Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: THERE WILL BE BLOOD - 2-DISC EDITION (DVD MOV
EAN: 0097361325743
Format: Widescreen
Label: Paramount
Manufacturer: Paramount
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Paramount
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-04-08
Running Time: 158
Studio: Paramount
Theatrical Release Date: 2008-04-08

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Spotlight customer reviews:

Customer Rating:

Summary: Winning is everything
Comment: There Will be Blood is a character study. The story is about the competition between two men determined to control everything and everybody . One is obsessed with money and power and the other is obsessed with righteousness and power. May the best man win? Not in this story. Both men are deplorable.

The story is primarily told visually, with little dialogue. Like many pretentious films, There Will be Blood forces the viewer to watch many scenes in real time. This means we see characters walk the entire length across a field. When I see this overworked technique, I think boring instead of art. Despite these shortcomings, the film is intriguing - primarily due to outstanding acting, especially by Daniel Day-Lewis.

The Shopkeeper

Customer Rating:

Summary: Oh Yes, There Will Be Blood (4.5 stars)
Comment: Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Best Cinematography, "There Will Be Blood" is based upon the 1927 novel "Oil!" by Upton Sinclair and takes place in California during the early 20th century with an oil prospecter making his fortune. Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis), the aforementioned oilman, is a shrewd businessman and sees death early on as a part of life in the industry but it is only after he is challenged by a deceptive evangelist does death go from inadvertent to unmistakably discriminate.

In a cacophonous mix of cutthroat business and zealous religion, a war is instigated when a young man named Paul Sunday (Dano) comes to Daniel and offers to point him in the direction of a surefire fortune in exchange for a handsome sum. Paul's hometown village of "Little Boston" is a figurative gold mine, the family farm and the hundreds of miles surrounding it an untapped wealth of crude oil. Under the guise of pheasant hunting enthusiasts, Daniel and his son H.W. (Freasier) start investigating the property and their suspicions are quickly confirmed. Within no time, a deal is on the table but Paul's twin brother Eli (Dano), a local preacher, impedes the contract by not only demanding a generous portion of the proceeds but also the chance to expand his modest congregation. Hiding behind the faade of Christianity, he is motivated by greed, only to be unexpectedly matched by the cruelty and cunning of Daniel.

The film is more than deserved of both of its Oscars, namely Day-Lewis's riveting performance as Daniel Plainview, a man who is torn between the love for his son and his love for self-affluence (or so one thinks). The 52-year old Oscar winner's performance is matched by that of his 24-year old co-star Paul Dano as Eli Sunday. Though he was cast as both of the Sunday brothers, it is as the sanctimonious Eli that Dano makes a pointed connection with the audience. He is the character whom viewers love to hate, using religion to veil his egoism and his struggle for power, so much so that he aids in lending sympathy to Daniel, a man whose motivations are equally insatiate to his own.

Stunning cinematography comes courtesy of Robert Elswit, a man who served as director of photography for P.T. Anderson's much-discussed `99 film "Magnolia". Filmed in greater part in Marfa, Texas (neighboring with the cast and crew of "No Country For Old Men"), Elswit recreates and highlights the best of old California's sweeping vistas, its rustic mountain ranges, rolling hills and dry desert-like tundra the picture-perfect backdrop.

Paul Thomas Anderson has a short but unique body of work and this film has created the official apex of his career. It is also a sign that there will be many more interesting projects to come from this 38-year old writer/director/producer. Dusting off the ashes ten years after the outrageous cult favorite "Boogie Nights", "There Will Be Blood" is a definitive sign that this director has matured.

Out of a total of 10 stars, I give it a 9. I can only hope it will parallel to Joel and Ethan Cohen's magnum opus "No Country For Old Men".

Customer Rating:

Summary: There Will Be Some Serious Movie-Watching
Comment: Wow! Even after seeing director Paul Thomas Anderson's vision come to life in "There Will Be Blood," you're not quite sure what to make of it. Is it a character study of a complex man? Is it a moral tale of what depths men will stoop to in the pursuit of money? Is it a tale of good and evil, community? Is it part heavy drama and part seriously twisted comedy? Well, it might be a little bit of all these. Watch it yourself to see what you make of it.

Daniel Day-Lewis turns in a phenomenal performance--nuanced at times (something he really isn't known for) and over the top as you would expect. His over the top moments though fit as his oil wildcatter subject, Daniel Plainview, is peeled back like an onion layer after layer until all that's left is this stinking rotten psycho inside...a complex and evil character indeed. All performances are finely played and perhaps the most interesting things about the flick are tied between the cinematography and the script. The writing is sparse allowing the characters to tell the tale through both action, word, and deed.

Threaded throughout there is this issue of religion and what it does for people's motivations and how it's juxtaposed to a man almost without conscience. The sense of community and religion even scratch Daniel's oil-slicked and slate hardened skin as it leads him to seemingly have a moment of regret in his relationship with his son.

By the end of the movie, despite the title, there really isn't that much blood. Comparing this to that year's other big Oscar nominated movies, Juno and No Country For Old Men...well it's a better flick than No Country and skillfully told with far less blood and Juno well...there isn't as many pregnant teenagers...but that's beside the point.

The point is, see this flick. By the time you arrive in the bowling alley, you won't know whether you are supposed to be laughing or horrified to the core. And you don't really know who the Plainview character is which seems to be just what the director, actor, and writer intended. A fine fine human study...this flick is. Get it. ...mmw

Customer Rating:

Summary: there will be blood
Comment: All I can say is "intense". New, bold, unlike any other movie I have seen in a long time. Action packed, no, but the intensitey of the moment keeps you glued to the screen. What an ending, from prospector to insane. If anyone has felt motivated for their own cause this move will strike a note. Watch it to the end. I loved it.

Customer Rating:

Summary: I want my 2 hours back :(
Comment: This movie had a lot of hype due to the awards it received, but I have to say I was very disappointed. I can normally sit through any movie, but this one dragged on and on. It seemed like it was building up to something great, but in the end never delivered. Daniel Day Lewis did a great job of acting, but it alone could not make this movie. In my opinion its a waste of time if you looking for a great storyline and entertainment. On the other hand, if your looking purely for acting technique it maybe worth your time.

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Editorial Reviews:

A sprawling epic of family faith power and oil THERE WILL BE BLOOD is set on the incendiary frontier of California s turn-of-the-century petroleum boom. The story chronicles the life and times of one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) who transforms himself from a down-and-out silver miner raising a son on his own into a self-made oil tycoon. When Plainview gets a mysterious tip-off that there s a little town out West where an ocean of oil is oozing out of the ground he heads with his son H.W. (Dillon Freasier) to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. In this hardscrabble town where the main excitement centers around the holy roller church of charismatic preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano) Plainview and H.W. make their lucky strike. But even as the well raises all of their fortunes nothing will remain the same as conflicts escalate and every human value love hope community belief ambition and even the bond between father and son is imperiled by corruption deception and the flow of oil.System Requirements:Running Time: 158 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA/HISTORICAL EPIC Rating: R UPC: 097361325743 Manufacturer No: 132574