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There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

If there's a screen performance in 2008 that comes anywhere near to matching Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning turn in There Will Be Blood, then we've come nowhere near to seeing it. A tour-de-force of acting and a career high for Day-Lewis, it's the highlight of an extraordinary, really quite daring piece of cinema.

That said, we've come to expect nothing less from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, the man who previously brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. However, he's really topped himself in terms of ambition with There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's book, Oil! It follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) who, when we first meet him in the film's silent opening is attempting to mine silver, before he discovers oil and slowly builds up an empire off the back of it. There Will Be Blood then follows his rise to power, given the vast riches that his oil brings him, concurrently exploring his relationship with his son. It proves to be a long, complex, stunning piece of work.

There's little room in There Will Be Blood for much more than the sheer power of Day-Lewis' performance, but credit Paul Dano (last seen saying an awful lot less in Little Miss Sunshine) for attempting to go toe-to-toe with the leading man. He's a foil of sorts for Plainview, playing a man as troubled and torn as Day-Lewis' character, and it's a career high to date for the young actor. The film, too, is a match for anything Paul Thomas Anderson has done to date, and that's some achievement.

With no easy resolution, and a degree of complexity in its characters that we all-too-rarely see from modern American films, There Will Be Blood is a challenging, at times breathtaking piece of cinema. It won't be to all tastes, and it adamantly refuses to give easy answers, but it's as daring as anything you’ll see on screen all year. And Day-Lewis' performance ranks next to any of the all-time greats that you'd care to mention. --Simon Brew

Editorial
DVD Description

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood is a masterly, unflinching examination of a consummately evil man. Daniel Plainview (via a transcendent performance by the great Daniel Day-Lewis) is, as he likes to remind those around him, an oil man: he finds it, he drills for it, and he makes money from it. Following a tip from a visitor named Paul Sunday, whose family sits atop a veritable ocean of oil, Plainview travels to the town of New Boston, California, with his young son. Sunday's preacher brother Eli (both roles are played by the excellent Paul Dano) grudgingly accepts Plainview's ambitions under the condition that he help fund the town church. As Plainview's plans come to fruition, a series of events begin to fracture the insular world he has constructed for himself, pitting Plainview against Sunday and forcing him to become even more vindictive and ruthless. Anderson proved with Boogie Nights and Magnolia that he was adept at handling expansive storylines and layered plots; however, he stakes out a claim here as a new master of the cinematic epic. The film is visually stunning, and alternates between lush widescreen shots of the desert and meticulously composed, darkly lit close-up of his actors, presenting complex images of the American landscape and the souls that dot it. As a narrative, There Will Be Blood is told with a sense of economy, yet never at the expense of the film's inherently grand scope. It's difficult to determine precisely what Anderson wants his viewers to take from the experience: the film is, in the end, appropriately complex and ambiguous. There Will Be Blood forces us to confront Plainville, who seems to be a larger-than-life personification of evil; that we don't entirely understand him at the film's conclusion is not a shortcoming, but rather a tribute to the depths of this most vile creature and this most brilliant film.

Note: There Will Be Blood will be packaged in environmentally-friendly cardboard made from recycled paper.

Editorial
Synopsis

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD is a masterly, unflinching examination of a consummately evil man. Daniel Plainview (via a transcendent performance by the great Daniel Day-Lewis) is, as he likes to remind those around him, an oil man: he finds it, he drills for it, and he makes money from it. Following a tip from a visitor named Paul Sunday, whose family sits atop a veritable ocean of oil, Plainview travels to the town of New Boston, California, with his young son. Sunday's preacher brother Eli (both roles are played by the excellent Paul Dano) grudgingly accepts Plainview's ambitions under the condition that he help fund the town church. As Plainview's plans come to fruition, a series of events begin to fracture the insular world he has constructed for himself, pitting Plainview against Sunday and forcing him to become even more vindictive and ruthless.
Anderson proved with BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA that he was adept at handling expansive storylines and layered plots; however, he stakes out a claim here as a new master of the cinematic epic. The film is visually stunning, and alternates between lush widescreen shots of the desert and meticulously composed, darkly lit close-up of his actors, presenting complex images of the American landscape and the souls that dot it. As a narrative, THERE WILL BE BLOOD is told with a sense of economy, yet never at the expense of the film's inherently grand scope. It's difficult to determine precisely what Anderson wants his viewers to take from the experience: the film is, in the end, appropriately complex and ambiguous. THERE WILL BE BLOOD forces us to confront Plainville, who seems to be a larger-than-life personification of evil; that we don't entirely understand him at the film's conclusion is not a shortcoming, but rather a tribute to the depths of this most vile creature and this most brilliant film.

