Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13388 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-07-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 152 minutes

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

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.

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.

Customer Reviews

Beyond good, but not quite brilliant - except for Daniel Day Lewis
Amazon and other reviewers have provided extended summaries of the storyline, so I'd just like to add my opinion that as as second disc of 'Extras', that inclusion is very disappointing and consists mostly of re-reun extracts from the film in association with historical resource material. The best element is probably the 'silent' movie made by the American Ministry of the Interior over 60 years ago to explain the story of petroleum. If you hope to see anything about how the film was actually made - there's absolutely nothing.

As everyone seems to agree, Daniel Day Lewis's performance is superb - there aren't really any adjectives strong enough to describe it. The final, brutally violent scene in the bowling alley - although weirdly unreal - is a triumph of acting. The final shot and line of dialogue, however, is oddly dissatisfying, but its very ambiguity does leave you considering its true meaning.

As for ambiguity - the title of the film is extremely clever and can be interpretted in very many ways ---- the blood of Christ and baptism - the blood of family ties - the blood of violence - the life-blood of oil in society etc.

The one thing that is very important to understand is that 'There will be blood' is essentially an extended character study and although there are highspots of activity and violence, these are infrequent and short. The film is the story of one man and the consequences of his over-arching self-belief in the face of a world and other people who don't agree with his methods, ethics and ambitions. In this respect, Daniel Plainview has certain similarities with that of Charles Foster Kane and the film as a whole is often reminiscent of the darkest work by the Coen Brothers.

An American Classic
If you're looking for subtlety then you're not going to find it in P T Anderson's There Will Be Blood; from the grand scale locations to the larger than life characters, Anderson's film feels truly epic. Yet don't take this as a fault of the film, indeed it is the films epic quality that ensures its success. Loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel Oil, There Will Be Blood tells the story of Daniel Plainview (played by Daniel Day-Lewis). After Plainview accidently discovers oil (and its monetary gains), he becomes set on sourcing further oil and thus gaining more wealth. After a tip off in which Plainview is told of oil rich land in California, his greed ultimately leads to a battle of wills between Plainview and Eli Sunday (Paul Dano, who also plays the small but pivotal role of Paul Sunday) the young minister of a church, culminating in the almost comic final scene of the film, as Plainview's greed ultimately consumes him.
Day-Lewis deservedly won an Academy Award for his performance of a man entirely obsessed by greed, and indeed it is he on who the film rests upon. His performance is startling, utterly embodying the enigmatic character of Plainview. There is a distinct lack of character development, and whilst the audience is shown Plainview at the beginning of his ascent we never truly learn his motives and feelings. However, the lack of information that we have about the character ensures that the audience not only learns all they need to know, but they are kept at a distance from this ultimately lonely figure. In fact there is no dialogue for the first fifteen minutes of the film, in which we watch Plainview mining, working entirely by himself.
The cinematography adds to the almost mystical quality of the film, reminiscent of Terence Malick's Days of Heaven, which was shot entirely during magic hour. Ultimately, this is an epic film showcasing the subversion of the American Dream, and deserves to be remembered as a true American Classic.

There Will Be Blood
In 1898, while digging for silver, prospector Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) discovers an oil deposit. By 1911, after not selling out to his larger competitors, Plainview, along with his adoptive son H. W. (Dillon Frasier), is one of the most successful oil-prospectors in California. On a tip from Paul Sunday (Paul Dano) he travels to a small town where the land bleeds with the black gold. However, on his arrival, he meets Pauls's twin brother, Eli Sunday (also Paul Dano), an Evangelical preacher, who places obstacles in the way of his progress.

From the outset of the film, director Paul Thomas Anderson builds up a massive amount of tension, keeping the audience on tenterhooks, with a dialogue free initial 20 minutes. The only sound coming from the screen is the apocalyptic score of Radiohead man Jonny Greenwood, which builds up the feeling of unease and dead at what is to come.

From the moment the first world of dialogue are spoken - "Ladies and gentlemen, I've travelled over half our state to be here tonight" - the film belongs to Daniel Day Lewis. His performance as self-made oil baron Daniel Plainview is completely compelling, thanks to Day Lewis's emersion in the character. The semi-retired actor's deep and detailed study of the period and the people have allowed him to create an actual person, rather than just portraying a character in a film. The voice he uses is also extremely distinctive, and conjures up images of walrus moustaches and cigar smoking. Plainview is a deeply complex character, and one which Day Lewis plays to perfection.

Opposite the Oscar winning actor is Paul Dano an Eli Sunday (and briefly, Eli's twin brother Paul), a crazed Evangelical preacher. Sunday is the compete opposite of Plainview, and in turn, tries to change the oil's mans wicked and greedy ways, offering redemption through faith rather than wealth. It is the relationship between the two which forms the centre of the film, with both embodying the continuing battle between business and religion. Paul Dano, who replaced another actor after shooting had begun, does well in portraying the Evangelical mad-man and acting opposition such as respected actor, although at times, the spitting and shrieking form of preaching can seem overly silly and laughable.

It the clash between these two massive characters which is at the heart of this film, with a resolution to their story not coming until some years later, in a California mansion. It is now that the true nature of each of these characters emerges, and we witness who wins in this colossal battle of wills.

Around these two, only younger H. W. Plainview (Dillon Frasier) gets a look in. Although at times, the relationship between father and adoptive son can seem one of convenience, using his angelic face as the front for his father demonic pursuit of power and allowing Plainview to portray himself as a family man. There does seem to be a deep bond between the two, however, come the conclusion to the film, the relationship between the two becomes both clearly and even murkier at the same time.

It will take a couple of days of reflection, and possibly another half dozen viewing, but eventually, the masterpiece that There Will Be Blood is, will be revealed.