Black Hawk Down

There is another version of this in 4k (and more expensive). The newer version does have some upgraded visuals, but not sure it's worth the expense. This disc seems to me, more than adequate.

An action-packed, incredibly emotional war movie based on actual events. One of the greatest war movies of all time!

I have always loved this movie and some of the actors in this movie. I intend to watch this movie again a lot.

This is the story of the disastrous raid in Mogadishu on October 3rd, 1993. (The battle lasted over to the next morning, meaning the soldiers were trapped with dwindling ammo, no food, and little if any water in that climate overnight.) Several of the men who participated in that battle served as advisors or extras on the film, which resulted in one Ranger getting his SAG card! There were a few teensy errors----a couple pieces of music on the soundtrack weren't released at the time, the Grisham book seen in one scene wasn't released in paperback at the time----but it did a very good job in displaying what real combat is like, without going too far in one direction or another, as civilians are wont to do when depicting soldiers. We either wind up getting shown as emotionless robots or overly emotional wrecks. The raid was doomed from the beginning, as Colonel Bobby McKnight dryly points out. "Daytime, in the afternoon, when they're all (non-Amazon-approved expletive) up on khat, in the one part of the city where they can muster resistance at the drop of a hat? What's not to like?" (Paraphrased.) Soldiers pride themselves on their bearing, their self control, their strength, so there were a few scenes that were a little 'actorish' but not nearly as often as one finds them in other, less serious, movies. (It's easier, I suspect, to portray emotions than to first attain self control and portray controlled-emotions spilling out due to extreme conditions.) The Army wanted to go in to get a bunch of Aidid henchmen, but their own lax security meant that the population was ready for them. One guy in the book mused on the various flaws in their security: the aircraft hanger they were in faced the city so anybody with binoculars could see when the troops started running around getting ready, plus it was protected only by Hescos by the chow hall, so all it would take was one suicide bomber at chow time and you'd take out a whole squad at least. There's one extremely low-key but chilling scene where the Blackhawks are flying into the city and a kid with an early-era cell phone holds it up to catch the sound of the rotars---and the soldiers think the kid is waving. By the time the choppers get to the target area, the tire fires are burning, funeral pyres for victims that still have a short while to live. Two choppers down meant the mission lost the 'initiative', a term that has a lot of meaning for soldiers, some of it nearly superstitious. The personnel from the choppers had to be rescued, even if they were dead, but the fighting was so incredible that the bodies of Shughart and Gordon wound up getting left behind to be dragged through the streets. The bravery of Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart was given a matter-of-fact treatment that might have reduced the impact on civilians, but Sam Sheppard's dry, pained questioning of the two made it clear that they knew they were going to almost certain death. The film also captured what looked like realistic shooting; the Americans tended to pick their shots carefully, while the Somalians sprayed, which is what so many directors have so many characters do in far too many movies. In real life, sometimes one finds civilians get bribed to do this for fifty bucks and the emptying of a certain number of magazines. The movie has an amazing cast of headliners in every role, from Sam Sheppard as General Garrison, to Jason Isaacs as Captain Steele. A couple of the REAL pilots from the battle flew the choppers, and some of the extras were portrayed by participants as well. (I noted with some amusement that the actors were put through a truncated version of one of the courses I took during my first enlistment!) When one thinks of what this movie would have been like in other hands, it's enough to make one cringe. The high-powered cast makes the characters memorable, because battles don't leave a lot of room for lengthy speeches, and the only glitches---as I noted---are minor and mostly necessary to compress Mark Bowden's excellent book down into three hours. The score was instantly recognizable as one of Hans Zimmer's, and it's interesting to spot faces that Scott went on to use again, as he often does. This review comes from one of the few times I've been able to watch the movie. Its accuracy can make it hard viewing for anybody who's gone through anything of the sort, while Hollywood tripe tends to be comfortingly entertaining thank to its very unreality. For civilians, this gives you a taste of what it's like.

This has always been my favorite movie! Always gets me in the mood to play call of duty after. Watched this with our kids for the first time and they loved it as well.

