National Geographic - Diamonds of War: Africa's Blood Diamonds

List Price: ~~$19.98~~
Our Price: $12.49
You Save: $7.49 (37%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $3.98 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details

Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada

DVD details

Actor: Blood Diamond, National Geographic
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 56 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-20
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Nat'l Geographic Vid

DVD Reviews of National Geographic - Diamonds of War: Africa's Blood Diamonds

DVD Review: Better than I expected.
Summary: 4 Stars

This was a pretty interesting DVD. Basically a national geographic journalist follows the path of the illegal diamond exporting industry. It is really very interesting. The shaky camera was my biggest gripe with it the film.
I thought the film was interesting, entertaining, and informative, so I would give it a pretty solid rating overall.

DVD Review: A(nother) Tragedy in Africa
Summary: 3 Stars

Let me admit that I have not seen DiCaprio's film "Blood Diamond." Like many documentaries produced after films, I think this one was intended for people who want to learn more facts after seeing a fictional portrayal.

The point of this work is to show that even if the diamond industry wants to ban illegal "blood" diamonds, it would be difficult to do. Like Latin American farmers who say they wouldn't grow you-know-what if they could make a livable wage off of legal plants, this work shows West Africans mining for diamonds because they are given no other alternatives. Seeing lush African land all dug up and made brown due to diamond searching reminded me of the problem of destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. The work shows that African countries get little money for their huge diamonds and that few in the industry pay taxes on their profits.

In the same way that the 1980s film "Cry Freedom" problematically centered upon Kevin Kline's character rather than Steven Biko, this work seems to focus on a journalist born in Kenya, but clearly not of African ancestry. The audience is intended to walk in his shoes and the format may be more viewer-friendly, still I wonder if it problematically decentered Africans. I wonder how this would be different if Cornel West, Ellis Cose, or even Iman had narrated the work.

In a late 1980s song "Mountains," Prince sang, "Africa divided/Conflict in the air/It's enough to make you want to lose your mind!" This was very disturbing for me to watch as an African American. The continent doesn't just have AIDS, malaria, and genocide to deal with, but this diamond mess too! I offer much love and sympathy to the Motherland and I imagine that other people of African descent will feel the same way after seeing this.

One African interviewee said, "Without love, a diamond is just a pebble." He meant that the object is still important and that he would like people to continue to buy diamonds from poor West Africans. However, this documentary put a bad taste in my mouth. I don't have the money for diamonds, but I wouldn't want to buy one if that means a little African child will get her or his arm chopped off or if an African man will die trying to find that "pebble." I'd rather give stock to a loved one if this is happening with diamonds. I'm not sure if I will even enjoy the Herb Alpert song featuring Janet Jackson called "Diamonds" anymore.

Description of National Geographic - Diamonds of War: Africa's Blood Diamonds

Long a symbol of love, affection and faithfulness, the diamond is now increasingly linked with war, blood and brutality. In the diamond-rich West African nation of Sierra Leone, rebels used the precious gems to bankroll a violent ten-year insurrection, leaving a terrorized population and a ravaged landscape in its wake. National Geographic correspondents follow the trail of illicit diamonds from their origin in the muddy pits of impoverished Sierra Leone, to the pristine cobblestone streets of Antwerp, Belgium, to their final stop in the glittering display cases of New York's finest jewelry stores.

General DVDs

DVD Video

Bestsellers in General DVDs

Man on Wire
Release date: 2008-12-09; DVD
Best price: $13.37
Price in other shops: ~~$26.98~~

Blue Planet: Seas of Life (Special Edition)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $17.59
Price in other shops: ~~$59.98~~

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Release date: 2008-10-21; DVD
Best price: $8.44
Price in other shops: ~~$26.99~~

Planet Earth & The Blue Planet Seas of Life (Special Collector's Edition)
Planet; Release date: 2007-10-02; DVD
Best price: $52.97
Price in other shops: ~~$119.98~~

The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-12-05; DVD
Best price: $13.60
Price in other shops: ~~$19.95~~

A Haunting in Connecticut
Release date: 2008-09-30; DVD
Best price: $3.53
Price in other shops: ~~$6.99~~

Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection
Image Entertainment; Release date: 2001-08-14; DVD
Best price: $25.20
Price in other shops: ~~$39.95~~

Religulous
Lions Gate; Release date: 2009-02-17; DVD
Best price: $10.20
Price in other shops: ~~$29.95~~

The BBC Natural History Collection featuring Planet Earth (Planet Earth/ The Blue Planet: Seas of Life Special Edition/ Life of Mammals/ Life of Birds)
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2008-04-01; DVD
Best price: $85.99
Price in other shops: ~~$199.92~~

Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-04-24; DVD
Best price: $19.49
Price in other shops: ~~$79.98~~

Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs

The Heartless Stone: A Journey Through the World of Diamonds, Deceit, and Desire
by Tom Zoellner
Picador; Published: 2007-06-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops: ~~$15.00~~

Frontline: Ghosts of Rwanda
Paramount; Release date: 2005-05-10; DVD
Best price: $13.58
Price in other shops: ~~$24.99~~

The Devil Came On Horseback
New Video; Release date: 2007-10-30; DVD
Best price: $13.71
Price in other shops: ~~$26.95~~

Glitter & Greed: The Secret World of the Diamond Cartel
by Janine Roberts
The Disinformation Company; Published: 2007-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.98
Price in other shops: ~~$15.95~~

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
by Ishmael Beah
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-08-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.26
Price in other shops: ~~$12.00~~

National Geographic - Africa
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2001-09-11; DVD
Best price: $28.04
Price in other shops: ~~$52.98~~

National Geographic - Inside North Korea
Warner Brothers; Release date: 2007-03-20; DVD
Best price: $13.44
Price in other shops: ~~$19.98~~

Blood Diamonds: Tracing The Deadly Path Of The World's Most Precious Stones
by Greg Campbell
Basic Books; Published: 2004-02-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.80
Price in other shops: ~~$15.95~~