Release Date: 4/8/08

The Film

Based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel, Oil!, There Will Be Blood is one of those films that completely catches you off guard. Part drama and part black comedy, the film is a great American epic that depicts the cutthroat world of oil mining at the turn of the 20th century. As the title implies, there’s a level of ruthlessness that goes into it all, and Daniel Day Lewis is the perfect actor to portray a man that seems to live without morals or governor. There’s a reason why Lewis won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and dare I say it, this is one of his finest performances in one of the year’s best films.

Daniel Plainview (Lewis) is a self-proclaimed oilman, constantly on the look out for prospective California sites to drill. After the brutal death of a miner, Plainview takes his orphaned son (Dillon Freasier) with the hopes that a cute face will allow him to more easily buy up land to set up more derricks. Fueled by his own greed and motivation for ambition, the film follows Plainview as he pulls backroom deals and backstabs at any opportunity he gets along the way. As the downward spiral gets deeper and deeper, Plainview must also go up against a young preacher, Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), who has his own ideas when it comes to faith and mining.

While the film itself is definitely a practice in tasting the darker side of life (the conclusion will not win over many viewers), it’s also a testament to Paul Thomas Anderson’s great direction and Lewis’s masterful performance. As the back of the case states, this is Anderson’s epic American nightmare.

The DVD

The main menu comes with a single background and silence. Submenus are treated through. Although it’s a pretty subdued presentation, it sort of works with the content of the film.

The video is offered in 1.85:1 Widescreen Format. The picture is gorgeous with a high amount of detail, as is expected with films that came out within the last year. Not a speck of grain is visible which puts the beautiful transfer in the forefront. The fact that the film is on the first disc alone really makes things look great.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1. The dialogue is clear, and when it’s necessary, the track kicks it up a notch with the sound effects and perfect score. Overall, this is a very good sound track for a film that utilizes all channels of sound with perfect timing. Subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish.

The Extras

The double disc set comes in a cardboard digipak encased within a cardboard box. The digipak is styled after a worn Bible, with a page out of Oil! printed on the inside flap. It looks great overall.

15 Minutes features random pictures, notes from various books, and other research intertwined footage from the film against music. There is no narration and the piece runs, you guessed it, about 15-minutes.

There are 2 deleted scenes: Fishing Sequence and Haircut/Interrupted Hymn.

Dailies Gone Wild runs a little under 3-minutes and features an outtake of the restaurant scene.

The Story of Petroleum runs 26-minutes circa 1923, created by the US Bureau of Mines in order to educate the country about the mining process. The black and white silent feature is interesting from a historical standpoint.

The bonus options round out with Trailers.

Final Thoughts

There Will Be Blood – 2-Disc Collector’s Edition is a poignant film that definitely deserves your attention. The 2-Disc edition probably isn’t worth the extra money considering the bonus options aren’t all that great, but the beautiful packaging might justify it. Either version is most certainly worthy of your time as Lewis puts on one Hell of a show.

- Morris Tang