To start off with, before or after seeing the movie, reading the book would be a huge plus because the book is incredibly good. It may well fill in any gaps or questions that were not addressed in the movie. Seeing the movie after reading the book, It was very apparent that the movie followed the book very closely and was excellently done.The movie does not delve into the politics of the U.S. in Somalia but it does give an introductory, although short, explanation why we were there and what we were trying to accomplish. Some reviewers have stated that we shouldn't have been there in the first place. Let's take a look - it was reported that 300,000 Somalian citizens had starved to death because their emergency food supplies (flown in by the U.S.) were taken away by Somalian warlords. The Somalian militias then attacked U.N. peacekeeping forces and rendered them just about useless. The United States was about the only nation left to go and render aid and assistance because no one else was going to do it. We had honest and just reasons to try to shut down the warlords and help a country that was harboring genocidal killers that were perpetrating vicious crimes against humanity.Being in the military myself for 14 years now, I can relate to what goes through a soldiers mind and why we in the military are asked to do certain things that the average citizens of our country cannot always relate to. It's not easy to explain, but we in the military are very proud and rely on honor, integrity, teamwork, and pride. We work very hard to protect our country, other countries, and those in the world who cannot protect themselves and who need our help. This is just one of the reasons that makes America great.In October of 1993, some 100 or so U.S. Military Forces comprised of the Army Rangers, Delta Force, and the Special Operations Aviation Regiment (S.O.A.R.) were tasked to extricate two key individuals in the warlord clan led by Mohammed Aidid to help stop the crimes against the Somalian people. This extrication was to take place in an extremely hostile area in the middle of the city of Mogadishu in broad daylight. According to initial planning, it was to be a 30 to 35 minute operation which ended up playing out to be a horrifying 16 to 18 hour ordeal. The reality at the onset was looking to be successful until two Blackhawk type helicopters were shot down using rocket propelled grenades (RPG's).The U.S. soldiers were immediately thrown into an environment of total chaos being that the Somalian militias were very heavily armed and attacked from every section of the city. Adding to the misery was that hundreds, if not thousands of Somalian citizens had weapons also and relentlessly attacked our soldiers for hours on end without hesitation. The U.S. soldiers, taking many disastrous casualties and injuries of their own, secured both helicopter crash scenes, fought all the way through with almost unheard of courage and determination, brought all of their wounded and dead out that they could, and showed more bravery and resolve than could ever be asked of anyone.Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer have long been involved in movies of non-stop action and heart pounding excitement. I don't see this movie as so much an action movie but compare it more to a documentary and an entirely realistic vision of what actually happened on that fateful day. I believe that the movie was exceptionally well made and showed exactly what needed to be showed. This was not a movie to be a forum for the politics of why we were there. The movie states why we were there and how the military was intimately involved. If there is anyone who questions our military or how good they really are or what sacrifices we have made in history for our country and other countries, this movie is indicative of why our country is the greatest with the greatest military. This is probably one of the 10 best war films ever made and I think it is important for U.S. citizens to really know what happened that day in Somalia to get a clear picture.I couldn't give this review 5 stars because of the poor content of the DVD release. There are trailers for 2 movies but neither are for Black Hawk Down. Not good. There is no directors commentary and no worthwhile featurettes. Why? In the age of digital sound and video, we are seeing much more of DTS sound on large amounts of DVD releases. The 5.1 Dolby surround on this movie was excellent but DTS would have been sensational and they should have considered this when making the DVD. I have a reasonably good suspicion that they will re-release this DVD with a load of extra's in the future and possibly DTS sound. It may be worth the wait.If you like war movies, especially those that are based on true events and very accurate, you will probably find Black Hawk Down to your liking. A small word of warning though. This movie depicts very graphic scenes of injuries and carnage and death. But, that is precisely how it should have been done so that the viewer can relate to what actually happened. I hope most of you will be able to appreciate this movie as much as I did.

Great movie

This is always a great movie no matter how many times you watch it. I saw it when it first came out, it my son who is 12 wanted to watch a war movie since he wants to go to the military so I decided on this one. If you haven’t seen it I suggest you rent it. Very emotional movie, but also keeps your attention the whole time.

