Blood Diamond loses its way at times, but the power and tragedy of civil war, of greed and tainted motives, is undeniable.
Blood Diamond (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:204
Fresh:127
Rotten:77
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Blood Diamond overcomes poor storytelling with its biting commentary and fine performances.
Theatrical Release:Dec 8, 2006 Wide
Box Office: $57,312,489
Synopsis: Set against the backdrop of the chaos and civil war that enveloped 1990s Sierra Leone, "Blood Diamond" is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe, and Solomon... Set against the backdrop of the chaos and civil war that enveloped 1990s Sierra Leone, "Blood Diamond" is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-mercenary from Zimbabwe, and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories and their circumstances are as different as any can be until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond, the kind of stone that can transform a life…or end it. Solomon, who has been taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields, finds the extraordinary gem and hides it at great risk, knowing if he is discovered, he will be killed instantly. But he also knows the diamond could not only provide the means to save his wife and daughters from a life as refugees but also help rescue his son, Dia, from an even worse fate as a child soldier. Archer, who has made his living trading diamonds for arms, learns of Solomon's hidden stone while in prison for smuggling. He knows a diamond like this is a once-in-a-lifetime find—valuable enough to be his ticket out of Africa and away from the cycle of violence and corruption in which he has been a willing player. Enter Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an idealistic American journalist who is in Sierra Leone to uncover the truth behind conflict diamonds, exposing the complicity of diamond industry leaders who have chosen profits over principles. Maddy seeks out Archer as a source for her article, but soon finds it is he who needs her even more. With Maddy's help, Archer and Solomon embark on a dangerous trek through rebel territory. Archer needs Solomon to find and recover the valuable pink diamond, but Solomon seeks something far more precious…his son. Directed by Edward Zwick, the action drama "Blood Diamond" stars Academy Award nominee Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Aviator"), Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly ("A Beautiful Mind") and Academy Award nominee Djimon Hounsou ("In America"). The screenplay was written by Charles Leavitt, from a story by Leavitt and C. Gaby Mitchell. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Virtual Studios, "Blood Diamond," a Spring Creek / Bedford Falls production, in association with Initial Entertainment Group, released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. "Blood Diamond" is produced by Paula Weinstein, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Graham King and Gillian Gorfil. The executive producers are Len Amato, Kevin De La Noy and Benjamin Waisbren. The film also stars Michael Sheen, Arnold Vosloo, David Harewood, Basil Wallace and introduces Kagiso Kuypers as Dia. Collaborating with Zwick behind the scenes were director of photography Eduardo Serra, production designer Dan Weil, costume designer Ngila Dickson, and editor Steven Rosenblum. James Newton Howard composed the score. This film has been rated "R" by the MPAA for "strong violence and language" "Blood Diamond" opens nationwide on December 8, 2006, and will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. -- © Warner Bros. [More]
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Stephen Collins
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou, Stephen Collins, Jimi Mistry, Ato Essandoh, Michael Sheen, Basil Wallace, Kasigo Kuypers, Arnold Vosloo, Marius Weyers
Director: Edward Zwick
Director: Edward Zwick
Producer: Gillian Gorfil, Marshall Herskovitz, Graham King
Composer: James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Blood Diamond
Blood Diamond has been directed with energy and style by Edward Zwick, who has a long and mostly impressive history of finding large audiences for films that address cultural and social inequity.
Blood Diamond also has the same bothersome and somewhat patronizing quality that marred Zwick's last film, The Last Samurai. And it keeps repeating the same points over and over again.
At its best, Blood Diamond makes the sorrow of Sierra Leone's exploitation (by just about everyone) palpable.
In balancing its major motion picture ambitions with thoughtful intentions, this compelling, neo-message movie offers a fresh T-shirt motto for the ongoing campaigns against diamonds that help finance corruption and slaughter: Do the Right Bling.
What keeps you watching is the level of acting, especially between the two male leads.
Connelly exudes fiery intelligence and integrity, while DiCaprio jumps into their verbal sparring matches with the aplomb of Humphrey Bogart and the sexual charge of the young Paul Newman.
Action-adventure pictures have a lamentable tendency toward mindlessness, but Edward Zwick's epic story has numerous virtues apart from suspense and spectacle.
Blood Diamond wears both its social conscience and its Hollywood calculation on its sleeve. The movie wants to rouse you to action while narcotizing you with Connelly's bottomless green eyes.
Conversation sounds like it is coming from the screenwriter and not the characters.
A serious Hollywood entertainment that keeps an audience rapt in their seats for almost 2 and a half hours and then sends them out the door with plenty to chew on.
tries to juggle too many characters and purposes throughout its long running time... Blood Diamond works on many levels, although it doesn't do so consistently
You can't have it both ways. But writer-director Edward Zwick keeps trying ... to make socially conscious movies, the kind where stuff blows up real good.
You can't have it both ways. But writer-director Edward Zwick keeps trying ... to make socially conscious movies, the kind where stuff blows up real good.
The picture's considerable political illumination glimmers through a story told in colorful locales (it was shot for the most part in South Africa and Mozambique) with lots of bang-boom-crash action.
Blood runs often in Blood Diamond, an often admirable action-drama that takes some wrong turns.
Highlighted by Serra's captivating cinematography, with this tension-packed film DiCaprio proves he is one of his generation's best actors...in the mold of Bogart and Newman.
Nothing more than chicken soup for international humanitarian crises, an opportunity for Hollywood types to decry the bloody stone trade while reaching for a little Oscar gold.
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