Very, very good, but not quite great.
Review date: 2008-09-01 Rating: 8 out of 10

Although I enjoyed this film I'd have to say that an awful lot is sacrificed to DDL's acting.The fact that what everyone talks about is his performance says it all really.He is fantastic, but that's largely due to the fact that nobody else seems to get a word in edgeways.Paul Dano does his best, but like every other character he pops in and out of the film without any great rhyme or reason.There are a few faults,like other reviewers, I was confused for a long time by Dano playing identical twin brothers and there are other elements of the film that are confusing.Dano's congregation grows without the town ever seeming to, and the religous elements are only introduced in short, sharp bursts. But none of this really matters because the film is really about DDL's portrayal of a monster so driven that he even sacrifices his son to his ambition. He ends the film evil and alone and,as he says himself, finished.A fitting ending, but nevertheless very abrupt, and like other sections of the film, with the feeling that something had been heavily cut.

I felt that DDL's performance, particularly the voice, was heavily modelled on John Huston, especially Huston's performance of the evil father in Chinatown. Perhaps because of that I began to note similarities between Dano's character and that of Brad Dourif's in Huston's film Wiseblood, about a deranged young man who creates his own church.

The set pieces are fantastic, as is the cinematography and the soundtrack, which is pitch perfect and almost a character in its own right.However, far too much is only sketched in; characters, plot, motivation, location, for this to be a truly great film. Nevertheless it still stands a head and shoulders above most other films released in the last year and Anderson, like the Coen Bros.,has again shown himself to be a film maker with a great deal of style and ability and with something worth saying

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Reviews


Some get it, some don't
Review date: 2008-08-31 Rating: 10 out of 10

I really enjoyed reading the one star reviews of this film-they are entitled to their (strangely) similar opinions of course. Make up your own mind I say. I thought it was brilliant, and the music even greater.
there you go

Fabulous, epic... but what's it all about?
Review date: 2008-08-27 Rating: 8 out of 10

What a very strange and remarkable film this is. Visually, it's brilliant, mesmerising, full of staggering set pieces and resonant images (the old photographs which acted as inspiration are in the extras and well worth checking out). Daniel Day Lewis' performance is towering; he completely occupies the role and utterly dominates the film just as he utterly dominates everything around him. That's the part, as scripted, of course, but there's more to his performance than that - his charismatic presence in the film is remarkable, particularly as it's achieved with almost no shouting, arm-waving or showboating of any kind, and it's hard to imagine any other actor creating it... contrast and compare, for example, Leonardo diCaprio's boyish efforts at Howard Hughes in 'The Aviator'. I'd suggest that this is the film that finally sets Day-Lewis among the all-time screen greats.

Setting aside the bravura performances and direction, however, it's less clear what the film is actually about. Plainview's character is so unique, so individual, that it's hard to draw any broad conclusions. Over-vaunting ambition against family and personal relationships? The ongoing struggle with evangelical religion - God vs Mammon? It's all powerfully realised, but exactly what it is is more problematic. Puzzling too that this epic story ends less on a bang than on a weirdly inconclusive whimper.

Maybe I need to watch it again. I certainly will.



A hollow shell of a movie
Review date: 2008-08-27 Rating: 4 out of 10

Two great, chilling performances from the central characters, each embodying different forms of obsession (the gaining of control through wealth accumulation vs the gaining of control via the use of religious fanaticism), but there it ends - a beautifully-photographed, but a curiously uninvolving scenario that depends far too much on sudden and unexplained outbursts of violence when the film begins to drag. Great films need more than this.

There will be oscars..and there was
Review date: 2008-08-27 Rating: 10 out of 10

If someone asked me, 'hey, what type of horrors do you reccomend, ya know something edgy, down-beat and terrifying'. right now i would more than likely say 'There will be blood'.
It has an atmosphere of dread and crippling fear throughout and although a few scenes could have been cut out completlely, this is a superb piece of film-making.
It is definatly not for all tastes with its bleeakness but then there is also twisted fun to be had with Day Lewis's performance. The last 45 minutes is a remarkable, scary and darkly amusing set of scenes. the frustration shown on his face when confronted with the salvation is something to behold.
A study in hypocracy and greed and of one mans deterioation. the key element being how time isnyt really a great healer and if you got a bad core then your more than likely going to remain that way. as in magnolia the director asks us what we can forgive, and i believe unless something is so sinful, then forgiveness cen be abundent, but in this film there is no room for forgiveness.
Do not get me wrong alot of melodramas have thier fair share of grief but hereis a film that spreads fear from the word go and doesnt let go. faith is only for those that believe, if you dont believe then you have to believe in yourself and others such as friends and family as the ones to look up to. the grey area is almost impossible to enter but as Day Lewis's charachter shows once trapped, you may just stay trapped

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Dillon Freasier
Kevin J. O'Connor
Barry Del Sherman
Daniel Day-Lewis
Ciarán Hinds

Creators:
Daniel Day-Lewis (Primary Contributor)
Ciarán Hinds (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainm
EAN: 8717418164577
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 2
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2008-07-07
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 152 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2007
Language: English (Unknown)

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