Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #696 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-07-07
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 152 minutes

Amazon.co.uk
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

No doubt one of the greatest films ever made

Before watching films that critics have hailed as 'a classic', I always prepare myself for slight disappointment- the critics' new favorite The Dark Knight, while still being a masterpiece, I found did not quite live up to the hype. 5 star reviews for There Will Be Blood were absolutely everywhere, so instead I read through the 1 and 2 star reviews, to try and spot some of the possible flaws. What I saw was 'boring', 'dull', 'overrated' and even 'cringe-worthy'.

After finally watching it a few days ago, I realized that, amazingly, There Will Be Blood lives up to the hype... and actually surpasses it.

There Will Be Blood is a fascinating character-study of how money and greed can infect the human mind, and ultimately destroy it. Daniel Day Lewis packs in a truly sensational performance as Daniel Plainview: businessman; father; monster. It doesn't matter at all if you've no interest whatsoever in the oil business- that's just the trunk to a tree with many branches. The plot has been explained perfectly in other reviews, but even if it doesn't sound like `your kind of thing', you're still able to enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm not sure where the film was shot, but the sets and the landscapes are breathtaking- a beautiful and ragged cross between the Australian Outback and the American Deep South. The film is visually stunning all the way through, owning a unique dirty, sweaty and -ironically- oily look- similar in tone to The Coen Brothers' Oscar rival No Country For Old Men.

The constant use of the most unnerving of music and sounds reminded me somewhat of early Stanley Kubrick with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Director Paul Thomas Anderson creates the most eerie and frightening of atmospheres from the most basic and simple of situations- something once mastered by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village).

The film goes on for an incredible 2 and a half hours, but in some strange way, you remain absolutely gripped from beginning to end. The whole experience is weirdly hypnotic- being consistently terrifying, provocative, and above all, heart-breaking: One particular scene comes to mind involving a boy and a train, but you'll have to watch it to find out what happens. Much of the film is structured around Daniel's relationship with his son- I wouldn't be surprised if the lad on screen is actually Daniel Day Lewis's son, as the drama and emotions passed between them are so real and convincing.

Also, remember Abigail Breslin's older brother in Little Miss Sunshine? He's in here, too, brilliantly portraying a very arrogant young man who's completely devout to his church, and who eventually gets what he deserves in the terrifying-but-powerful final scene. He's definitely one to watch in future.

There Will Be Blood is a staggering, 2 and a half hour journey into the mind of a man who knows no limits for money and success. Daniel Day Lewis's performance secures him as one of the world's greatest acting talents and is worth the DVD price alone. It's a film about passion, greed, manipulation, and an unbearably down-to-earth portrayal of how people's lives were some time ago- and still are. Watch it for the acting, watch it for the scenery, watch it for the concept, or even watch it to see what all the twinkling 5 star reviews are talking about, just make sure you watch the thing! It's an emotionally draining experience, but like Empire stated, (with only a couple of exceptions) no finer American film was made last year.

"I'm finished!"

Portrait of a sinner
Written, directed and co-produced by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Boogie Nights)this is loosely based on the 1927 Upton Sinclair novel entitled Oil! and was nominated for Best Film at the 2008 Academy Awards. It tells the story of a silver-miner-turned-oil-man on a ruthless quest for wealth during Southern California's oil boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The only leading characters of note are Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano.

When Day-Lewis acts like this it's sometimes distracting because he is, of course, so very good at playing larger-than-life characters. Although this is effectively a biopic of a rather repellent oil prospector, therefore the lead character can make or break the film, in this case Day-Lewis almost IS the film. Take him out of it and you're left with a mildly interesting history lesson of the rough and dangerous early years of oil drilling in the USA. But turn it inside out and put the background story to one side instead, you have a remarkable study of a man so consumed by his hatred of everyone and everything (and probably himself too) that it makes for almost uncomfortable viewing, making you want to turn away in disgust while being glued to the screen at all times. It's no wonder that he collected an Oscar as Best Leading Actor; when he's in this kind of form he is king, there is no-one to compare him with. From an early stage it becomes clear that Daniel Plainview is on a self-destruct mission, whether he is conscious of that or not is open to debate but there is really very little about him to like, or even respect. But this is a gradual process from the viewer's perspective; for the first half-hour or so I experienced conflicting feelings for the character and some of those were positive. All credit to the director, therefore, for conducting such an excellent character portrayal spread over nearly thirty years such that we see a gradual decline from single-minded businessman to lonely multi-millionaire in such a way that as his success builds, so too does our dislike for him. And it's not just his ways of doing business that warrant such low regard, it's also some of the abhorrent ways he treats what little family he has, notably his young son.

One of the central themes to the story is the conflict between Plainview and The Church of the Third Revelation, founded by Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). There are some dramatic confrontations throughout largely fuelled by Plainview's devoutly atheistic attitude, while many in the small communities in which he wants to drill for oil are simple, God-fearing people.

While the film as a whole could be described as a cinematic epic (rather an over-used term, I know) the final fifteen minutes of so have a contrastingly theatrical, on-stage feel, and although it won't mean anything unless you have actually seen this film, the final two words are probably the most ironic and memorable of any film I have ever seen - most other actors couldn't have gotten away with it without making it seem funny, but Day-Lewis is in a different league.

In the end it's a film to admire rather than pleasantly enjoy, but nevertheless one that will linger in the memory.

A slow-moving character driven film on human greed.
Borrowed this DVD from the library, since I didn't see it at the cinema earlier in the year. While I think, like No Country For Old Men, it's a very good film, the two are different in terms of the different audiences they might attract but similar cause they both are Western-set. This isn't a film for everyone, and if you want a thriller more than a character-driven drama, choose No Country For Old Men. This isn't an easy watch, at the very least.

Film:
The acting is very good all round, especially a tour de force from Daniel Day Lewis. His character Plainview is a prime example of ambition turned sour. Dano is also quite good ( considering he didn't have long to prepare for the role), if overshadowed by Lewis as Sunday - his high-pitched screaming did grate quite a bit, but his character's supposed to be annoying. Even a much overlooked natural performance by the child actor Freasier is convincing.

However, since this drama is quite slow-moving, some would complain it's boring since they probably feel not much happens in it. I see it as a slow and quite long but interesting eventful insight into how someone turns so bitter and twisted because of an ambition to produce oil. It's not your typical Hollywood film and actually raises quite alot of questions and ends in a odd 'I didn't expect it to end on that note' almost offbeat way.

The cinematography is beautiful. To my eyes, it looks like the time spent to research for this period drama has paid off as it feels like I'm there in the early 1900s. It just has a sort of epic look and feel to it that fits the film well.

Another of my problems with it is the loud ear-assaulting sound heard at the beginning and at intervals throughout the film. It's probably a stark reminder than this won't be an easy watch, but it annoys me all the same. The score is very good, apart from that loud noise, like a loud crescendo aforementioned.

Overall: An absorbing and uneasy watch depicting ambition turned sour and dangerous with a first class turn from it's lead star, and some very good cinematography. It's long and slow, but if your preserver and stick with it, even when the lead character isn't the most sympathetic alot of the time, it's still a well-made film I reckon.


Extras:
There Will Be Blood - Pics, Research, etc.: A 15 min slideshow of old pictures and clips from back then with clips from the film showing the amazing attention to detail to transport the viewer back to that time period of the early 1900s. Even actors look frighteningly similar to some of these old pictures and locations and scenery too.

For more extras, I think it's quite obvious that the two-disc is the way to go.