Filme muito bom, fiquei muito satisfeito, tem áudio em Português nos dois discos. O único problema foi com a Amazon que mudou duas vezes a data da entrega atrasando.

excelente pelicula, la version 4k tarda un poco en empezar y la normal bien, las probe en un xbox one, trae un disco de bonus en total 3 discos, la calidad de video es muy buena, pelicula que no debe de faltar en tu coleccion si te gustan las peliculas de guerra

Quick delivery. Brilliant film.

I love movie's based on true events and this one is really good at telling the story of the US army went through during there deployment to Somalia

Jaja, die Amis als Weltenretter. Mit dem noblen Ziel, den Bürgerkrieg und die daraus resultierende Hungersnot in Mogadischu zu bekämpfen, schickt Washington im Sommer 1993 einen bis an die Zähne bewaffneten Trupp Rangers und Deltas nach Somalia. Ziel ist es, den grausamen Warlord Aidid zu fassen – oder zumindest durch die Festnahme seiner hochrangigsten Offiziere seine Macht entscheidend zu schwächen. Der perfekt durchdachte Plan, wie eine Schlange blitzschnell ins Herz der gebeutelten Großstadt zu stoßen und mit ein paar wertvollen Gefangenen innerhalb einer knappen Dreiviertelstunde wieder zu türmen, geht dann katastrophal schief – und die sich bis dahin als unbesiegbar aufspielenden Army-Jungs müssen schnell begreifen, dass sie ihren Arm in ein Wespennest gesteckt haben.Diesen völlig aus dem Ruder laufenden Einsatz – die vielleicht größte amerikanische Militärkatastrophe seit dem Vietnamkrieg und mit über 1000 toten Somaliern überdies auch außenpolitisch ein Fiasko – stellt Meisterregisseur Ridley Scott, der sich knapp zuvor mit „Gladiator“ ruhmreich aus der Versenkung gesprengt hatte, minutiös nach und schafft damit einen der eindrucksvollsten Kriegsfilme aller Zeiten. Die Kompromisslosigkeit, mit der er den verzweifelten Straßenkampf der eingekesselten Soldaten nachzeichnet, ist bemerkenswert: Nach einer knappen halben Stunde Vorgeschichte samt politischem Background und stichprobenartiger Einführung der wichtigsten Protagonisten prasselt ein nicht enden wollendes, 90-minütiges Dauerfeuer auf den Zuschauer nieder. Es gibt keine Ablenkung, keine erlösenden Nebenhandlungsstränge oder Schnitte auf die trauernden Ehefrauen zuhause, wie andere Kriegsfilme dies gerne tun, um ihre Geschichte mit Emotionalität anzureichern – hier werden wir ins Zentrum des Gemetzels geschmissen und bis zum Ende nicht wieder herausgeholt. Das ist anstrengend, aber wirklich beeindruckend konsequent.Viel Charaktertiefe kann man hier schon deshalb nicht erwarten, da das Geschehen innerhalb von knappen 24 Stunden stattfindet… und die meiste Zeit sind die – in ihren staubigen Uniformen eh schwer identifizierbaren – Soldaten ohnehin mit ihrem panischen Überlebenskampf beschäftigt. Dennoch gelingt es Scott und den Schauspielern, aus ihren knapp umrissenen Figuren einiges herauszuholen und sie mit Ecken und Kanten zu versehen. Wichtigster Protagonist ist der von Josh Hartnett (den ich nach Pearl Harbor schon als verweichlichten Schönling abgeschrieben hatte) stark gespielte, frisch beförderte Sgt. Eversman, der verzweifelt versucht, in der schwierigen Situation seiner Verantwortung seinen Männern gegenüber gerecht zu werden. Dem Teamplayer Eversman, der fest an das Gute ihrer Mission glaubt, gegenübergestellt steht der entschlossene Einzelkämpfer Hoot, gespielt von Eric Bana (Troja) - in den beiden Charakteren wird der Kontrast zwischen Idealismus und verbissener