Blood Diamond (Two-Disc Special Edition) / Le Diamant de Sang (Edition Speciale de Deux Disques)

Following a white mercenary's search for a diamond, a fisherman's search for his family, and a journalist's search for a story, in war torn Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is not your typical action/adventure movie. Usually the movies of this genre provide fairly easy going humor, action and suspense (or at least the ones I've watched). Blood Diamond is different on a number of levels. And it's a good kind of different.

First off is Leonardo DiCaprio. He plays so strongly in this film that he almost matches his performance as an undercover officer in The Departed. His character, Danny Archer, is a veteran diamond smuggler and soldier of fortune who is currently working his trade out of Sierra Leone. DiCaprio pulls off his character's Afrikaner accent, smuggler wits and cynic outlook on life with exceptional skill. Djimon Hounsou also plays well as the overwrought fisherman, Solomon Vandy, who helps Archer find his diamond. Usually in adventure movies acting is not top notch but in Blood Diamond it is.

Another thing that is different is it's harshness. Movies of the genre usually have some blood but aren't too brutal. Blood Diamond has quite a bit of gore and brutality in it. There are several massacres that happen over the course of the movie and Blood Diamond has no problem showing them in fairly graphic detail. It's not that bad but compared to adventure movies it's a little more graphic than most.

The brutality however is there for good reason. It advances the most important part of the film: it's social commentary. Obviously with a name like Blood Diamond the movie deals heavily with the atrocities committed over the diamond trade, and the shady back room deals in how these conflict diamonds reach consumers in the developed world. It was obvious why diamond companies were making some noise over the release of the movie.

But Blood Diamond takes it one step further and comments on all of Africa. It touches on Western apathy, child soldiers, civil war, mercenaries, massacres, and the plain harshness that occurs in Africa on a daily basis. As Danny Archer says: "T.I.A. (This Is Africa)" and director Edward Zwick excellently packages the horrors of Africa and puts it into an exciting movie that will hopefully force Western audiences to think about Africa and how to help.

This is an adventure movie that is a cut above the rest of its genre, in both its content and it's commentary. Although it's not a classic (like Indiana Jones for example) it is still extremely powerful. 4.5 diamonds out of five.

Whatever one may have thought about Leonardo DiCaprio prior to this film, it must be revised after seeing it. If you liked his work before, this performance will elevate him further in your esteem. If you had doubts about his abilities - as this reviewer did - "Blood Diamond" will dispel them. The story of a civil war in the manufactured African nation of Sierra Leone, the film is nearly an art form of modern power struggles. Violence is endemic, with meaningless killings, abduction of children to become soldiers and the waning light of justice in a world of social disruption.

DiCaprio, in the character of Danny Archer, for all the strength of his depiction as a trader, remains a middle level figure in the sweeping picture of the diamond trade. Rebel armies have become mining managers as well as guerrilla fighters. Villages are raided for workers and soldiers, leading to fisherman Solomon Vandy [Djimon Housou] being taken for the one and his son Dia for the other. It's hard to know which scenes are more wrenching, the harsh discipline of the mining or the terror conditioning of the boy soldiers. Solomon is revealed as having found a priceless diamond while he and Archer happen to be in the same gaol. Archer sees an opportunity and takes up with Solomon, who is seeking his lost son.

The interaction between the two men, with its added fillip of the white's dependency on the African, is almost serpentine. We never really learn if Solomon expects to trade the diamond for his son, or use it to reunite and enrich his entire family. Archer, under the tutelage of a mercenary colonel [with which Africa seems surfeited], must maintain a precarious balance. That delicate role is complicated further when he meets a journalist with a sense of mission. Watching this film the second time with Zwick's commentary on how Jennifer Connelly built the role of Maddy Bowen from accounts of women journalists in war zones is more than just informative. It gives vivid credence to the wonderful scene where Bowen "disarms" a group of threatening rebels with her camera.

To reach that point, Zwick and his production team have produced a stunning array of images. From the grandeur of African landscapes in Mozambique, South Africa, Sierra Leone to the intimate close-ups of both major and minor characters, this film is exemplary cinematic drama. Zwick's description of what had to be done to keep the film's impact strong without harm coming to the participants is enlightening. That Housou and DiCaprio insisted on doing many action shots on their own instead of using stuntmen must have aged the director measureably. What some of the battle scenes might have done to the extras, who were acting novices, is beyond description. Zwick's selection of a 12-year-old music and drama student to play the child soldier is indicative.

The denouement of this film is very nearly "Hollywood pap", but not quite. The fate of Solomon and Dia, of Danny Archer, but mostly that of the diamond, are suffused with ironies. While Zwick may not deserve credit for instigating changes in the diamond industry, the efforts of people such as Connelly portrayed most certainly do. It's encouraging that a film such as this could come out of Hollywood instead of a European studio. Hollywood may be shedding its fear of reality. One can only hope that audiences can cope with it as well. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

When I rented this movie, I wasn't sure I would like it or not. But wow! Was I ever glad I did, it was incredibly good! So good that I bought the original movie to add to my collection.

This movie has a great deal of violence but realistic and not too much that you can't bear watching. The constant action is what keeps your interest from start to finish. It tells the facts about the conflict of diamonds quickly and accurately. DiCaprio's performance is impressive, certainly the best by him I've ever seen. Djiman Housou has an enormous physical presence as the brave Mende fisherman who suffers the separation of his family due to civil war raging around him. Excellent performances all around.

You will go through a lot of emotions while viewing this movie which makes it that much more good to watch. Obviously, it is not a movie for the whole family due to the content and violence, but an excellent one for any adult that wants to view a great story with compelling characters.