An astounding film, a fantastic storyline, a South African with an Australian accent.

Rating: 10/10 (1 February 2007)

PREDICTION:
When I first agreed with my friends to go and see this film, I was a bit unsure what to think, mainly because Leanardo DiCaprio is in it, and judging by his previous history of rubbish films since Titanic, who could blame me?
PERFORMANCE:
But I almost burst out laughing when I first head DiCaprio's ("Titanic") first sentence. He was speaking in an Australian voice, even though his character originates from South Africa, how-ever that works... But regardless of the voice, he delivers an astounding performance, only boosted with the (I think best) performance of Djimon Hounsou ("Gladiator"). Sadly, Jennifer Connelly ("Once Upon A Time In America") does not live up to her average expectations, giving a mildly okay performance as the love interest of DiCaprio. Also starring is the great Arnold Vosloo ("The Mummy") and the not-so-great Michael Sheen ("The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse").
BASIC STORYLINE:
Set in the backdrop of the Sierra Leone Civil War, fought between the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Army, Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a fisherman, is captured by the RUF and taken to work in the Diamond Fields, where he comes across a diamond as big as a pebble. He hides it, but one of the guards - Captain Poison - spots him, before the Fields come under attack. Vandy is captured and taken to prison, where Cpt.Poison is also taken. At this time, Vandy's son is captured by the rebels and is trained to become one of them, a Child Soldier.
In prison, Cpt.Posion starts yelling at Vandy, asking where he hid the diamond, and Danny Archer (DiCaprio) overhears. Once they're both released, he offers to help Vandy find the diamond, and split the rewards 50:50, and Vandy agrees if he helps to find his family.
So the two set off, narrowly avoiding getting shot by the invading RUF. They eventually find his family in a nearby camp for refugees, but is told that Vandy's son, Dia, was captured. They continue, and eventually come across the area where the diamond was hidden. There, Vandy finds Dia, and tries to get him out of the camp, but Dia refuses, as though Vandy is no longer his real father.
Captured, Vandy is about to set off at gun-point to find the diamond for Cpt.Poison, but then, a helicopter attacks the camp and Archer races into the camp to find Dia and Vandy. An amazing scene follows, where there's more explosions and bullet fire than Saving Private Ryan. (Hell, DiCaprio actually looks COOL firing the gun!) Vandy, in a bloody rage kills Cpt.Poison and just when everything seems under control, the army arrives and Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo) forces Vandy to find the diamond or he would shoot his son.
So, Archer, Vandy and Dia walks to the area where the diamond was hidden, with the Cnl. and 2 guards on watch. They rebel and kill the 3 soldiers. Running towards a hill, a helicopter circling above to take them to the safety of England, Archer begins to get exhausted and collapses. Vandy carries him up the hill. (This is where me and my mates began to laugh really loud as it sounded as though DiCaprio was having an orgy... For 5 minutes...) Eventually, Archer tells Vandy to leave him on the hill, revealing that he was shot in the fire-fight between the Cnl. and him. Running towards the helicopter, Archer holds off the Army soldiers giving chase. He watches the helicopter fly off into the distance, a beautiful setting. Then, he slumps where he sits. He is dead.
Vandy gets to London and sells the diamond, for a lot of money and his family's return to England. This happens and he lives happily ever after.
CONCLUSION:
In all, it is a great film, even if it may not be true story, it is based on real events that happened. Tens of thousands of people died in the war, and we seem to have forgotten about it. This film is a good reminder, with its great characters and amazing story. 10/10. I could not find a single major flaw in the movie.
A definite must see.