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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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ACTING OF THE HIGHEST CALIBRE.,
By BUBS. "movie maniac" (south wales) - See all my reviews
This review is from: There Will Be Blood (Single Disc Edition) [DVD] (DVD)
after reading the vast difference of opinions on this review i finally went ahead and bought this film . well there is no doubt its a slow burner but the performance by daniel day lewis is quite mesmerising it shows how people can get overcome by greed and power till they end up a hollow shell .its beautifully shot and looks very authentic , i was worried that the film being 2hrs 30 minutes long would have to be viewed in 2 sittings because its slow moving but very suprisingly it kept me fully focused all the way thru and i really enjoyed the film . i cannot understand the amount of reviewers who have given the film 1 star ,i have only seen about 4 daniel day lewis films but he is awesome in every one of them its worth buying just to see his performance alone .
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good but could have been better,
By
This review is from: There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [DVD] (DVD)
My own feeling, having sat through this very long film, was an overall one of disappointment. There is no question this is a beautifully made film, and DD Lewis' performance is exceptional, thoroughly convincing, quite chilling.But for me it's a bit of an 'emperor's new clothes' scenario - all the accolades and plaudits given to the film are ones I struggle to see the merit in. The storyline could have been so much better - notably the complete disappearance of 'Paul' and the sudden appearance of his 'twin brother' preacher - and the way in which the plot jumps from one theme to another without failing to explore some of the storylines it sets up was perplexing to me. The conclusion is certainly anti-climactic and all in all, depsite the postives, not a film I would recommend.
34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Some very strong performances in one of the best films of 2008,
By
This review is from: There Will Be Blood [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
`There Will Be Blood' is the award winning movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview, 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., to take their chances in dust-worn Little Boston. In this small town, where the main excitement centres around the 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 tainted by corruption, deception and the flow of oil.With the amount of hype around this film, I had high hopes for this film and what I didn't expect was to be completely engrossed in the story, the characters and some of the best acting that I have ever seen. From the opening scene I just knew that this was going to be great. A lot of people complain that it was too long and that there wasn't enough action in it, making it boring but I found that it was just so well made and well performed and I appreciated it for its excellent character-driven storyline that it was and came to the conclusion that this movie well deserved it's awards it was given. Daniel Day-Lewis is known for being very selective in his roles and stays in character whilst the movies are being filmed, and it goes to show in this film as is an truly incredible performance. Another notable performance is from co-star Paul Dano who plays the preacher Eli Sunday (and also briefly plays Eli's brother Paul after the actor pulled out) who also gives a very powerful performance. There's not a great deal to say about the story as it is fairly straightforward in that it is a portrayal of the success and downfall of oil miner Daniel Plainview, so when I explain to friends what this is about I always get a face from them where I can tell that they are sarcastically thinking "great"" so I'd recommend just sitting down and watching this and the less you know about it, the better. The Blu Ray quality is as great as usual. Fantastic sound quality although at some points in the film (especially near the beginning) the picture quality suffers from a little graininess that takes some of the crystal sharp picture away. Overall this is one of the best films I've seen this year and is one I highly recommend to anyone who really appreciates good acting, a good story and excellent characters.
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