centers on Atlantic City treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Steve Buscemi), who schemes in private while preaching temperance in public (Mark Wahlberg and Tim Van Patten also serve as producers). Jimmy (Michael Pitt, Buscemi's Delirious costar), a war veteran, acts as his right-hand man, while zealous Agent Van Alden (Michael Shannon) and refined mobster Arnold Rothstein (A Serious Man's Michael Stuhlbarg) represent significant threats to his enterprise.

Nucky's other associates include his sheriff brother Eli (Shea Whigham), sexpot girlfriend Lucy (Paz de la Huerta), and distributor Chalky (The Wire's Michael K. Williams). If Nucky has little regard for law and order, his soft side emerges in his dealings with Irish immigrant Margaret (Kelly Macdonald, excellent), who segues from abused wife to kept woman. As Nucky puts it, "I try to be good. I really do." After he sends Jimmy away a spell, his sidekick joins forces with Al Capone (Stephen Graham, Public Enemies) and disfigured vet Richard Harrow (Jack Huston), abandoning his son, common-law wife Angela (Aleksa Palladino), and mother Gillian (Gretchen Mol), who has a fling with Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza).

Inspired by Nelson Johnson's book, Boardwalk Empire takes a Deadwood-like approach to history by combining characters both factual and fictional with blue language and ladies without brassieres. Winter, who won an Emmy for The Sopranos episode Pine Barrens, takes liberties with the historical record, but the series never claims to represent the truth and nothing but--which is only fitting when everyone's hiding secrets. If the entire ensemble deserves praise, Buscemi rules the show as thoroughly as Nucky rules the city. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

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116 of 126 people found the following review helpful.
A must have for your Mobster Video Collection
By At Your Fingertips
When HBO first announced the showing of Boardwalk Empire, my calendar became marked with bright red highlighter. Every time I saw an image of actor Steve Buscemi in his dapper 1920's attire (my favorite decade in American history), my anticipation grew. I began to research, realizing that Martin Scorsese and producer Terry Winter (The Sopranos), and I was nearly breathless with anticipation.

What drew me to Boardwalk Empire? It was a combination of items. I love the 1920s. There was a romance to that particular era, evident in the films, the clothing, and the music. America was blossoming from a gawky teenage girl and into the full flower of beauty during that magical era. Much of the growing process involved film, music, gangsters, and Prohibition.

When HBO's BOARDWALK EMPIRE premiered, I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas morning.

Scoresese and Winter didn't let me down. Boardwalk Empire chronicles the life of Enoch (Nucky) Thompson (Steve Buscemi). Nucky Thompson is slick, smooth, and runs the Boardwalk with a suaveness that rivals the cunning of a fox. I don't think Scoresese could have found anyone better than Buscemi to play Thompson, for he's able to emit the perfect persona with his sly, crooked smile and darting eyes. Yes, Buscemi fits my image of a gangster of the era, more realistic than any Hollywood has ever attempted to portray in the past. Buscemi is not a handsome man, instead he has that down home reality to his features that makes him more believable as a human being with every close-up that is filmed. Human is what Nucky Thompson is, aspiring for more on the boardwalk. Nucky is complex in his greed and maneuvering, and all the while revealing the little bit of a compassionate heart that he still has beating within him. This heart is shown in his behavior toward Margaret Schroeder (Kelly MacDonald), a pregnant woman who endures a horrific beating from her drunken husband.

The storyline of Boardwalk Empire leaps from section to section, high paced, filled with action and the underground gangland activity that was so prevalent during the time. There are startling little bits of history that will make any fan of the era and mobster history smile with pleasure. My favorite clip was a war scarred Jimmy Darmody ( Michael Pitt) having a conversation with a very young Al Capone (Stephen Graham), while they waited to drive their bosses about town. (No, Al Capone didn't start out his gangster career as the headman;he started at the bottom).

My overall opinion of Boardwalk Empire--Excellent and stunning. I felt as if I had been drawn into a perfectly portrayed world of the past, from the movements of Prohibition, Women's Suffrage, and into the realm of organized crime. Beautifully written for the screen (adapted from the book by Nelson Johnson, Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City), Boardwalk Empire is a must have in your mobster collection.

32 of 40 people found the following review helpful.
Based on the book "Boardwalk Empire" and well worth watching even though some facts have been changed
By K. Corn
The writer of the HBO series, Terence Winter (who also wrote the foreword for this edition of the book), was recently interviewed on public radio and explained how and why the HBO show deviates from many of the facts in the book "Boardwalk Empire." Last names were sometimes changed and certain information had to be imagined or created in order to allow the plot to veer away from the events in the book.

None of this takes away from the entertainment value of the series but potential buyers of the book will get an added perspective and accurate historical detail."Boardwalk Empire" is an excellent way to round out the very entertaining cable television series. If you simply want to watch the show, it recreates Atlantic City in its heyday. Steve Buscemi is riveting in his role as "Nucky" and comes across as a complex person, although when it comes to business he can be harsh and no nonsense. Things go his way or else. Of course, I write this after seeing only the first episodes of the series so it will be interesting to see how his character evolves. There are hints of a romance in the future.

