Blood Diamond (2006)

A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.

Director:

Edward Zwick

Writers:

Charles Leavitt (screenplay), Charles Leavitt (story),

Stars:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leonardo DiCaprio	...	Danny Archer
Djimon Hounsou	...	Solomon Vandy
Jennifer Connelly	...	Maddy Bowen
Kagiso Kuypers	...	Dia Vandy
Arnold Vosloo	...	Colonel Coetzee
Antony Coleman	...	Cordell Brown
Benu Mabhena	...	Jassie Vandy
Anointing Lukola	...	N'Yanda Vandy
David Harewood	...	Captain Poison
Basil Wallace	...	Benjamin Kapanay
Jimi Mistry	...	Nabil
Michael Sheen	...	Rupert Simmons
Marius Weyers	...	Rudolf Van De Kaap
Stephen Collins	...	Ambassador Walker
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine	...	M'Ed (as Ntare Mwine)

Storyline

A story following Archer, a man tortured by his roots. With a strong survival instinct, he has made himself a key player in the business of conflict diamonds. Political unrest is rampant in Sierra Leone as people fight tooth for tooth. Upon meeting Solomon, and the beautiful Maddy, Archer's life changes forever as he is given a chance to make peace with the war around him.

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | rebel | fisherman | sierra leone | american | 

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Taglines:

It Will Cost You Everything

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [fr] Warner Bros. [us]

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English Mende Afrikaans

Release Date:

8 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Diamond

Filming Locations:

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Box Office

Budget:

$100,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,471,104 (UK) (26 January 2007)

Gross:

$57,366,262 (USA) (6 April 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Virtual Studios, Spring Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Colonel Coetzee has several lines of dialogue in Afrikaans, Arnold Vosloo's first language.

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Goofs

As Archer draws his pistol, the sound of the hammer cocking is heard, yet when shown from the side, the hammer is at rest.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Solomon Vandy: Dia. Dia. Don't want to be late.
Dia Vandy: English boys don't go to school every day.

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Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

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Soundtracks

"Nangirira"
Arranged by African Children's Choir
Performed by African Children's Choir

User Reviews

A Hollywood movies tells an African story full of death and violence and presents it with impressive truth.

Because I lived in Sierra Leone, in fact in Kono, the diamond-mining area of the country, for three years, I had to see Blood Diamond as soon as it came out. It is an excellent movie. Although it was not filmed in Sierra Leone, it captures the reality of the country to a remarkable degree. There is a great deal of violence in this movie, but that violence is organic, realistic, fitting to what happened there. They even manage to convey the fact that the people are as astonished by this violence as we are; Sierra Leone used to be one of the safest countries in the world. The movie tells the facts about conflict diamonds quickly and accurately. DiCaprio's performance is impressive, certainly the best by him I've ever seen: he is totally believable as a white African. Jennifer Connelly's role is much smaller but she makes the most of it. Djiman Housou has enormous physical presence as the brave Mende fisherman. This movie just gets so many things right that the few places it departs from reality are entirely forgivable. I would heartily recommend this movie to everyone; it is the best Hollywood movie I've seen in years.