Black Hawk Down: Collector's Edition (2001) |
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Black Hawk Down: Collector's Edition (2001) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | War |
Dolby Digital Trailer-City Menu Animation & Audio Audio Commentary-Ridley Scott (Director) & Jerry Bruckheimer (Producer) Audio Commentary-Mark Bowden (Author) & Ken Nolan (Screenwriter) Audio Commentary-U.S. Special Forces Veterans '93 Filmographies-Cast & Crew Featurette-The Essence Of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down Featurette-Designing Mogadishu Gallery-Production Design Archive (7); Poster Concepts Storyboard Comparisons-Storyboards/Ridleygrams Featurette-Jerry Bruckheimer's BHD Photo Album Gallery-Photo-12 Featurette-Title Design Explorations Deleted Scenes-7 +/- commentary Alternate Ending-+/- commentary Featurette-True Story of Black Hawk Down; Frontline:Ambush in Mogadishu Multiple Angles-Target Building Insertion Featurette-Q & A Forums (3) Theatrical Trailer-Black Hawk Down; Spider-Man; Men In Black II Music Video-Gortoz A Ran-J'Attends featuring Denez Prigent & L Gerrard |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 2001 | ||
| Running Time | 138:26 | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
RSDL (60:17) Multi Disc Set (3) |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 2,4 | Directed By | Ridley Scott |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Sony Pictures Home Entertain |
Starring |
Josh Hartnett Ewan McGregor Tom Sizemore Eric Bana William Fichtner Ewen Bremner Sam Shepard Orlando Bloom |
| Case | Gatefold | ||
| RPI | $49.95 | Music | Hans Zimmer |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | None |
English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0  (192Kb/s)English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s)
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | 2.35:1 | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 2.40:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles |
English Dutch Hindi English for the Hearing Impaired Dutch Audio Commentary Dutch Audio Commentary Dutch Audio Commentary |
Smoking | Yes |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | No | ||
Ridley Scott's absorbing and intense film, Black Hawk Down, has been released as a magnificent 3-disc Collector's Edition.
After I originally saw Black Hawk Down at the cinema, a friend asked me if I enjoyed it. I replied that it wasn't the sort of film one enjoys, rather, like Apocalypse Now, or Schindler's List, it's a film that one experiences. I recall feeling completely emotionally drained after the first viewing of this movie, and it still manages to pack a punch, no matter how many times I see it.
After countless interviews with veterans, Black Hawk Down began life as a syndicated novel in an online newspaper. Written by Mark Bowden, who also wrote the first draft of the script, the original enthralling novel can be found here: http://inquirer.philly.com/packages/somalia/sitemap.asp
"Leave No One Behind"
This is the theme of the movie. Other films, such as Starship Troopers or We Were Soldiers have tried, with varying degrees of success, to get this point across, but this movie nails it. In my review of Band Of Brothers, I wrote how that brilliant series captured what seems to be the spirit of what it is to be a man in combat, a man whose life is dependent on the man beside him — the camaraderie and kinship of human beings thrust into an awful situation, with only each other to rely on. Black Hawk Down hammers home this sentiment, and that no one, no matter in what state, or in what predicament, is to be abandoned on the field of combat.
There is no traditional plot to this movie, rather it attempts to portray a series of horrifying events, as they happened. Black Hawk Down is based on an actual event: following a bloody civil war, Somalia slipped into an unprecedented anarchy of death and destruction. Over three hundred thousand people died of starvation. Murder, rape, torture, and/or theft, touched every single family in Somalia. The war-torn capital, Mogadishu, degenerated into being considered the most dangerous place on the face of the Earth. One warlord, President Aidid, declared war on the UN Peacekeepers, and his militia massacred (and mutilated) hundreds of foreign UN soldiers and care workers. In response, President Clinton sent the US Army Rangers and the elite Delta Force to Somalia, to capture Aidid, and to help restore order.
It is into this lawless environment, in October 1993, that a US task force is dropped into central Mogadishu, by helicopter, for what was supposed to be a 30-minute raid. A number of key Aidid lieutenants are meeting, and the task force is to "arrest" (read "kidnap") them. However, a Black Hawk helicopter is shot down, and all hell breaks lose. What became known as the Battle of Mogadishu begins, and it was to become the US Army's largest and fiercest ground engagement since the Vietnam War (and that includes the original Gulf War). Hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded in this hostile terrain, the US soldiers must fight from house to house, and from street to street, to survive, and ensure that no one is left behind.
