Black Hawk Down [DVD] [2011]

great war film

Some films are to Hollywood what a good tip is to the dealer in a card game. Known as the ‘Croupier’s Chip’ - it is traditionally given by the winner to the dealer at the end of the game... In terms of Dramatic Films in the past three decades ‘Black Hawk Down’ is to the Action Drama what ‘As Good As It Gets’ is to comedy. It’s going to take a long time to better it.The success behind it is the judgment of Ridley Scott. And his timing in making the film. Made in the same year as 9/11; it didn’t hit the cinemas worldwide en masse until a few months after. It was also made a full two years before Saddam Hussein was removed from power in Iraq.It is a testamental warning to strategists on intervention. When to intervene and whether you have the judgement at all to do so.Nobody would disagree that Bill Clinton did absolutely the right thing. And nobody will doubt it is the last time international powers will ever care to intervene within an African Union state ever again (militarily speaking).The cast Ridley Scott put together as an ensemble is incredibly well judged. So well judged that sadly; no one actor was singled out for any major awards. And as of 2021 Ridley Scott has almost equalled Martin Scorsese’s regard for most Academy Award Nominations for Best Director, without a win. Scorsese had been nominated five times before picking up the award. Ridley Scott is now up to four nominations without a nod.And we are up to sadly what he should have won for... this film. So he’s left open to the same comments as Scorsese; that any win achieved is as a result of the guilt of neglect of recognition by the Academy.Then there are the vested interests of politicians such as Barack Obama in East Africa and Iraq. When you compare his record on pure humanitarian grounds; there is no comparison to Bill Clinton whose judgement was sharp and clear and often embarrassed the UN with his sense of decency. This film reflects a noble but failed attempt. And it pulls no punches but has no bias whatever. And it keeps you watching for full information.The world was after all left with the bombing of the WTC building in Kenya in 1994. And Clinton was not going to keep ignoring the warning signals no matter how he was blackmailed over his personal life and Flowers and Lewinsky’s public testimony.He certainly did not pursue the Obama track on foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East which appeared to be a campaign of cringeworthy squirming on whether people will associate foreign policy with sexuality globally. The ‘Not in our name’ complex which seemed more about humouring warlords on the defence of marriage than saving lives. Clinton had to face Obama from the mid-90s as an enemy within. And the subtle themes which you find in ‘Black Hawk Down’ show it for all its worth.The ensemble is the ensemble and I pick no actor out. Because they almost bring the dead back alive to tell their own story.The G7 of countries will now never come to the aid of any society which shows its intervening humanitarian forces being dismembered with rocks, stones and clubs inside a downed helicopter.Ridley’s audience is still waiting for him to pick up the award. But regardless; he is one of Tyneside’s finest. And he has with Hollywood whilst maintaining the best of classicism effortlessly.

Its not often a film comes along where it ignores the rules of a typical 'shoot em-up' war movie, yet often gets slated as a cliche 'shoot em-up' war movie.The film follows The Battle Of Mogadishu on October 3rd and 4th of 1993. A simple mission of capturing a war lord which turns into an all out blood bath. 90 American soldiers were killed and wounded, and up tp 3000 somalians (including civilians) were killed oand severely wounded.When creating a film about a very controversial issue there are two obvious ways to do it. Make a film examening the horrors and the true crime of that day, or (as stated before) do a cliche Pro American 'Shoot em-up'. This film does neither. It does not show both sides of the argument it just shows the American Army (known as Rangers) going into an enemy occupied territory and then, all hell breaks loose.The film restrains itslef from making rediculous speeches about being a hero, or trivialising characters to obvious and dull traits. All it does is show war! It claims to be an accurate representation of the horrors that occured on that day (and night), and thats exacly what it does. After 20 minutes this film just shows the realism and sometimes foolishnes of war. Beautifuly directed and expertly pulled of by Ridley Scott this 2 hour and 20 minute film will leave you thinking about what you just saw. Although this movie will not be for everyone, it will certianly impress a great deal of people with its realistic and honest approach to war.Now onto the BLU RAY! The picture is very good although inconsistent, the first 10 minutes look awfully grainy and dull, but dont fear this is intentional. After that the film clears up tremendously it is clear and sharp, with slight grain here and there. I would give the VIDEO 4.3 out of 5. However if the VIDEO does not impress the AUDIO will. My god does the film sound good. For people with surround sound you are going to be constantly turning around thinking someone is bombing through the wall behind you. 5 out of 5, THE BEST SOUNDING BLU RAY I HAVE COME ACROSS! Also a great 2 hour 30 minute documentary of the making of Black Hawk Down.There is not much more i can say about this Blu ray really. The film is Great, the video is good and the sound is PHENOMENAL!

