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There Will Be Blood [Collector's Edition]

Actor(s): Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ciar�n Hinds, Dillon Freasier
Director(s): Paul Thomas Anderson
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Movie Details

MPAA Rating: R
Content Advisory: Violence
Movie Release: 2007
DVD Release: 04/08/2008
Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
SwapaDVD Credits: 2
Number of Discs: 2
Run Time: 2 hrs 38 mins
Studio: Paramount
Members Wishing: 7
Genres: Drama, Period Film, Family Drama
See Also: There Will Be Blood [HD DVD], There Will Be Blood, There Will Be Blood [Blu-ray], There Will Be Blood, There Will Be Blood, There Will Be Blood [Special Collector's Edition] [Blu-ray]

DVD Synopsis

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson steps outside his contemporary world of dysfunctional Angelenos to explore a very different dysfunctional man -- an oil pioneer whose trailblazing spirit is equaled only by his murderous ambition. There Will Be Blood is Anderson's loose adaptation of the novel -Oil! by Upton Sinclair, and it focuses its attentions on Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), a miner who happens upon black gold during a disastrous excavation that ends in a broken leg. Pulling himself up from the bowels of the earth, both literally and metaphorically, Plainview embarks on a systematic and steadfast approach to mastering the oil business. Using plain-spoken and straightforward language, Plainview launches a campaign to convince small-town property owners they should let him drill their land. Without him, they won't have the equipment to access the profit beneath their feet. He builds an empire this way -- and gradually becomes obsessed with the intrinsic value of power, growing increasingly irascible and paranoid in the process. Plainview meets his match in Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a teenage preacher in the small California town of Little Boston, whose brother tipped Plainview off to the town's plentiful supply of untapped oil. To fully reap the benefits of the land, Plainview must suffer the opposing whims of this "prophet," whose legitimacy is questionable at best. And it's unclear if either man is prepared to pay the humiliating price the other wants to exact. There Will Be Blood features an anachronistic soundtrack by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood, and it was shot in the same town where the James Dean epic Giant was filmed. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide

Actors

Daniel Day-Lewis - Daniel Plainview
Paul Dano - Eli Sunday
Kevin J. O'Connor - Henry
Ciar�n Hinds - Fletcher
Dillon Freasier - H.W. Plainview

Editorial Review of DVD

The 2-Disc Collector's Edition of Paul Thomas Anderson's brilliant There Will Be Blood, the first of 2007's Best Picture nominees to receive the multiple DVD treatment, offers a superb transfer, a fact that should come as no surprise to those aware of Anderson's admiration for DVD. Although some may quibble with there being only eight chapter stops for a 160-minute film, the truth is that each of the eight has been perfectly chosen and titled, so viewers can find what they need easily. The most interesting of the extras on the bonus disc is "The Story of Petroleum," a silent movie from the 1920s made to educate the public about various aspects of the oil industry. Jonny Greenwood, whose musical compositions contributed greatly to the overall effect of Anderson's film, created a wholly new soundtrack for this nearly 100-year-old short. Another portion of the bonus disc showcases old movies, drawings, and still pictures from the time period juxtaposed with scenes from the film. This section illuminates the level of research done by the filmmakers. The collector's edition also includes the original theatrical trailer, as well as the absolutely brilliant teaser trailer. There are a smattering of deleted scenes, the longest being the "fishing sequence," wherein the audience sees Daniel Plainview and his crew attempt to recover materials lost down the well during drilling. Those who care about the remarkable craft and intelligence that went into this amazing film will find the two-disc edition as fascinating as the movie itself. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Member Movie Reviews

Cara F. (dichten) from PRT WASHINGTN, WI wrote on 11/1/2009...

Within the first fourteen and a half minutes alone one should be able to decide if they will care for this film, as those first fourteen and a half minutes are bereft of dialogue. Save for a few grunts and wails, not a single word is spoken. Why? Because this is a thinking man's movie. One must watch the beginning of this film and pick up on the not so subtle brush strokes of Theme.

Greed. The lust for money, money as power, power corrupting absolutely. From the first, foreboding screech of the violins which thrust us into "There Will Be Blood" we know to watch for the coming darkness -- and, boy, does that darkness creep.

Daniel Day-Lewis brings a masterful performance to this film. The kind of performance which seeps slowly but powerfully, growing ever stronger until that final, climactic moment. This man wields his monumental ability with a skewed grace and killing beauty. He is an actor whose breed is shockingly rare, an endangered species.

Paul Dano is remarkable as Eli Sunday, a preacher whose morals are corrupt at best, appearing black and slick as the oil Daniel is drilling. Dano does not play this role, but consumes it. He becomes Eli, to such a point where it is shocking to me that he was not even nominated for an Oscar. As the film progresses, the insanity and crookedness in Eli, and Daniel, abound and one has to ask: who is good and who is evil?

Without writing an entire synopsis of the film (and giving the entire thing away), I'll conclude with this:

This movie is a beast -- not in length, but in its unrelenting power. It is not for the lighthearted or for anyone who neither appreciates nor understands allegory. This is not a movie plopped into the DVD player to kill time, or to birth background noise for a poker game. This is not something to watch, either, but to experience.

And then when it ends, when it has left you low and bruised and in a marvelous state of awe -- play it again. That's what I did at least, and if you only need to hear one thing let it be that I loved this movie so much that I watched it twice in rapid succession.

Pat B. from HOUSTON, TX wrote on 8/30/2009...

If you have an interest in the oil industry, U.S. history, or the brilliance of Daniel Day Lewis, this is the film for you!

Vanessa V. (sevenspiders) wrote on 9/15/2008...

3 of 4 member(s) found this review helpful.

This movie will be known as one of the greats, one for the ages. Like other great films; Citizen Kane, 2001: A Space Odyssey etc, it is not for everyone. The pacing is deliberate, the characters complicated, the music bizarre, the moral of the story cloudy. But what a story.

We follow the career of Daniel Plainview- misanthrope, miser, oil-man- as he gains a fortune and loses everything that makes it worth having. Daniel Day-Lewis' performance is astounding, one of the most complete transformations in modern cinema. He perfectly captures the few moments of peace and humanity that Plainview has before rejecting human-kind as imperfect. And Paul Dano as Plainveiw's nemesis, the self-made (or self-deluded) preacher Eli, holds his own against the veteran actor. On one level, There Will Be Blood can be seen as the struggle between religion and capitalism, a clash of the titans with Plainview and Eli locked in a battle from which neither can back down. Very few films create such perfectly crafted characters with such real, moving and dramatic conflict between them. Their battle is at once epic and relatable as they continue to one-up the other in a series of betrayals and humiliations.

With such over-the-top performances, the whole movie could easily have degenerated into a camp-fest, but the restraint and calm of the cinematography and the deliberate pacing balances everything. Under the painstaking direction of Paul Thomas Anderson the film becomes a series of peaks and valleys, with periods of peace and violence as perfect as a Beethoven symphony.

But again, Beethoven isn't for everyone. And if none of the above appeals to you, by all means, please skip it. At nearly three hours it would be a painful experience to anyone who wasn't in the mood for it. I was awed by There Will Be Blood, I think its one of the greatest American films ever made. But its not the movie for a night of relaxing in front of the tv. There's a time for mindless entertainment, and a time for something more. When you want something more- then give There Will Be Blood a try.