Due to the nature of the film's narrative, there is very little character development. Based on real people, a variety of characters are presented, from the idealistic to the gung-ho. They're sometimes scared, sometimes hurting, and then there are those who rise above the intense hell that they find themselves in to inspire others. This sort of tightly-scripted, ensemble piece requires a good cast, and Black Hawk Down delivers. The international cast includes Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Ron Eldard, and Orlando Bloom.
Black Hawk Down is helmed by one of my favourite directors, Sir Ridley Scott, who time and time again takes scripts and lifts them into being art as film. For example, without his vision and craft, movies such as Alien or Hannibal could easily have ended up as being merely B-Grade schlock horror films. Other movies such as Gladiator and Blade Runner have become some of my most played DVDs. Like his brother, fellow director Tony Scott (Spy Game, Crimson Tide, Top Gun), Ridley injects a lot of atmosphere into his movies — swirling dust, turning fans, flags flapping in the breeze. Black Hawk Down is dripping with atmosphere, and one can't help but feel immersed.
However, when it comes to behind-the-camera talent, Ridley is not alone. He is joined by a gifted crew, including brilliant, Academy Award nominated DOP, Slavomir Idziak, and the very talented, Academy Award winning editor, Pietro Scalia. Indeed, in 2001, Black Hawk Down picked up two Oscars, for editing and sound. Black Hawk Down also features the work of my favourite film composer, Hans Zimmer. Again Zimmer works his magic here, and I'll discuss this further in the score section below. Finally, the movie has been produced by one of my favourite producers. In some film-critic circles, it's very un-cool to admit to liking Jerry Bruckheimer's work, but I love his films, including Flashdance, Beverley Hills Cop, Top Gun, The Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, Gone in Sixty Seconds, Pearl Harbor, and Black Hawk Down.
Finally, I pay tribute to Columbia Tristar, who continually deliver the goods for R4 DVD fanatics, such as myself. I own many, if not most, of their DVD releases, including Spider-Man, MIB, xXx, Hannibal, Gladiator, Apollo 13, Mummy Returns, and the Superbit DVDs, such as The Patriot. Their DVD catalogue contains some of the finest demo discs ever released in R4, and they have delivered once again, with a magnificent transfer of a great movie, and an extras package that is one of the most comprehensive and genuine that I have ever seen.
For further information about this amazing film, the official website is found at http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/blackhawkdown/
To capture the gritty realism of a war film, the original print is intentionally grainy, with a muted colour palette. The transfer accurately reflects the original print — in other words, it's excellent.
The transfer is beautifully presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, which is very close to its theatrical ratio of 2.40:1. It is 16x9 enhanced.
The sharpness of the image is breath-taking, for example, consider the close-up shot of a human eye at 80:04. The black level is excellent, but the shadow detail is intentionally limited due to the harsh lighting, and high-contrast image. For example, consider the shot at 3:08, where the black faces have almost no detail whatsoever. Again, this is an artistic choice, and an accurate reflection of the original print.
As noted earlier, the colour palette is intentionally muted, and often has a washed-out, yellow or greenish tinge. The skin tones are accurate.
Looking at the largest file of the feature (23,398 frames of the movie), the average bit rate was a very healthy 7.023 megabits per second. There are no noticeable problems with MPEG or film-to-video artefacts.
It appears that the same print was used for this transfer as was used with the original DVD release, as exactly the same film artefacts appear at the same time. I stress, however, that these are almost impossible to spot. For example, at 28:29, during the aerial shot, look very closely at the top left of the screen and you will see a brief flicker of a tiny black smudge. Also, very occasionally, there appeared to be some very mild edge enhancement, but this was never distracting.
The English subtitles are accurate.
This is a RSDL disc, and like the original DVD, the feature is divided into 28 chapters. The layer change has moved from 76:55, and it is now placed at 60:17. It was noticeable, but not disruptive.
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The audio is magnificent!
Originally released theatrically in Dolby Digital 5.1, dts, and SDDS, as noted earlier, this movie won Best Sound at the Academy Awards (2001). I must admit that a dts audio option would have been heavenly, but alas it is not on offer.
The feature audio is an immersive English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) audio track. There are also three English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround-encoded (192Kb/s) tracks for the audio commentaries.
