Real Review - There Will be Blood Blu Ray

Based on Upton Sinclair’s novel, Oil!, There Will Be Blood traces the rising fortunes of Daniel Plainview in the early days of the American oil industry. Soft-spoken and a plain-talker, Daniel develops from an oil prospector digging and blasting his own oil wells to the hands-on Boss that oversees the building of a hundred-mile pipeline that pumped oil from the nether-reaches of California to the Pacific Ocean.

I found the film and editing somewhat laconic in its pacing. This deliberate, easy pace favors slow character development that continually reveals Daniel’s true nature as a devious and greedy individual who will stop at nothing to get his way. Daniel Day-Lewis plays Daniel, and his performance is so convincing that he was awarded the Best Actor Oscar. It is my opinion that he is on the short-list of best actors working in the business today.

There are several compelling themes running through the film. Religion, greed, and family are the most obvious, but clearly the narrative pits Daniel against the local upstart preacher, Eli Sunday, played by Paul Dano. Both men are shown to be shysters and con-men. Daniel resents Eli because Eli doesn’t have to work hard for his money. Consequently, Eli resents Daniel because he makes so much money and Eli is as greedy as Daniel. The interplay between Daniel and Eli adds a good bit of tension to the plot and, true to the film’s title, “there will be blood.” And there is.

Robert Elswit won an Academy Award for his excellent cinematography, and it is spectacular. Beautiful arid landscapes and a variety of camera angles keeps the slow moving narrative interesting. There Will Be Blood was nominated for several other Academy Awards including Best Picture, but the unusually modern soundtrack should have also garnered a nomination.

I watched There Will Be Blood on Blu-ray disc and found the PQ to be accurate, clean, and highly detailed. The color palette leans to the warm side with lots of whites and pale-yellows; nevertheless, the images are satisfactory. I listened to the DTS-HD MA lossless audio track and it was quite good, though my surrounds only added the occasional ambient effect and my subwoofer was mostly reduced to a secondary, supporting role. Even during the few explosions in the movie, I never felt any great bass response in the sound design. The disc also includes a documentary and a few short featurettes.

Rating: 8

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