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'There Will Be Blood (2 disc Special Edition) [2007]' starring Daniel Day-Lewis and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. (StaEAN 8717418164577)

If there's a screen performance in 2008 that comes anywhere near to matching Daniel Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning turn in There Will Be Blood, then we've come nowhere near to seeing it. A tour-de-force of acting and a career high for Day-Lewis, it's the highlight of an extraordinary, really quite daring piece of cinema.

That said, we've come to expect nothing less from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, the man who previously brought us Boogie Nights, Magnolia and Punch Drunk Love. However, he's really topped himself in terms of ambition with There Will Be Blood, an adaptation of Upton Sinclair's book, Oil! It follows Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) who, when we first meet him in the film's silent opening is attempting to mine silver, before he discovers oil and slowly builds up an empire off the back of it. There Will Be Blood then follows his rise to power, given the vast riches that his oil brings him, concurrently exploring his relationship with his son. It proves to be a long, complex, stunning piece of work.

There's little room in There Will Be Blood for much more than the sheer power of Day-Lewis' performance, but credit Paul Dano (last seen saying an awful lot less in Little Miss Sunshine) for attempting to go toe-to-toe with the leading man. He's a foil of sorts for Plainview, playing a man as troubled and torn as Day-Lewis' character, and it's a career high to date for the young actor. The film, too, is a match for anything Paul Thomas Anderson has done to date, and that's some achievement.

With no easy resolution, and a degree of complexity in its characters that we all-too-rarely see from modern American films, There Will Be Blood is a challenging, at times breathtaking piece of cinema. It won't be to all tastes, and it adamantly refuses to give easy answers, but it's as daring as anything you’ll see on screen all year. And Day-Lewis' performance ranks next to any of the all-time greats that you'd care to mention. --Simon Brew

I noted the 28 5 star reviews for this film and so looked forward to its arrival from Amazon...what a complete load of rubbish - music drove me nuts and I spent 2 hours waiting for something to happen which might bring the whole thing together - give the film some meaning...nope...it never happened!
I just did not get this film and frankly wonder if those that have given it a rave review were watching something else?
Dont bother with this is my advice but if you still want to see it, I have a very cheap one for sale!!

The potential for this film to be a classic was ruined in the last 30 minutes. The storey looses direction and concentrates to much on Daniels madness (for which you never actually get to understand the reason). I think Daniel Day Lewis tried to hard to make this an 'epic' acting performance.

This film suffers from the fact that it progresses at snail's pace, and not a lot happens. Daniel Day-lewis is the highlight of the film dominating every scene he is in but it feels like he is treading the same ground as that of his role in 'Gangs of New York' as Bill The Butcher.
There will be Blood would've have been a cracking film if the flow of the plot had been faster and more dynamic. On a high note the dialogue between Plainview and Sunday at the climax was very good with excellent performances from both actors.

Although I enjoyed this film I'd have to say that an awful lot is sacrificed to DDL's acting.The fact that what everyone talks about is his performance says it all really.He is fantastic, but that's largely due to the fact that nobody else seems to get a word in edgeways.Paul Dano does his best, but like every other character he pops in and out of the film without any great rhyme or reason.There are a few faults,like other reviewers, I was confused for a long time by Dano playing identical twin brothers and there are other elements of the film that are confusing.Dano's congregation grows without the town ever seeming to, and the religous elements are only introduced in short, sharp bursts. But none of this really matters because the film is really about DDL's portrayal of a monster so driven that he even sacrifices his son to his ambition. He ends the film evil and alone and,as he says himself, finished.A fitting ending, but nevertheless very abrupt, and like other sections of the film, with the feeling that something had been heavily cut.

I felt that DDL's performance, particularly the voice, was heavily modelled on John Huston, especially Huston's performance of the evil father in Chinatown. Perhaps because of that I began to note similarities between Dano's character and that of Brad Dourif's in Huston's film Wiseblood, about a deranged young man who creates his own church.

The set pieces are fantastic, as is the cinematography and the soundtrack, which is pitch perfect and almost a character in its own right.However, far too much is only sketched in; characters, plot, motivation, location, for this to be a truly great film. Nevertheless it still stands a head and shoulders above most other films released in the last year and Anderson, like the Coen Bros.,has again shown himself to be a film maker with a great deal of style and ability and with something worth saying

I really enjoyed reading the one star reviews of this film-they are entitled to their (strangely) similar opinions of course. Make up your own mind I say. I thought it was brilliant, and the music even greater.
there you go