There Will Be Blood (DVD)

Advantages: Fantastic performances, characters, soundtrack, photography...
Disadvantages: Story meanders a lot; at 158 minutes long, it will bore many

...is what, for me, makes There Will Be Blood so great. Whilst the finale is certainly unexpected, not entirely convincing and defies most of the rules of modern cinema, I loved it. As the grotesque Plainview bellowed "I'm finished!", everyone in the audience simultaneously held their breath in a shocked silence. There Will Be Blood is one of the most ambitious, beautiful and unpredictable films of the new millennium. It's also incredibly divisive. ...
...is generally the case) or you will find it hammy. The shrieking, atonal score will haunt or annoy you. As for the ending, well, it either will blow your mind and go down as one of the best climaxes in the history of cinema, or leave you shaking your head in disbelief that the director could do something so ridiculous after the excellent preceding two hours of the film. Either way, you have to admire Anderson's audacity. ... Read review

Advantages: Powerful performance by Day-Lewis.
Disadvantages: Morbidly depressing.

...Daniel receives a tip that there is a parcel of land in Little Boston, California that contains, literally, an ocean of oil. When Daniel approaches the family who own the land, after having snooped around and confirmed the presence of oil, he offers to purchase the land from them, telling them that his son's health is poor and that country life would be more suitable for him. The owner's eldest son, Eli, who is a religious fanatic and self-proclaimed ...
...and intervenes, demanding a much higher price than the one Daniel is offering. Giving in to Eli's demands, Daniel is forced to endure the young man's religious fanaticism, and as he struggles to uphold his image as a decent and compassionate man, tragedy strikes and his 'son' becomes deaf after a mining accident. Forced to take care of his 'son' - as a good father would and as the population expect him to - the strain becomes unbearable when his ... Read review

Advantages: Great Performances, Well Paced, Well Directed
Disadvantages: None

...contender was Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, a film that quite rightly recognized the work of its lead actor Daniel Day Lewis with the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film is set in the late 1800's where a silver miner Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) turns his hand to drilling for oil on the barren landscapes of America. When a worker dies on one o his sites, he takes the man's orphaned son as his own, using him as a foil to elicit trust. ...
...many conflicts. For me There Will Be Blood is about the greed and lust for power that one man has and what it makes him become. In an industry associated with greed, this is the depiction of how it all began with a few men being aggressive in their dealings to get more power over their competitors. Once again Paul Thomas Anderson shows that as a filmmaker he is not one to be pigeon holed, casting an eye on cinematic vision whilst also having a ... Read review

Advantages: Astounding cinematography, grpping plot, mesmerising lead performance.
Disadvantages: That ending might throw some viewers a touch.

...about it). With There Will Be Blood, though, Anderson has crafted a film that truly feels like it could have been made by nobody else. It is a bold, idiosyncratic epic shot through with a lo-fi, indie-flick intimacy. It is at once cacophonous and quiet. A contradictory, Old Testament fable bristling with moral ambiguity and pitch-black humour. Deserving of every superlative thrown his direction, Daniel Day Lewis' plays Daniel Plainview, a relentless, ...
...and a half hours long, There Will Be Blood leaves one pleading for more. From its opening, dialogue-free twenty minutes of pit-delving and leg-breaking to its devastating, ambiguous conclusion, it is an absolute joy. A heavy, oft-times uncomfortable joy, perhaps, but a joy nonetheless. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame composes a striking, skewed musical score which slathers even the most seemingly routine of sequences with an almost unbearable sense ... Read review

Advantages: An immediate classic
Disadvantages: As it never doubts its viewers' intelligence it's not for everyone

...create an illusion of humanity. There is a desire for love and family, but it is all drowned in oil. Plainview, and the film itself, are misanthropic to the core. PT Anderson's films have been marked by invention, not least in terms of sound and music and 'There will be Blood' continues that trend. Jonny Greenwood's work is startlingly effective, perhaps most notably in the film's dialogue free opening scenes. There is something in the sound of ...
...out of the tradition of cinema, in fact it practically jolts you out of your seat. Everything about the experience of watching this film feels revelatory; it is visceral, powerful and executed in such unexpected ways. It is a beautifully shot epic where underneath bleached landscapes black liquid flows like blood, and above, noxious smoke and fire chase across cloudless skies. This is a true American masterpiece and its ingenious pacing means, at ... Read review

Advantages: touching, funny tale
Disadvantages: Some of the story is a bit unbelievable

...and is hilarious!!!! I'd definatly buy it on dvd and it isnt even that expensive if you look in the right places. Actors - Paul Dano (Dwayne) :There will be blood Toni Colette (Sheryl): In her shoes, Dirty Deeds The actors play great parts. i found Dwayne especially interestin as he had to be silent but show emotion through his expressions. About - The movie took 5 years to make due to lack of funds and it has won 2 oscars Music - Chicago No man's land... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: cheap, plenty of action, it's MMA
Disadvantages: poor sound and picture, no extras, quality of fights

...or strangle hold. Chokes are when you apply pressure around the neck and cut the blood flow to the brain, if you do not tapout you will fall unconscious. Strangles just cut the oxygen getting to lungs and will do the same thing. Many holds need a lot of skill to use and even more to avoid and escape. One of the most effective chokes is the triangle choke; this involves locking your legs around the opponent's neck with one of their arms through. It's very effective and used to devastating effect in one fight in particular. ***Conclusion*** I will warn you that these fights are quite violent and there will be some blood spilt. This is not WWF it is the real deal. I would recommend this DVD to anyone remotely interested in getting to know more about this type of combat or just wanting to see what it's like purely because of the price. Picture... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful