History YMMV / BloodDiamond

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio not playing a PrettyBoy. Big deal back in 2007, a completely obvious thing just a few years later. It stands out particularly when reading contemporary reviews, along with old marketing coverage - it ''all'' extensively focuses on di Caprio "PlayingAgainstType".

* WhatMeasureIsANonBadass: Maddy is often dismissed as a useless MsFanservice or TokenRomance - and especially for being the only American protagonist. This ignores that she accomplishes plenty in the narrative, helps Danny and Solomon multiple times and [[spoiler: her article is what allows Solomon to make a difference at the end]]. Presumably because she accomplishes this by acting as TheFace rather than [[RealWomenDontWearDresses shooting guns at everyone]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio not playing a PrettyBoy. Big deal back in 2007, a completely obvious thing just few years later. It stands out particularly when reading contemporary reviews, along with old marketing coverage - it ''all'' extensivelyocuses  on di Caprio "PlayingAgainstType".

* {{Narm}}: The scene in prison where Solomon strips naked to 'prove' he doesn't have the diamond on him. It looks like they just wanted an excuse to give Creator/DjimonHounsou another ShirtlessScene.

* AwardSnub: Although Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio and Creator/DjimonHounsou were nominated for Oscars, neither of them won. This began a long trend of the former being snubbed at the Oscars until ''Film/TheRevenant'' (which many viewed as a ConsolationAward anyway).

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped:
** The stuff about diamond mines being run by slave labor because the diamond industry really doesn't care how many puppies are raped in the name of profits? Actually mostly true.
** Fun fact: Supposedly, De Beers diamond company, suspected (though unproven) of making a deal with Executive Outcomes during the conflict, had their sales drop after the film's plot was made public.
** It also emphasizes that even people who have engaged in evil have the potential to [[HeelFaceTurn consciously choose good and redeem themselves]]. This is shown in the film through a real-life home for former child soldiers which, through kind treatment, gives them a chance at a normal life.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some viewers have suggested that Danny might have HIV. When a prostitute tells him she's HIV, he responds "I've heard that one before", he and Maddy never actually hook up and [[spoiler: he won't let Solomon touch him as he's bleeding to death]].
* AwardSnub: Although Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio and Creator/DjimonHonsou were nominated for Oscars, neither of them won. This began a long trend of the former being snubbed at the Oscars until ''Film/TheRevenant'' (which many viewed as a ConsolationAward anyway).
* BrokenBase: At the time, Creator/LeonardoDCaprio's South African accent was very divisive - over whether it was good, bad or average. It's hard to gauge how much of this had to do with lingering hate from ''{{Film/Titanic 1997}}'' (some of which was still around in the mid-2000s).

* {{Narm}}: The scene in prison where Solomon strips naked to 'prove' he doesn't have the diamond on him. It looks like they just wanted an excuse to give Creator/DjimonHonsou another ShirtlessScene.

* AwardSnub: Although Leonardo Di Caprio and Djimon Honsou were nominated for Oscars, neither of them won. This began a long trend of the former being snubbed at the Oscars until ''Film/TheRevenant'' (which many viewed as a ConsolationAward anyway).
* BrokenBase: At the time, Leonardo Di Caprio's South African accent was very divisive - over whether it was good, bad or average. It's hard to gauge how much of this had to do with lingering hate from ''{{Film/Titanic 1997}}'' (some of which was still around in the mid-2000s).
* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: This marked the first in a [[Film/TheDeparted string]] [[Film/RevolutionaryRoad of]] [[Film/ShutterIsland films]] that reminded audiences what a talent Leonardo Di Caprio was.

* {{Narm}}: The scene in prison where Solomon strips naked to 'prove' he doesn't have the diamond on him. It looks like they just wanted an excuse to give Djimon Honsou another ShirtlessScene.

** 'You risk my life like that again... and I'll peel your face back off your head.' Note that this is said while he's skinning a dead baboon.

* PovertyPorn: {{Discussed}}. Maddy, an American journalist, starts writing a report about the social ravaging caused by the wars in Sierra Leone, but grows frustrated because she feels it won't make real effect, comparing to advertisements of starving children. Guilted by her vexation, the listening Archer starts admitting his inside knowledge of the blood diamond trade, giving her report a stronger call to political action.
* RetroactiveRecognition: Captain Poison is played by David Harewood, a few years before his more famous roles in ''{{Series/Homeland}}'' and ''{{Series/Supergirl 2015}}''.

* {{Tearjerker}}: At the climax, Solomon has to talk down his son, who's leveling a pistol at him and Danny.

** As [[KarmicDeath well-deserved]] as Captain Poison's death was, the look for sheer ''rage'' on Solomon's face before he bashes Poison's head in repeatedly with a shovel is terrifying.

%%** ''Every'' scene, from the start of the RUF raid on Solomon's village up to the final conversation between Danny and Maddy.

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: The stuff about diamond mines being run by slave labor because the diamond industry really doesn't care how many puppies are raped in the name of profits? Actually mostly true.

** ''Every'' scene, from the start of the RUF raid on Solomon's village up to the final conversation between Danny and Maddy.