The Package

There Will Be Blood 2-Disc Collector's Edition is a conflicting package to review. The movie, as noted above, is stellar and should not be missed; the packaging itself is wonderful though not very user friendly. It is housed in a stylish three-fold digipak case featuring a panoramic scene from the movie and an excerpt from Upton Sinclair's Oil! in lieu of an insert. Unfortunately, the discs are tucked in paperboard "slots" instead of traditional plastic trays; this not only makes it difficult to remove the discs, they can also be easily scuffed. Once you finally remove the discs and insert them into your player the menus are very basic but easy to use.

This is the Collector's Edition which features a second disc and this is where my only major complaint lies with this version. Featured on this disc are the following supplementals:

• 15 Minutes – Research, Etc. (15:38)
• Trailers (1:26) & (2:14)
• Fishing Sequence (6:15)
• Haircut / Interrupted Hymn (3:16)
• Dailies Gone Wild (2:49)
• The Story of Petroleum (25:32)

"15 minutes" is a montage of vintage photos, video clips, and behind-the-scenes footage detailing the research that went into making There Will be Blood, which is a nice look at how detailed they were with the materials and costume choices. "The Trailers" comprise the teaser and theatrical trailer that preceded the film's run. "Fishing" and "Haircut/Interrupted Hymn" are deleted scenes that do not offer much to the final film and are better off separate like this. "Dailies Gone Wild" is a short "camera still rolling" scene that shows Daniel Day-Lewis trying to complete a scene in character.

Finally the one really appreciated extra is the short 1920s film "The Story of Petroleum", enhanced with a score from the film's composer, Jonny Greenwood. It is a film by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Sinclair Oil Company which looks at the rapidly expanding American oil industry. It is a sobering look back at the face of the oil industry and how, while some things have changed, others have stayed constant.

For a product called a Collector's Edition this fairly limited amount of extras is quite disappointing. It is well known that Paul Thomas Anderson has no interest in providing commentaries any longer and Daniel Day-Lewis is of the same mind, so the potential for extras is diminished. The lack of any other studio-funded supplements makes me wonder why there is a two-disc version at all; it almost takes away from the high quality of the  film itself.