The dialogue quality and audio sync are excellent, but obviously some of the dialogue is delivered through the crackle of radios, and other dialogue in the heat of battle. We share the characters' frustration and confusion, as some of what is said is drowned out through pounding gun-fire, and even by battle-deafness in the case of one character.
The musical score is credited to the great Hans Zimmer, who again has crafted a beautiful and exotic score, one that not only manages to heighten the screen-emotion, but also transports the viewer to war-torn Somalia. Zimmer's evocative and ethnic-flavoured scores, for films such as MI2, and Gladiator, have really made an incredible impact on my viewing experience of these movies.
The surround presence and activity is simply awesome — a word that I use very rarely. The wonderfully immersive sound-stage features a great deal of rear directional effects, and the rears burst to life in the cacophony of the battle scenes, for example the fire-fight at 113:04. The score also effectively snakes through the rears, such as at 120:36. There is also a great deal of panning between speakers, such as the helicopter at 83:37
As one would expect, this is a LFE-heavy audio track. From the rumbling of tanks and armoured cars, to deafening explosions, such as the explosions at 53:52 and 81:41, the subwoofer is used very extensively and effectively throughout.
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This 3-disc Collector's Edition is all about extras, and there are plenty of genuine and fascinating extras, that really added to my enjoyment and appreciation of the film. However, please note that two extras from the original release have been discarded: The marketing-focused featurette, On the Set: Black Hawk Down (24:03), and the trailer for The One.
This edition has been beautifully presented in a reflective slip-case, which in turn holds a gate-fold DVD case that unfolds to reveal the three discs. This very expensive packaging really adds to the collectability and presentation of this edition. Unless stated otherwise, all extras are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.
All menus on all three discs are presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, 16x9 enhanced. They are animated, with Dolby Digital stereo audio.
Dolby Digital Trailer
I wouldn't call this an extra, but I wish they would stop using this overly-loud, boring, and thoroughly annoying Dolby City trailer. At least the train and the water trailers have some style.
Audio Commentary 1
In an interesting commentary, Ridley Scott (Director) and Jerry Bruckheimer (Producer) discuss the background of the Somalian situation, and some of the challenges of filming this story. Scott also makes a number of poignant observations about the movie and its characters throughout.
Audio Commentary 2
Mark Bowden (Author) and Ken Nolan (Screenwriter) discuss the history of the book and script, and the difficulties of presenting this story cohesively on-screen.
Audio Commentary 3
Four "U.S. Special Forces Veterans '93", including Tom Mathews, Ret. Col. US Army, discuss both the original event, and their reaction to the movie. It seems that the movie was very faithful to the actual events, and to the look and feel of Somalia.
Filmographies -Cast & Crew
Text-based movie-biographical information (with images) of some of the cast: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, William Fichtner, Ron Eldard; and some of the crew: Ridley Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer, Hans Zimmer, Pietro Scalia, Arthur Max, Slawomir Idziak, Mark Bowden, Ken Nolan, Simon West, Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, and Branko Lustig.
Featurettes —The Essence Of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down
Featurettes --Image and Design
The Military Insertion scene is shown from five different angles (viewers can change between them using the remote). There is also a sixth 'angle', which is a composite of the five camera views. These can be watched with or without commentary by Terry Needham.
Three panel-style interviews are presented:
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
A 3-disc edition of Black Hawk Down was released on DVD in Region 1 in June, 2003.
The Region 4 DVD misses out on:
The Region 1 DVD misses out on:
Although there is no compelling reason to favour either version in terms of extras, I would favour the local version, as I always prefer a PAL image over the inferior NTSC standard.
With films such as Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, The Longest Day, and A Bridge Too Far, this is quite simply one of the very best war movies ever made depicting modern warfare. The gritty realism is disturbing, and the intense and relentless action will leave you without sleep. If you are already a fan of this movie, grab this 3-disc edition without hesitation.
The video quality is excellent.
The audio quality is also excellent and very immersive.
The extras are plentiful and genuine.
| Video | |
| Audio | |
| Extras | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Pioneer DV-535, using S-Video output |
| Display | Grundig Elegance 82-2101 (82cm, 16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. |
| Audio Decoder | Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials. |
| Amplification | Sony STR DE-545 |
| Speakers | Sony SS-V315 x5; Sony SA-WMS315 subwoofer |