I have not been a Leonardo DiCaprio fan. I do like Djimon Hounsou and have seen several of his films. Watching this film, I have to say that both deserve every single award they received and should have probably gotten every award they were nominated for. I only hesitate to state this unequivocally because I have not seen The Last King of Scotland yet.
This story needed to be told and I cannot imagine anyone telling it better that DiCaprio and Hounsou in the extremely capable hands of Edward Zwick, working with an outstanding script by Charles Leavitt.
The story was tender, exciting, awesome, and, at times, just plain disgusting. The fact that there are countries that brainwash children and turn them against their parents and make killers out of them is inexcusable. The fact that these people are operating today is a blot of shame on all so-called civilized nations, including my own.
This is our homeland. All humans came from this soil. What we allow to happen there in the name of beauty is disgusting.
I cannot imagine anyone not owning this movie so as to watch it many times and remind ourselves that if we are not part of the solution to this problem, we share some of the blame for it.
Blood Diamond
2006
Action / Adventure / Drama / History / Thriller
Blood Diamond
2006
Action / Adventure / Drama / History / Thriller
Plot summary
An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. 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 bloodshed countrywide.
Uploaded by: OTTO
July 05, 2012 at 05:22 AM
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God left this place a long time ago.
"I am Born Trouble."
I almost never catch these big time films when they make their initial debut, but keep their critical acclaim in the back of my mind when I'm trying to decide on what to watch next. "Blood Diamond" grabbed a lot of attention when it came out for it's stars DiCaprio and Hounsou, and I have to say, their team up was one of the more eclectic casting decisions I've come across. It reminded me a little of Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier in "The Defiant Ones", and if you think about it, that kind of described the main characters here as they pursue a large rare diamond amid rebel strife in the African country of Sierra Leone. My biggest takeaway from the film was just how brutal and uncivilized life can be in parts of the world we're unfamiliar with while we sit in our comfy living rooms watching stories like this unfold. As far as the action component of this picture goes, it's almost too intense with scene after scene engaging in hostile gunfights and brutal combat. The harrowing family ordeal of Hounsou's character is undeniably overwhelming, and given the odds it's miraculous that he makes it out of Africa alive, especially having found his son already brainwashed by his captors. This won't be a contender for a round the fireplace family movie night, but if you're in the mood for unrelenting action and suspense, you'll get your fill here.
An action, political adventure at its best!
"Blood Diamond" is the kind of action film that makes you think that 'a moment of love, even in a bad man, can give meaning to a life...'
The film opens in Sierra Leone, 1999 when Civil war rages for control of the diamond fields
According to devastating reports, these stones are being used with both rebels and government forces to purchase more weapons and finance civil war
Danny Archercrazy for diamonds like everybody elsebelieves this pink gem holds his ticket out of this godforsaken continent
He is a smuggler, a former mercenary and weapons trader from Zimbabwe who bribes all, and supplies arms to both sides
He gets Solomon Vandycaptured by government troopsout of jail only because he overhears that the fisherman might have found a clear massive stone about the size of a bird's egg
Vandyforced apart from his family and sent off to work as a slave in the minefieldshas hided the enormous 100 carat diamond from his captors and buried it in a secret place within the jungle
His son Dia is taking away by a brainwashing militia called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) turning him with lies, drugs, and liquor, into a cold-blooded murderer
Danny makes a deal to help the noble fisherman find his family if Vandy will lead him to the diamond
The majority of the story is their journey across the war torn country
Leonard DiCaprio is both ruthless and charming as the cynical soldier of fortune who knows an opportunity when it presents itself
But he also is aggressive and selfish willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants
He illustrates the black side of the dirty diamond trade
On his trek to find the stone, Archer's eyes are opened to some enduring values that surpass his own self-profit
Djimon Hounsou eventually realizes that Danny's connections and money are his only hope
He plays a helpless character totally passionate as the resolving and fiercely determined father desperate to learn the fate of his family
Connelly is an idealist who wishes to display corruption
She thinks that with Archer's help she can get a unique story line surrounding the civil war but also revealing corporate malfeasance and cover-up behind the diamond trade
It is also good to mention Arnold Vosloo in the role of Colonel Coetzee, head of the army unit also trying to claim the diamond
He's a great character actor and remains a powerful presence and one of the screen's most efficient scene-stealer
Nominated for five Oscars, "Blood Diamond" is an action, political adventure at its best!