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 Blood Diamond 

What grade would you give this film?
A 56%  56%  [ 22 ]
B 38%  38%  [ 15 ]
C 3%  3%  [ 1 ]
D 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
F 3%  3%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 39

 Blood Diamond 
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Blood Diamond is a 2006 drama film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world.

Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1996-1999, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections.

The film's ending, in which a conference is held concerning blood diamonds, is in reference to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley, South Africa in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which seeks to certify the origin of diamonds in order to curb the trade in conflict diamonds. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Actor (DiCaprio) and Best Supporting Actor (Hounsou).


Last edited by Nebs on Wed Dec 20, 2006 1:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.



Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:42 am
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I really liked it. Beautiful visually and quite powerful emotionally. All the leads give amazing performances, but I was really blown away by DiCaprio's.


Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:08 pm
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I really liked it. A few flaws (slow beginning) but overall lots of great performances. Really surprising.

B+


Sun Dec 03, 2006 1:22 am
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Yeah, the film was fantastic. Both emotionally powerful and action-packed. The acting is also really good across the board with Connelly, DiCaprio, and Honsou all giving great performances.

Grade - A


Sun Dec 03, 2006 2:28 am
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The thing I liked so much about Blood Diamond is that it's a call to arms against the dimaond industry, veiled in a huge, sweeping (in scope it's the Lord of the Rings of Africa) blockbuster that will draw far more viewers then most of these message movies ever would. Quality aside, that's what makes it so much more effective then Fast Food Nation: Linklater had to know that his film wasn't going to be seen by anyone who wasn't already aware of fast food being evil. Blood Diamond on the other hand will net in a much wider audience, therefore passing off it's message to many who are unaware of the situation.

Seeing The Departed immediately afterwards, it was intereting to compare Leonardo DiCaprio's performance. I can understand why WB was considering running him for Best Actor in this instead of The Departed - it's a much flashier, showier role, and he really does nail it, one scene involving a speech about baboons aside. There's less subtelty, but I think audiences will like him more in this - critics on the other hand will probably say he was better in The Departed.[spoil] I will say though, this guy sure doesn't have any luck in living through his films. Between Titanic, The Departed, and now this, I can't remember the last time an actor died so many times in the films where he's first billed.[/spoil] Djimon Honsou and Jennifer Connelly also really, really gave their best work in some time, or at least with the roles they were given. Connelly isn't quite as fleshed out as she should've been, but I can't recall her ever being this gorgeous. However, if there's any one person who really impressed me, it's Edward Zwick. I can safely say this is his best work to date, more focused and at the same time grander then anything he's done before, despite taking place in a relatively short amount of time. While the film does get a bit long, with a few too many scenes of the lead actors running away from soldiers who repeatedly shoot everything but them, it's always exciting. That said, 15 minutes less wouldn't have hurt, after awhile it's hard not to make jokes comparing it to LOTR, or about how many times the bad guys get thwarted just in the nick of time for our heroes to once again escape. Ultimately, it's big brash entertainment just as focused on going through all the typical conventions of the genre as it is about sending out it's message. It may not be what everyone will want to see, but it does accomplish everything it sets out to do with bravado. A-


Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:52 pm
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Wonderful review, accurately expressing some of my praises and concerns with the film. I'd say you should flesh this review out a bit more and offer it to the main site. I've noticed you frequently post these types of reviews and you'd make a very strong contributor. I'd go out of my way to read it, anyway. Nice work!

What did you think of some of the recurring themes, particularly the Earth/nature? I thought this film recalled some of the best works of literature with the subtle discussion on man and his connection to the Earth - especially through the soil itself, analogous to the blood pumping through our veins. Great screenplay for the most part, but probably not as polished as it needed to be for this to be a masterpiece. I found several parts - particularly those filmed in the capital - to be reminiscent of City of God.


Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:32 pm
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Sbil

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Yeah, so I want to see this next weekend.

How does it compare to Glory, Courage Under Fire, and The Last Samurai, which are all Ed Zwick movies in addition to being personal favorites of mine?


Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:37 pm
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Libs wrote:
Yeah, so I want to see this next weekend.

How does it compare to Glory, Courage Under Fire, and The Last Samurai, which are all Ed Zwick movies in addition to being personal favorites of mine?


I found it to be better than The Last Samurai, which I thought was "good" but not "great". The Blood Diamond is far from perfect, but a very good film. Glory isn't a personal favorite, and Courage Under Fire didn't really excite me when I last saw it (years ago). I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Oddly enough, the clips they use of DiCaprio and Connelly in the advertisements are arguably the worst. I didn't care for their first bar encounter at all (part of the mediocre beginning, which lacks any punch and drags), and the second selection - Leo mentioning "this god-foresaken place" only works in context. The film is better than the trailers suggest.


Sun Dec 03, 2006 9:46 pm
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Libs wrote:
Yeah, so I want to see this next weekend.

How does it compare to Glory, Courage Under Fire, and The Last Samurai, which are all Ed Zwick movies in addition to being personal favorites of mine?


I'd say it's just as wonderful as The Last Samurai, which was my favorite movie of its year. It's slightly better than Courage Under Fire and Glory. WAY better than the fascinating, yet uneven The Siege.

Anywho, I give Blood Diamond a passionate A+. Best movie of the year, above even Babel and The Departed. I hope to write more later -- a mini-review, if you will.

