Black Hawk Down (Blu-ray) (2001)

"It is an exceptional accomplishment.  Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle
"...a splendid, almost unprecedented, piece of filmmaking...  Curtis Edmonds, TxReviews.com
"...a visual masterpiece.  TheFilmChair.com

Editor's Note On October 3, 1993, Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force participated in a covert operation in Mogadishu, Somalia that went horribly wrong. Sent to abduct two lieutenants of a vicious Somali warlord, the soldiers found themselves surrounded by hostile militia. Two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and many men lost their lives. Mark Bowden of the Philadelphia Inquirer told the story of the battle in his exhaustively researched, critically acclaimed book, BLACK HAWK DOWN, and filmmaker Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR) and screenwriter Ken Nolan have done an amazing job of bringing the dramatic story to the screen. Like Bowden's book, the film does not thoroughly examine the context of the conflict, but gives a detailed and intense blow-by-blow account of the fighting. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Josh Hartnett as a competent but nervous Ranger sergeant leading his first mission, Ewan McGregor as a "desk jockey" who excels when sent into combat, Eric Bana (THE INCREDIBLE HULK) as a cocky and enigmatic Delta, and Ron Eldard as a downed Black Hawk pilot. The violence of the film is brutal and nearly constant. Scott unflinchingly captures the chaos and mayhem of battle with tremendous visual finesse.

	Ewan McGregor
	Jason Isaacs
	Josh Hartnett
	Tom Sizemore
	Jerry Bruckheimer, et. al. - Producer
	Ken Nolan - Screenplay
	Pietro Scalia - Editor
	Ridley Scott - Director
	Slawomir Idziak - Cinematographer
	Tobias Enhus, et. al. - Original Music By

New York Times
"...There may be no working director more accomplished at wringing texture out of the color blue than the prodigious and now prolific Mr. Scott..." 12/28/2001 p.E1

USA Today
"...BLACK HAWK's knockout photography, editing and sound are all state of the art..." 12/28/2001 p.9D

Rolling Stone
"...A personal best for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a triumph for Scott and a war film of prodigious power. You will be shaken..." 01/31/2001 p.57-8

Variety
"...[The] images have a raw, vital quality that heightens the urgent, you-are-there quality of the action, and all the equipment, effects and military-related details are superb..." 12/10/2001 p.31-5

Sight and Sound
"...[Made] with immense technical skill and spectacular photography..." 02/01/2002 p.41

Box Office
"...Well-made..." 03/01/2002 p.61

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Gripping, incisive....An attempt to record as accurately as possible what it was like to be under fire on that mission..." 03/31/2002 p.5

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he aerial photography of Black Hawks sweeping across the coastline is stunning....Technically the film is excellent..." 07/01/2007 p.19

Reel Movie Critic 9 of 10
Black Hawk Down is a great action movie that allows one to enjoy it for what it is. It also gives us something to think about beyond the limited focus of the men on the battlefield whose thoughts are in the right now time frame, to kill others so that they are not killed. That's important, but there is a bigger picture that we all need to see. - George Singleton

Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
The movie is single-minded in its purpose. It wants to record as accurately as possible what it was like to be one of the soldiers under fire on that mission...Films like this are more useful than gung-ho capers like Behind Enemy Lines. They help audiences understand and sympathize with the actual experiences of combat troops, instead of trivializing them into entertainments. - Roger Ebert