What movies are supposed to do.

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2007)

I very rarely give films a 10 and this one is by no means perfect. For example, DiCaprio's accent was a bit annoying and there were times when he seemed to out-Bond James Bond. Parts of it were really not completely plausible, and were obviously glamorized to make a more compelling film.
Having said that, a film like this is vital on 2 levels. First, it enlightens and educates people, who are probably not aware of the evil of conflict diamonds. This flick is a real consciousness-raiser, in that regard.
This movie takes the violence from rural areas and then amps up the shock factor by moving that same violence into an allegedly more cosmopolitan urban setting.
The second thing this movie does so well, "Blood Diamond" is one of the few films to really show what is happening to the children and some of the victimized citizenry in several African nations. The violence shown in this film has been an ignored story for years, to the world's shame.
I felt this movie did a vastly superior job in conveying the horror than "Hotel Rwanda" did. While we are talking about 2 separate stories, the common thread is the use of children to perpetuate violence and the disgusting things people can do to their neighbors, over fanatically-inspired hatred.
The fact that "Blood Diamond" exposed the violence makes this movie worth its weight in gold.
This movie changed my world-view. What more can you ask of a film?