Resignation deutlich gemacht. Bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen auch der wortgewandte Schreibtischhengst Grimes (Ewan „Obi-Wan“ McGregor), der unversehens in die für ihn ungewohnte Krisensituation hineingeworfen wird, der knurrige Rangers-Captain Steele (Jason Isaacs) und der kampferfahrene Col. McKnight (Tom Sizemore, der seine Rolle aus Saving Private Ryan praktisch übernehmen konnte). Sam Shepard gibt den für die Mission verantwortliche General Garrison, einen abgebrühten texanischen Militär-Haudegen, der mit ansehen muss, wie ihm die Kontrolle über die Lage mehr und mehr entrissen wird.Dass sich Pathos und amerikanischer Patriotismus hier in Grenzen halten, rechne ich dem Film überdies hoch an. Sicher gibt es gegen Ende mehr als eine erhebende Szene, in der der Zusammenhalt der Soldaten untereinander heldenhaft hervorgehoben wird – aber diese Einstellung ist durchaus realistisch und ohne diese tiefe Form von Kameradschaft würde kein Mensch in diesem harten Job funktionieren. Dadurch, dass das Credo der Rangers „Leave No Man Behind“ sich im Laufe des Einsatzes als tückischer Domino-Effekt entpuppt, da mit jedem zu rettenden Soldaten Dutzende mehr in tödliche Gefahr geraten, wird diese ergreifende Prämisse subtil unter ein kritisches Licht gestellt. Besonders tragisch ist hier die Episode mit den beiden Delta-Scharfschützen Shugart und Gordon, die bei der Verteidigung des abgestürzten Piloten Mike Durant von der Horde der Milizen praktisch überrannt werden und auf grausame Art ihr Leben verlieren.Natürlich stellt sich bei so einer Art von Film irgendwie die Frage, was uns das Ganze eigentlich sagen will. Offen kriegskritisch wie ein Apocalypse Now oder Full Metal Jacket ist Black Hawk Down sicher nicht…. Da braucht man die alte Grundsatzfrage, ob es einen Antikriegsfilm per Definition überhaupt geben kann, gar nicht erst anschneiden. Ridley Scott und Drehbuchautor Ken Nolen (die zugrunde liegende Buchvorlage über den Einsatz stammt von dem Reporter Mark Bowden) umgehen dieses Dilemma, indem sie das Geschehen knallhart, aber unparteiisch und praktisch kommentarlos in Szene setzen. Sicher werden die amerikanischen Soldaten hier als tapfere Helden dargestellt… doch auf die Frage, inwiefern ihr Einsatz das Leiden der somalischen Zivilbevölkerung verringert hat, liefert der Film keine Antwort. Das hebt den Film wohltuend vom Hurra-Patriotismus von fürchterlichen Kriegsschmonzetten wie Pearl Harbor oder Wir waren Helden ab; selbst Steven Spielberg konnte sich in seinem – zweifelsfrei meisterhaften – Kriegsepos James Ryan eine dicke Ladung Kitsch nicht verkneifen. In Ridley Scotts Black Hawk Down dagegen geben kühle Taktik, militärische Präzision und anschließend knallharter Überlebenskampf den Ton an – bei so viel Action bleibt nicht mehr viel Raum für moralische Reflexion. Diese überlässt der Film – zum Glück – dem aufmerksamen Zuschauer, wenn er sich im Nachhinein seine eigenen Gedanken über die Geschehnisse macht… und das erlebt man im Kriegsfilmgenre leider nur selten. Ein starker Film! 9 von 10PS: Der Soundtrack von Hans Zimmer klingt ausnahmsweise mal nicht genau gleich wie sämtliche Zimmer-Media Ventures-Actionsoundtracks der frühen 2000er. Stattdessen rührt er hier einen kontrastreichen Cocktail aus orientalischen Instrumenten, afrikanischen Gesängen, Hiphop-Beats und Hardrock-Einlagen samt E-Gitarren zu wummernd-synthetischen Rhythmen zusammen. Eine kuriose Mischung und auch abseits vom Film ein Ohr wert!