There Will Be Blood (2-Disc Collector’s Set)

There Will Be Blood / 2008 Paramount / 158 Minutes / http://www.paramountvantage.com /

The one fact about There Will Be Blood that I had no clue about before watching the DVD is that it is loosely based on the Upton Sinclair classic, Oil!. While I am not familiar with the original book, Sinclair’s “The Jungle” is a work that everyone should familiarize themselves with. If individuals have not familiarized themselves too terribly much with There Will Be Blood, the film is set in the mid 19^th century, and features the interactions between individuals that are trying to take the most in the way of riches out of the Southern California dirt. Daniel Day Lewis is the main character of the film, playing the oilman Daniel Plainview. Paul Dano has a double role in There Will Be Blood, playing both Paul and Eli Sunday, while Ciaran Hinds (Excaliber, Rome) plays Fletcher Hamilton.

After one of eir workers dies in a work accident, Daniel takes on the individual’s child as eir own. After building up eir empire in the years that follow, Daniel sets eir eyes on an oil field in Little Boston, California. Gainign this piece of land, Plainview gets increasingly entangled in the affairs off the individuals that still live on the land under which oil is present. While Plainview ultimately wins the day, breaking down, humiliating, or killing anyone that provided a threat, ey is not a villain in the traditional sense. Rather, there is a sense of nobility around Plainview, regardless of what actions that ey takes to ensure that ey achieves the highest level of success.

There are two distinct versions of the DVD; the 2-disc Collector’s Edition is discussed here. The most interesting addition to the second disc has to be the nearly-thirty minute silent featurette that discusses the history of the real oilmen. This links up well with the section that is a slideshow, providing viewers with pictures of the places and individuals that were important during this part of American history. The deleted scenes further flesh out the film and give individuals a better telling of the story than the shorter cut does. While individuals that just want to see the film could conceivably buy the regular edition, the Collector’s Edition is a small price more and provides individuals with a hell of a bang for their buck.

Rating: 8.0/10