Not surprisingly, Terence Winter (again, writer of the HBO series) also wrote many episodes of The Sopranos and director Martin Scorcese steps to the helm and directs the first and possibly many more episodes of the cable show ( but guest directors aren't uncommon for cable series). In the show, Steve Buscemi plays Nucky but Winter has admitted that James Gandolfini would have fit the actual body type and appearance of Nucky. But because Buscemi captures the essence of Nucky so well it doesn't seem to matter if he looks exactly like the real Nucky.

Nucky Johnson provides what people want, primarily alcohol, gambling and sex. But if the public had wanted other things Nucky would simply have gone with public sentiment. His choices were based on what brought him the most profit -and it was as simple as that, although being in power was not so simple.

Having seen the first episodes of the series, I am able to compare both the book and television show. I'd urge you to buy the book. Both the book and the cable series made me yearn to visit Atlantic City in its prime. Women dressed in their finest outfits before strolling on the actual boardwalk. I'd love to have revisited that time - if only to understand the thrills that drew people to Atlantic City.

Since I've now seen the series, it is impossible to write about the book without comparing it to the film version. I have to admit that the HBO show recreates Atlantic City's mixture of people and often weird attractions, from side shows to palm readers - and it does make a difference seeing and hearing the combination of sights, sounds and dialogue.

There is also a portrayal of the young Al Capone and he comes off as far less confident in his youth. He still takes risks but he hasn't matured into the experienced man whose name became legend.

"Boardwalk Empire" reveals how the area was a place where families came, with children enjoying themselves by day and adults venturing off to enjoy other pursuits at night. You won't get a truly balanced historical take on Atlantic City without reading the book and the series should motivate viewers to want to learn more about the history of Atlantic series. Reading "Boardwalk Empire" is well worth the time. But if you only want to watch the show you will still get a sense of the sights and sounds of Atlantic City as well as the lure of booze, women and gambling.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful.
Moral Ambiguity Highlights This Impeccable Combination Of Politics And Gangsters--Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
By K. Harris
Certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated shows on the 2010 television schedule, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" boasted the year's most impressive pedigree with Martin Scorsese taking a production credit and even directing the pilot episode. This brain child of Terrence Winter, a primary creative force and writer for "The Sopranos," adapts the Nelson Johnson non-fiction work chronicling the sordid history of Atlantic City into a masterful blend of fact and fantasy. Embraced by mainstream critics and viewers alike, "Boardwalk Empire" recently picked up a Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Program and acting honors for lead Steve Buscemi at both the Globes and the SAG awards. Intended for adult audiences, this is a program whose real pleasures unfold as the season progresses--it has a slow build momentum and a subtlety in plotting and characterizations that might not appeal to more action oriented viewers. But patience is rewarded with a rich and compelling storyline that showcases equal parts politics and mob drama.

Buscemi plays Nucky Thompson, the most pivotal power player of this corrupt political empire. The charming Thompson rules Atlantic City as if he were its king! Set in the prohibition era, Thompson plays both the peacemaker and the enforcer--but in this turbulent time, keeping a tight grip on the city proves to pose some dangerous challenges. Backed by his muscle (Michael Pitt), pursued doggedly by a federal agent (Michael Shannon), and tentatively romancing a recent widow (Kelly Macdonald)--Buscemi does not play Thompson as a one dimensional villain, but instead as a multi-layered businessman. Within this fictional backdrop (yes, I know Thompson was a real person), other notorious real life personages populate the cast such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano. This is a startlingly realistic portrait of the outlaw days of prohibition!

In addition to Buscemi's fine work, the cast is uniformly excellent. At first, I thought Pitt a bit passive in the role of a henchman but his independence and intelligence start to emerge until he becomes more of an equal and less of an underling. Macdonald, as well, starts as a fairly tentative character but she experiences the story's most compelling transformation. At first she is seduced by the Thompson's clout, than complicit, than free to experience a newfound power of her own. Shannon is creepy menace in what could have been the show's most conventionally good character. But I also really liked Gretchen Mol (Pitt's mother although in real life she is only 9 years his senior), Shea Wigham (Buscemi's brother), Vincent Piazza (Lucky Luciano) and Jack Huston (as a disfigured vet who befriends Pitt). But really, all the supporting roles are played with verve and I could easily have listed an additional four or five actors that stand out.

In some ways, DVD is the perfect venue to catch "Boardwalk Empire" where you can allow the story to flow at your own rate. Intelligent and challenging, this isn't a slam bang gangster melodrama. It is a character driven piece occupied by perhaps the most morally ambiguous cast of characters ever assembled for a television program. No one is unscathed in this period saga! At this juncture, it is also noteworthy to include that the production values really do recreate an era gone by. Gorgeous to look at and authentically believable, this is smart and sophisticated entertainment! KGHarris, 2/11.