For many critics (and a few casual viewers), Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" was an epic deconstruction of American competitiveness, greed and obsession, a film with aspirations of near-Biblical grandeur. For others, probably more people than actually saw the movie, "There Will Be Blood" was that movie where Daniel Day-Lewis expressed his desire to drink your milkshake, to drink it up, and explained the geological principles of draaaaaaaaaaainage.

Whether you appreciate its emotionally weighty Greek tragedy trappings, or you just like doing impressions of Day-Lewis' Oscar-winning performance, Anderson's story of an early 20th Century oilman (Day-Lewis) will probably find a far larger audience in its DVD release than ever caught it in theaters. Fortunately, cinematographer Robert Elswit's depiction of barren California oilfields and the mania generated by petroleum remains beautifully intact in the pristine DVD transfer and the best sound systems will pick up the nuances of Jonny Greenwood's original score, which absolutely would have been Oscar-worthy if not for idiotic Academy technicalities.

Rather than opting for standard chapter headings, Anderson has let "There Will Be Blood" be divided into old-fashioned reels, which makes it a bit more complicated to zip through the best moments of Day-Lewis' performance, which managed to be both gloriously over-the-top and unexpectedly subtle, which I wouldn't have thought possible.

As fans of "Magnolia" and "Punch-Drunk Love" know, though, Anderson has become a master of infuriating two-disc DVD sets and "There Will Be Blood" continues that trend. Anderson didn't used to be so concerned with not demystifying his process, but the "Blood" set contains no commentary track and no behind-the-scenes documentaries. What extras there are are meant to compliment the movie, not to enhance it.

DVD Bonus Features:

The Good: The first disc is extras-free and the second disc has less than an hour of material. Of that time, 25 minutes is dedicated to "The Story of Petroleum," a 1923 short produced by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the Sinclair Oil Company. The silent film supplies some background information on the mechanics of oil production and its imagery obviously informed Anderson's visual choices in the film. Plus, accompanied by Greenwood's score, it takes on an ominous quality never intended by its corporate creators. The longest of two deleted scenes, "Fishing," is every bit as devastating as anything in the film, while a second clipped scene, a father-son haircut, provides a sweetness elided from the movie.

The Bad: Wait. So once you take away the 25-minute silent film, that's only 31 minutes of bonus features for the entire disc? That's not much and 15 minutes of that is a musical montage of pictures and research materials set to music. I'm also not sure I needed the "Dailies Gone Wild" segment, which serves little purpose other than showing Day-Lewis breaking character and cracking up at the end of a shot. If Anderson's concern in limiting the exposure of the bonus features was not breaking the illusion of his film, this probably should have been left out. In fact, there's very little to recommend opting for the two-disc set over the one-disc set, since really you're just getting it for the feature itself.

The Price: $34.99 (single-disc set for $29.99)