Firstly i'd like to take a minute and correct some of the reviewers of this Blu Ray transfer of Black Hawk Down.A lot of people have been saying that the film had a lot of grain in it,well guess what, 'it was shot on a very similar location to the actual event location, so there is going to be grain in the picture i.e sand which has been put under the Blu Ray microscope.The opening scene i will say is'nt the best i've seen but that is because all the colour was washed out of that seen so the director had a certain look for it not because it's a bad transfer,and also Eric Bana doesnt look 'green' as someone else said in a review,he must have had the gamma levels very messed up for the image to turn green,all in all this transfer is very very good,there are a lot of nutral coulours in the film but they still stand out and the sound is fantastic,and i think it deserves a place in anyones blu ray collection,even if your replacing the dvd version like i am,so dont listen to the negative reviews judge for yourself and not be put off by others who don't know how to set their tv up properly.Obviously it's not it's not going to be as crisp and clear as films which are actually shot in hd now a days but when i watched it,it was like seeing it for the first time,so add it to your collection and enjoy

A replacement to an older. Well worth it

100 % OK Goede verzending en besteld item beantwoorde volledig aan de beschrijvingvan de verkoper ( uiterst tevreden ):-):-):-)

Die Ware war schnell da und ist so wie beschrieben.

Disc and case arrived in good condition. Good movie!

Most people probably think this battle was called Black Hawk Down, the name of the book that the movie is based on. In fact, it has a name - the First Battle of Mogadishu - to distinguish it from the NINE other battles for Mogadishu in the long civil war of Somalia. Living in a military town you hear things that aren't generally expressed and don't become common knowledge. The military was concerned when the Marines were pulled that all the heavy weapons, tanks and the like, were pulled with them. They were told that the UN had plenty and would provide them. The Somali's, along with a lot of other soon and potential enemies, believed that if you kill enough Americans they will leave. This is the lesson they got out of Vietnam. What Washington displayed in Somalia was a stunning ignorance of any of the lessons from Vietnam, tragically one of those lessons is that you can not direct every action of a war from Washington and we continue to miss that one.The movie does an excellent job of showing how the military can go from mind numbing boredom to a desperate chaotic battle for survival in seconds. It also does an excellent job at pointing out that the first horrible moments dispel any gung-ho attitudes that anyone might have had before the first shots were fired. This battle was the first time most Americans had even heard of the Delta Force and the movie does a good job of pointing out how these mostly older men were something of a legend even to the brave Rangers and how they had a calming effect in the midst of the chaos. Gordon and Shugart are the names of the two Delta Force men who displayed the uncommon courage of entering a firefight they knew they could not survive in order to save a brother soldier.There are important lessons that we can still learn from this battle. We should always make sure that everything our soldiers could need is in the hands of our own. We need to take the target off of our men and women, we do this by making sure of why we go where we go and that the cause is worth their blood.

This is the first time I've seen this movie and I thought it was very good. It is well acted and compelling even though one might know about this incident when it occurred. I happen to like Ridley Scott's movies and by coincidence I watched Prometheus prior to this movie. More importantly, I do not understand some of the reviews I read. Some suggest that this movie should not have been made because it was a military defeat? I don't understand that attitude. I don't believe this movie was intended to glorify a defeat, rather it tells a story from which we can learn and hopefully not make the same mistakes. This movie is not about the politics of the situation or the general who planned the mission. It's about the men on the ground, their camaraderie as well as what happens on the ground when things don't go as planned. However, this is not a documentary either, it more a story about soldiers and their willingness to die for their fellow servicemen. And while the movie has an R rating for violence, it is about the courage and honor as much as it is about the brutality and horror of war.In the beginning of the movie the men treat this as just another mission as they believe will be back in a few hours but, the movie viewer should know that is not to be. This is because the covert mission turns out to be not so covert, which results in one of the soldiers being injured during the initial deployment and soon thereafter one of the black hawk helicopters is hit and crashes. From that point onward there are two missions, the initial military objective and the additional objective to bring back those who are injured or killed. This movie is also about the commitment not to leave anyone behind as much as it is about the events of a failed military mission.