Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier, Kevin J. O’Connor, Ciaran Hinds
Written By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Studio: Paramount
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There are 2 types of people in this world. One type will love There Will Be Blood and the other type will hate it. I’m the type of person that loves the movie and I have seen it twice already. I had to go out and see the movie before it opened wide in theaters and I was just amazed how well the film was shot. But more importantly, I was simply amazed at Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance as the oil tycoon Daniel Plainview. If there is one movie to watch simply for a performance, it’s Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood!

The film is inspired or loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel “Oil!” There Will Be Blood starts out in the late 1800’s, as you see Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) looking for oil. You don’t hear anyone talk in the opening 15 minutes, as you just watch his operation grow from 1 person to a group of men as they discover oil. Daniel Plainview becomes quite rich and a cutthroat businessman and does whatever it takes to stay extremely wealthy. He’s a misanthrope and in the end, just wants to make enough money so he can be left alone. He gets a tip to drill oil in a small religious town called Little Boston in California. There, Plainview meets his match, and encounters Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). Eli is a creepy evangelical minister who wants Daniel to fund money for his new church and to be a wart on Daniel’s ass. There’s an ongoing rivalry between the two and the film shows what men will do to one-up each other. It also shows what wealth and power will do to a man.

I believe this is Daniel Day-Lewis’ best performance and a lot of others agree since he won so many awards, including the Academy Award. As soon as I saw him on the screen, I was in awe of his performance. Daniel Day-Lewis needs to act more because every time he does, he’s just magnificent. There are only a few actors that can play such a villainous character, yet you still end up rooting for him and laughing along side him. DDL is one of them. At least that’s how I felt. Maybe I’m just as evil as he is? I was cheering for him in the movie theaters at the end, and just loved the way the movie ended. Paul Dano deserves a lot of credit as well because his performance was just as good. I just wanted his character to get hit by a steam locomotive as soon as I heard him talk. He’s just so damn creepy in the film!

After seeing There Will Be Blood for a second time, the film is just as good. Sure it’s a long one, but I don’t really notice it that much. I’ve watched shorter movies that felt longer so that’s got that going for it. I still think Jonny Greenwood’s eccentric music score is really great, despite it being out of place in a few scenes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t but overall I loved his score. I also love the Brahms’ Violin Concerto piece at the end of the movie as well.

One thing I noticed was a scene in the beginning, which I didn’t notice the first time. It was the scene when Paul is talking with Daniel about his family that lives on the farm. The first time seeing the movie; I never picked up that he mentions his brother Eli, and I was surprised at the end of the movie. Because Daniel mentions Paul to Eli at the end, and I thought that was some sort of twist. They are played by the same actor so I got really confused and thought that it was some sort of twist. I thought Eli just went under a different name and was playing dumb when he met Daniel for the first time at the ranch. But seeing it a second time, it makes things a lot clearer now…I think. But who knows, maybe Paul Thomas Anderson added that back into the DVD?

I’m kind of disappointed in the bonus features. I was hoping for some type of “making of” featurette since this is a 2-disc special collector’s edition DVD. I wanted to see interviews with Paul Thomas Anderson, Paul Dano and Daniel Day-Lewis. I would have loved to have seen how the film was made. Instead we get a featurette with images from the old west and from the movie, with Greenwood’s score being played over the top of it. You can tell how much old photographs were a resource in the filmmaking process. We also get to see some deleted scenes and other things like that. But in the end, the extras aren’t that great. The deleted scenes were good but I can see why it was cut. I’m assuming it was cut for pacing & time. Perhaps there will be another DVD edition coming out in the future?

I honestly think this movie should have won the “Best Picture” Oscar this year because I think No Country For Old Men wasn’t the “best.” I’m just glad Daniel Day-Lewis received the Oscar for “Best Actor.” I’m not sure if everyone will like this movie. It’s a long film, slow at times, and the characters aren’t the nicest of people. I happen to love this movie and think it will hold up over the years as Daniel Day-Lewis’ best movie role.

Features:
– 15 Minutes: Pics, Research, Etc. for the Making of There Will Be Blood
– Trailers
– “Fishing” Sequence
– Haircut / Interrupted Hymn
– Dailies Gone Wild
– The Story Of Petroleum (ca. 1923)
B/W Silent film chronicling the oil business in the 1920s.

Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC

Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)

Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French

Favorite Scenes: Daniel getting Baptized, The Oil Rig on Fire, The Ending
Rating: R
Running Time: 158 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: