Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]

Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]

Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]

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DVD details

Actor: Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly, Leonard DiCaprio
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Afrikaans (Original Language); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 143 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video

DVD Reviews of Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]

DVD Review: A Flood Of Blood For A Piece Of Diamond
Summary: 4 Stars

'Blood Diamond' is a very Hollywood film but at the same time it stays very true to the facts. Zwick does not overload the viewer with its 'Hollywoodness'. There are bombs exploding and lots of shooting and killing but it's not overdone like in other flicks. The enigmatic African landscape is stunningly captured (even though it wasn't specifically filmed in Sierra Leone) and the score is both mesmerizing and haunting. The cinematography is superb as it gives the film a slick feel and also gives the landscape a role of its own.

Though the story is somewhat predictable it does not effect the film in a negative way. Zwick refrains from using clich?s like putting a sex scene (which would have only deviated from the main plot line) or a conventional happy ending. The slick execution makes 'Blood Diamond' entertaining, gripping and moving. It moves at a steady pace. Rosenblum's editing is good and Leavitt's screenplay is solid and engaging. The characters are well written and the insanity of the blood thirsty rebels is well depicted in a few scenes and the sequence where they brainwash the children turning them into immediate murderers, is chilling. While many seem to disagree, I thought the problem of conflict diamond is effectively presented in this movie.

I never thought Leonardo Dicaprio would ever reach the heights he did with his acting in 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' (which I considered his best work). He's been good in many films (like 'Catch Me If You Can') and bad in some (like 'Titanic', 'The Man In The Iron Mask' but I can say that his performance in both 'Gilbert Grape' and 'Blood Diamond' are his career best (though I have yet to see 'The Aviator'). In my opinion, they surpass the overrated 'The Departed'. I've always liked Djimon Hounsou's acting (especially in films like 'Amistad' and 'In America') and here he does not disappoint one bit. The actor skillfully underplays his part and is only explosive when required. The scenes between him and Dicaprio are a treat to watch. Then there's the radiant Jennifer Connelly, another actor who's performances never let down. She has a comparatively smaller role but makes the best of it. All three actors form an interesting and entertaining trio. The supporting cast do well.

While the 'Hollywoodness' gives it an entertaining quality, I think it takes away some of the rawness and that slightly hinders the film from being more hard-hitting (like 'Hotel Rwanda'). But it is pretty much an either - or situation and I still think the issues are presented well enough to balance the effectiveness of the real problem and entertainment.

Overall, Zwick's 'Blood Diamond' is an excellent gripping drama thriller that showcases the talents of actors Hounsou and Dicaprio, writer Leavitt, music director Newton Howard and director of photography Serra.

DVD Review: All Too Real
Summary: 4 Stars

While this film was criticized for being overly-melodramatic, it remains an accurate portrait of the many issues surrounding the diamond trade in Africa. The Kimberley Process may have sharply reduced the number of illicit stones reaching some markets, but people like the rebels, smugglers, and traders pictured in this movie have no trouble whatsoever turning their ill-gotten stones into cash even today. The blood diamond trade flourishes in not only Sierra Leone but in Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo as well--and operates much like the Revolutionary United Front ran it's diamond mine in the film.

Leonardo DiCaprio's fine performance and Djimon Hounsou's breakthrough role as the fisherman forced into slavery in the mine make the film worth seeing even without the message-laden plot. Kagiso Kuypers also did a great turn on the screen as Hounsou's son, Dia, who is kidnapped by the RUF at the beginning of the film. That particular subplot could have made a fine movie on its own.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

DVD Review: Movie: 4.75/5 Picture Quality: 2.75~4.25/5 Sound Quality: 4.75/5 Extras: 3.75/5
Summary: 4 Stars

Version: U.S.A / Region Free
VC-1 BD-50
Running time: 2:23:21
Movie size: 22,44 GB
Disc size: 30,56 GB
Average Video Bit Rate: 12.71 Mbps
LPCM 5.1 4608Kbps 16-bit English
DD AC3 5.1 640Kbps English / French-Quebec / Spanish

Subtitles: English SDH / English / French / Spanish

* Audio Commentary
* Documentary
* Featurettes
* Music Video
* Theatrical Trailer
* Video Diary Vignettes

DVD Review: American, who loves this movie
Summary: 5 Stars

Others have stated it, great movie. Is there some America bashing, maybe a little. But what all these people reviewing harp on is a scene in a bar with Danny and Maddy first meeting. She kind of attacks him for his role in this and he comes back at her with an analogy of how they are in the same business, only she is American so he tells it in relation to her nationality. Thats pretty much it and that when they first meet a TV is on with the whole Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky fiasco going on.

Now, is that America bashing? Its all in context to what is going on in the story. Especially the Clinton part. Thats pretty much there to show 2 things:

1) When this whole RUF, Sierra Leon conflict was going on. Most people know little about it, let alone when it happened. This just puts in our minds when this is going on and most people remember roughly where they were in there lives at that time.
2) It also is there to show the viewers at how certain things get more attention than others. The line was something like this "The world is falling apart and all people care about is BJ's" Now that was coming from an American journalist in Africa reporting on Blood Diamonds, who knows more of what is going on in the world than most people. And she wasn't watching this in America, they were watching this in West Africa, so its not like we Americans were the only ones to focus on that.

That all goes down in about 2 minutes, so I am not sure why everyone takes offense to it. As for the stats they give I don't know if they are accurate, there are diamonds and then there are industrial diamonds, I think they are referring to consumer diamonds. And if you want to more on this do a little research on the subject. You will find it was pretty ugly, the diamond business in general is pretty ugly, and in fact diamonds are really not all that rare. Do some research on DeBeers and see what you find. I watched a documentary on this conflict before seeing this movie, and I thought it was pretty true to the conflict.

Just my thoughts.

DVD Review: Wore Out My Recliner
Summary: 5 Stars

No doubt diamonds have been smuggled out of Africa at a deadly cost. No doubt many African nations have been torn asunder by civil war. No doubt there have been horrendous atrocities. And no doubt preteen boys have been literally snatched from the arms of their parents and turned into ruthless killers. But when a movie, BLOOD DIAMOND, depicts all of the above in such a brutal, graphic nature, the question is begged: Is it really that bad over there. . .or, perhaps, has there been a little embellishment?

But I digress. Whether the quest for a 'Mother Lode' diamond in war-torn Sierra Leone is slightly exaggerated in terms of its gratuitous, mind-numbing violence, the fact remains this movie is pause-everything-else-in-your-life riveting. When a filmmaker has completely and unequivocally drawn in his viewer--makes the viewer forget about everything else other than what he/she is watching on the screen--then cinema magic has been captured in a can. So kudos to the always-innovative Edward Zwick: His astonishing, gasping scenes had me flinching and weaving and jumping so much the springs in my recliner are creaking. By the time the credits were rolling I felt mentally and physically drained--and grandly entertained.

As the lead (a former mercenary turned diamond smuggler with a heart of gold), Leonardo DiCaprio continues to surprise. For the longest time he was an annoying scarecrow; now he's morphing into an accomplished thespian right before our eyes. I really enjoyed his Rhodesian accent (or whatever they're calling Rhodesia these days). And has Djimon Hounsou ever been lousy in a movie? Absolutely not, and his portrayal of a fisherman trying to find and salvage his family is certainly no exception. Jennifer Connelly looks good--even after a couple of nights in the jungle. The on-screen tension between herself and Leo is fun to watch. In fact, BLOOD DIAMOND, even if all the chaos and blood lust is a tad over the top, is fun to watch. And if not fun, riveting works just fine. Five 14-karat gold stars.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

Description of Blood Diamond [Blu-ray]

Warner Brothers Blood Diamond (Blu-ray)
An ex-mercenary turnedsmuggler (Leonard DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshedacross the alternately beautiful and ravaged countryside. Directed by Edward Zwick ("Glory," "The Last Samurai"), this urgent, intensely moving adventure shapes gripping human stories and heart-pounding action into a modern epic of profound impact.

Leonardo DiCaprio puts a handsome face on an ugly industry: In parts of Africa, diamond mining fuels civil warfare, killing thousands of innocents and drafting preteen children as vicious soldiers. DiCaprio (The Departed) plays Danny Archer, a white African soldier-turned-diamond-smuggler who gets wind of a large raw jewel found by Solomon Vandy, a native fisherman (Djimon Hounsou, In America) recently escaped from enslavement by a brutal rebel leader. Archer offers a deal: He'll help Vandy find his war-scattered family if Vandy will share the diamond with him. Drawn into this web of exploitation is journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly, Little Children), who agrees to help if Archer will tell her the details of how conflict diamonds make their way into the hands of the corporations who sell them to the Western world. DiCaprio is compelling because he never flinches from Archer's utter ruthlessness; Archer ends up doing the morally justifiable thing, but only because his desperate greed has led him to it. Hounsou and Connelly, though saddled with all the moral and political speeches, rise above the cant and keep the movie's treacherously formulaic plot rooted in human characters. But in the end, the story won't stick with you as much as the dead stillness in the child soldiers' eyes; the horror of African civil strife refuses to be contained by Blood Diamond's uplifting message--and the movie is all the more potent as a result. --Bret Fetzer

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