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Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:06 pm
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I really liked The Last Samurai but Blood Diamond is still better. It's a beautiful, brilliant film and the sort of film that reminds you why you go to movies in the first place. I really can't remember the last time I loved a movie this much.


Sun Dec 03, 2006 11:46 pm
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zennier wrote:
Wonderful review, accurately expressing some of my praises and concerns with the film. I'd say you should flesh this review out a bit more and offer it to the main site. I've noticed you frequently post these types of reviews and you'd make a very strong contributor. I'd go out of my way to read it, anyway. Nice work!

What did you think of some of the recurring themes, particularly the Earth/nature? I thought this film recalled some of the best works of literature with the subtle discussion on man and his connection to the Earth - especially through the soil itself, analogous to the blood pumping through our veins. Great screenplay for the most part, but probably not as polished as it needed to be for this to be a masterpiece. I found several parts - particularly those filmed in the capital - to be reminiscent of City of God.


Thanks, that actually makes me feel really good, I'd like to write more detailed reviews like this but I just don't have as much time as I'd like. Still, I think I'm going to try and turn this review into something for my school newspaper (I do about half of the reviews for it), so I'll definitely put it up here too.

As for the recurring themes, I dunno, I think that some of that came off as a bit fake. Many of those conversations accounted for a pretty good amount of the fake lines that really felt like they were put in to make a point/be deep motifs, not something they'd actually say. *shrug* Points for effort, but I think it worked a lot better in regards to the action, characters, and message rather then the themes.

Anyways I haven't seen Courage under Fire in far too long to compare them, but from memory this was definitely my favorite Zwick film. Much better then the uneven, plodding Last Samurai, that's for sure.


Mon Dec 04, 2006 5:42 am
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Does Jennifer Connelly cry in this movie (like in just about every other film she's in)?


Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:12 pm
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alex young wrote:
Does Jennifer Connelly cry in this movie (like in just about every other film she's in)?


Not really. She gets sentimental at the end, but it is very well done and poignant.


Wed Dec 06, 2006 8:19 pm
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This movie has got it all. First and most importantly it sets a fast pace so the 2 hr plus run time flies by (unlike Casino Royale). Second, the story is emotionally powerful and gets its message across by all means necessary. It sure gives a new meaning to Diamonds and their petty significance in the world. Third, the acting is superb from the three main leads. Dicaprio better win an Oscar for tis year, either for this or Departed. Forth, the action is great. I am an action guy and this movie delivered on all fronts and is overall one of the best movies of the year.

A

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Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:42 pm
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BJs Grade:

A-

This movie surprised me somewhat I was not expecting to like it so much. Great acting from Dicaprio and the rest.

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Fri Dec 08, 2006 11:06 pm
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Dicaprio never fails, his performance was pheomenal, and the rest of the cast was excilent as well. Defenitely on par or better than The Departed, I cant choose witch one I like more

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Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:46 am
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I also didn't expect much from this and I didn't really want to see it. But WOW! What a great movie. Leonardo's performance was great. Everyone did a great job in this.

A-

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Sat Dec 09, 2006 9:47 pm
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Pretty entertaining, although some of its themes could've been explored better. Performances are very good, with terrific performances by DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, as well as Jennifer Connelly getting a decent amount of meat from her somewhat underwritten role. Like I said, I was entertained, but the film began to drag majorly near the end. B


Sun Dec 10, 2006 12:10 am
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My favorite movie since 2004.

A+
9.1/10


Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:21 am
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Found myself really enjoying the movie. Definately the best of the year surpassing The Departed and V for Vendetta for me. I love movies that deal with social commentary like the Insider and Lords of War. Djimon Hounsou definately leads the movie and it was filled with alot of heartwarming moments without getting too sappy. Leonardo's character was too unlikable but in the end, he redemned himself. I think the critic consensus is way too harsh on the film but I havent really read them so Im just wandering what was so flawed about the film

A


Sun Dec 10, 2006 5:37 pm
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El_Masked_fuerte_grande wrote:
Found myself really enjoying the movie. Definately the best of the year surpassing The Departed and V for Vendetta for me. I love movies that deal with social commentary like the Insider and Lords of War. Djimon Hounsou definately leads the movie and it was filled with alot of heartwarming moments without getting too sappy. Leonardo's character was too unlikable but in the end, he redemned himself. I think the critic consensus is way too harsh on the film but I havent really read them so Im just wandering what was so flawed about the film

A


Alot of the critics think it hits the viewer over the head with "Don't buy diamonds. They fund evil, etc." Critics, as usual with this type of film, are wrong. BD is great filmmaking and it's very disapppointing to see its poor box office when crap like Step Up make over 60 million.


Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:01 pm
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Hopefully this brilliant film catches on with audiences and plays well through the holiday season and into next year. I loved Blood Diamond and can't wait to see it again.

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Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:26 pm
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I agree that it is criminally underrated by critics. It was very solid.


Sun Dec 10, 2006 11:09 pm
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Great, great movie. Fantastic performances, incredible cinematography and fine score highlight this movie. Hopefully, Leo gets his well deserved award for either this or The Departed.

The best movie of the year.

A+

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Tue Dec 12, 2006 1:07 am
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It didn't hold up that well on second viewing, but maybe it was just too soon. *shrug*


Tue Dec 12, 2006 2:17 am
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