Cheap Cds - There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007]

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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: Performance, Great. Film, Less Satisfactory.
Comment: First of all I must state that I found this a very watchable film, which is to say, that it held my
attention from start to finish and for a long film(Two and a half hours)with little in the way of
what a modern audience would call action that is no mean feat. However the main, if not sole, reason
for this is the central performance of Daniel Day-lewis in the role of Daniel Plainview, it is
impossible to take your eyes off him when he is on-screen, and he is on screen most of the time. />
The films 'production values' cannot be faulted and it certainly made me feel the grit and
grime of the times. Cinematography and support acting are exemplary but I found the music quite
distracting, often suggesting a mood or tone that didn't tie in with events on screen.
/>Ultimately the film is let down, a little, by not really delivering much in the way of story or
insight into the human condition. To supply one or the other is perfectly allowable but to fail on
both counts is not so pleasing. Its all very well saying that the character's motivations are blank
and unknowable, if this was a depiction of real historical events and people it would make more
sense, but here it rings a little false. The film takes place over a long period of time but with
the exception of the long central stretch this makes it feel episodic and fractured some of the
early scenes seem a little superfluous, while the latter part of the film cries out for more. />
Ultimately I think this is a 'must watch' but probably only once and possibly only for
Daniel Day-Lewis's mesmerising performance, but since it is unlikely viewed more than once then it
is not, maybe, a must buy.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Dislikable Characters
Comment: Unfortunately, this movie falls into a category in which literally no character is one you can
identify with or like. The central character Daniel Plainview (Day Lewis) an old fashioned 'oil
man' is a thoroughly dislikable and evil individual who revels in others failure and distress, he
seems bent on destroying everything which it is in his power to destroy, he has no redeeming
features, the film goes downhill all the way from an interesting start through disgusting to plain
revolting, there is virtually no light relief it is one nasty scene after another.

The
best thing about the film is DDL's performance which is wonderful and the reason for three as
opposed to one star, if the portrayal of an utterly evil and insane individual can be wonderful. In
line with some other other recent overhyped Hollywood movies (eg No Country For Old Men and Seraphim
Falls) the inconsequential and seemingly irrelevant end comes as the only light relief this film has
to offer.

Customer Rating:

Summary: There Will Be Blood
Comment: This is the most boring film I have ever seen.

It drones on and on religiously - excuse
the pun!

The acting from DD Lewis is excellent but the script is appalling.
/>

Sheila Box

Customer Rating:

Summary: Oil on the brain
Comment: This visceral, poignant, haunting behemoth of a movie takes no prisoners. It is simultaneously an
unrelenting portrait of an evil man and the documenting of a period of history in which the world
changed forever.

Drilling for oil is an inherently violent business. Man build's giant
machines to invade the earth and draw out the fossilized remains of organisms that existed millennia
ago. The violence of their resurrection is matched by the fearful depths the prospectors will sink
to within themselves to reach the black gold. The dark, seemingly limitless wealth in the belly of
the earth is like the limitless evil we can draw on should we be so motivated.

Our
antihero, Plainview, is tormented and evil yet presents himself as an honest family man, an `oil
man'. This draws an unbroken connection between the dark insanity of the early days of oil and the
republican oil men today who also are steeped in blood whilst professing Christian family values.
More than this, that these wild, violent times are the immediate foundation of our culture throws
our `civilization' into sharp relief.

Finding this cheap almost limitless
source of energy under our feet propelled humanity on an expansive projection that would subjugate
much of the living world. We have changed our planet using oil powered technologies. If we ever
needed reminding that this happened without a master plan this film is it. It is in a frenzied state
that we have transformed our society into raging fire, fuelled by fossil fuel that is consuming the
rest of the biosphere.

Emerging from the misery of oil exploration, with the greed and
avarice, danger and death, presented with the back drop of a changing planet, with oil wars raging,
we have this starkly beautiful film. This honest work of art allows us to see not just our own story
but the interior workings of the mind of the species that sits atop the apex of life on this planet.
At worst, we are stupid, bald monkeys on a collision course with extinction. But there is beauty on
the road to oblivion; the dark horror the film describes is juxtaposed with the creative genius of
the making of the film. It is humanities creative abilities that make existence worthwhile. Maybe
there is hope.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A film of two layers.
Comment: It's worth 2.5 stars... but you can't give half stars, so 2-stars it is.

Let's cut to
the chase - the acting is superb - all players taking their parts brilliantly - deftly
counter-pointing each other - it's like jazz 'man' (niiice!) - and brilliantly achieved by all. />
The realisation onto film is sumptuously done - visually stunning, sometimes
straightforwardly beautiful, with lots of sweeping time allowing for each section to play at its own
natural pace - the dialog seems to feel very real for this reason alone.

The music was,
for me, a little intrusive at times and grated a tad - even if in keeping with the tone of the film,
and there's some nice use of sound manipulation (and silence) when taking HW's point of view. />
But... oh golly gee gosh... it's a fundamentally such a dull and uninvolving story, and as
noted by others nothing really 'happens' per se. Although the story covers a fair span of time I
never felt that the characters evolved, or a 'proper story' got told, and the central character
remains largely unexplained/unresolved and one for whom (I hope!) we feel little empathy, albeit
some sympathy.

That said, by the time 'our hero' shouts 'I'm finished' I have to
confess, I knew exactly how he felt. Perhaps they should have filmed the back-story given to Daniel
Day Lewis instead.

Moral of the story - if you're a ruthless uncaring individual who
suppresses what little you do feel, and pushes away those who feel for you, don't be surprised if
you're not very popular or happy. Duh.

Other moral of the story - watch Citzen Kane
instead, and save an hour of your life - for there's washing to be done Maude, and the yung-uns need
a changin!!!

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