Blood Diamond

"It will cost you everything."

2006 2h 23m EN

🙌

7.6

BANGER

★7.6TMDB · 8,587

DramaThrillerAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“It will cost you everything.”

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Cast

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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Edward Zwick
Writers: Charles Leavitt, C. Gaby Mitchell, Charles Leavitt
Languages: Afrikaans, English
Countries: Germany, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Afrikaans, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

268+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Edward Zwick, shot by Eduardo Serra. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Steven Rosenblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Edward Zwick directs. Eduardo Serra behind the camera. James Newton Howard scores. Steven Rosenblum cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in Germany, United States of America. Dialogue in Afrikaans, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Afrikaans, English.
4International production across 2 countries: Germany, United States of America.
5268+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
6Directed by Edward Zwick, shot by Eduardo Serra. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by James Newton Howard. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Steven Rosenblum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "It will cost you everything.".
11IMDB entry: tt0450259 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 23 themes, including "bootlegger", "journalist", "smuggling (contraband)", "loss of loved one".
13Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eduardo Serra
Original score: James Newton Howard
Editing: Steven Rosenblum
Production design: Dan Weil
Costume design: Ngila Dickson
Makeup / hair: Sallie Jaye
VFX supervisor: Gregory D. Liegey
Sound: Andy Nelson
Stunt coordinator: Paul Jennings
Runtime: 143 min · 2h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $100,000,000
Box office: $171,720,398
Return: 172% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Blood Diamond (2006)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Edward Zwick

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Selected frames

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

rxbudian2023-03-08
★ 9/10
I watched on Netflix and it was a very good film. The film isn't all action and shows the living conditions there. Djimon Hounsou, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly were very good in the film
RalphRahal2024-12-14
★ 9/10
Rewatching Blood Diamond reminded me why it’s such a powerful and unforgettable film. It’s not just a movie—it’s an experience that grabs you by the heart and doesn’t let go. Leonardo DiCaprio delivers one of his best performances as Danny Archer. His character’s journey from selfish opportunist to someone who finds his humanity is so raw and real that it hit me on a deeper level this time around. Djimon Hounsou as Solomon Vandy was equally breathtaking; his portrayal of a father’s unshakable love and desperation to reunite with his son brought me to tears more than once. The film’s depiction of conflict diamonds and the devastating impact they have on innocent lives is brutal, but it’s a story that needs to be told. It forces you to confront the harsh realities of greed and exploitation, while also shining a light on the strength and resilience of the human spirit. There’s a particular scene where Solomon finds himself face-to-face with his son, who has been taken and brainwashed—it’s heart-wrenching and stays with you long after the credits roll. Edward Zwick’s direction is stunning. The action is gripping, the emotional beats are deeply moving, and the film’s message is clear without being preachy. The cinematography captures the beauty and tragedy of Africa in a way that feels both poetic and unflinchingly honest. The soundtrack, too, weaves perfectly into the story, adding to the intensity and emotion. This movie is more than just entertainment—it’s a reminder of what people are willing to sacrifice for love, for family, and for what’s right. By the end, I was left emotionally drained but also inspired. Blood Diamond is a masterpiece, a film that hits every chord, and one I’ll always hold close to my heart.
CinemaSerf2026-07-24
★ 7/10
With the new millennium dawning, fisherman "Solomon" (Djimon Hounsou) is eagerly anticipating the day when his young son "Dia" (Kagiso Kuypers) will realise his dream of becoming a doctor. That idyll is sharply destroyed, though, when his Sierra Leone village is beset by rebels who capture him and force him to work in their diamond mines. Not long into his travails, he discovers a very valuable blood stone which his brute of a commander sees him hide. Before he can act upon his suspicions, the army arrive and in the mêlée both men are captured and imprisoned. The ertswhile gangster is blabbing to anyone that will listen about "Solomon" and his priceless jewel, and that attracts the attention of smuggler "Archer" (Leonardo Di Caprio). He knows that the one thing more important to "Solomon" than the stone is his family, so he has him released with a promise that if he retrieves the stone for him, he shall ensure he is reconciled in safety with his family. Does he even know if that family is still alive? Does "Solomon" remember where he buried the stone? Well on the former front, "Archer" recruits the services of American journalist "Maddy" (Jennifer Connelly) to do some digging whilst he and his new best friend head across some dangerous terrain to hopefully do a little digging of their own. Of course, these two men are not the only two seeking the prize and so with danger lurking around every bush, their perilous hunt is well and truly on. I thought Connelly acquitted herself quite well here as she juggled the gritty, if a little naive, determination of "Maddy" with a growing realisation - which she could share with the world - of the brutality of an industry that will stop at little to procure those ugly looking pieces of rock that the masters in Antwerp can turn into one of the planet's truly global commodities. It's essentially the two-hander between Di Caprio and Hounsou that captivates here. The former delivering a portrayal of a shrewd and resourceful man whose only thoughts are for himself and for the prize! Hounsou, on the other hand, has way more humanity to depict and yet as they travel there is something of the opposites attract developing between them. Mistrust and disrespect become something unexpectedly magnetic. The dynamic of their initial inter-dependence changes as these two characters start to understand how the other ticked, and with both under constant threat from plenty who would readily betray them it makes for quite a tensly directed and taut political thriller in which the value of human life - or the lack of it - is writ large. The detail in the production design, the pyrotechnics and the combat scenes are convincingly staged to give us an almost claustrophobic series of scenarios trapping these men in the vast wilderness of an unforgiving West Africa that is needed by greedy and powerful men to fund their Rolls Royce and caviar lifestyles.