In the early 1990s, years of warfare between different clans in Somalia had caused severe famine, and the rise of powerful Warlords like Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The U.S. and U.N. had tried peacekeeping efforts to get food to the starving people, but this was met with more violence and a declaration of war. Army Rangers and Delta Force teams launched a 3 week mission to remove Aidid, but he’s been a difficult man to find. It’s been 6 weeks and Washington is growing impatient. So on October 3, 1993, a mission is greenlit for a raid in the middle of Mogadishu, in hopes of abducting two of Aidid’s top lieutenants. 160 American soldiers on 19 helicopters are sent in for what was supposed to be a 30-minute snatch and grab, but when one of their Black Hawk helicopters is shot down, the whole mission changes. With roads blocked off, and hundreds of armed civilians making their way to the crash site, it becomes an all out battle and struggle to survive, as the Rangers stay true to their creed about never leaving one of their own behind.

Black Hawk Down is a tense, action-packed, star-studded modern warfare drama that still holds up extremely well over 20 years later. As the film starts off, we get to know a lot of these soldiers as they joke around with one another in the barracks, talk to their loved ones on the phone, etc. before they head out on this mission. Among the soldiers we meet are Sgt. Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), who’s a bit of an idealist and is going to be a team lead for the first time; wide-eyed new soldier Blackburn (Orlando Bloom) who has just arrived at camp; and Grimes (Ewan McGregor) who’s used to working behind a desk but is assigned to the mission last minute. There are so many other recognizable faces in this cast, including Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Sam Shepard, Kim Coates, Hugh Dancy, Ron Eldard, Ioan Gruffudd, Tom Guiry, Jason Isaacs, Zeljko Ivanek, Jeremy Piven, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ty Burrell, and more.

After the helicopter is shot down, the soldiers take to the streets to try to protect those who are injured until help can arrive, but with roadblocks at every corner, it’s going to be a while before any reinforcements can get through. This was supposed to be a quick mission, and some of the other men even poked fun at Grimes for over-packing, but now they wish they had all those extra supplies! The soldiers find themselves behind enemy lines, with a well-armed militia headed their way. Dangers are lurking around every corner, and the soldiers desperately try to find a way out, but they often end up pinned down, with guns blazing. It would take a miracle to survive this, and not everyone is going to.

Black Hawk Down is an intense film, that doesn’t hold back as it explores the horrors of war. The film is filled with some great, emotional performances and tense action sequences. Director Ridley Scott does an excellent job of putting order to the seemingly chaotic situation, and making the viewer experience all of this chaos with the characters. In order to keep the movie from becoming depressing rather than entertaining, there are also some lighter moments mixed in to break up the action. A lot of these more comical moments involve soldier Nelson (Ewen Bremner), who has gone deaf from his partner Twombly (Tom Hardy) shooting a large gun close to his ear. The pair unknowingly gets separated from the rest of their team and try to find their way back, but there’s several comical mishaps along the way.

The Rangers have a creed they recite daily about never leaving a man behind, and they take this seriously. Those going in to rescue their trapped comrades know they may not survive, but there’s no doubt in their minds that they are doing the right thing. This film can be a bit devastating to watch, knowing that some of these characters were based on real soldiers, but it does a nice job of taking the viewer on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Sony had previously released Black Hawk Down in a standard 4K disc release 4 years ago and a Best Buy-exclusive SteelBook 2 years ago. The contents of this new SteelBook release are nearly identical to those, except that this new release now offers Dolby Vision in addition to the original HDR10 color grading, and is packed in a beautiful new collectable SteelBook case. The picture looks great, with more natural looking color and a noticeable improvement over the original Blu-ray release. This is a gritty, fast-moving film, but there is an excellent level of detail, especially in faces, and the textures of uniforms. There were a few moments that looked a bit too dark to me, particularly in the upper portion of the frame, but there was no black crush, and otherwise a solid presentation. The disc’s Atoms soundtrack is also stunning, providing an incredibly immersive viewing experience, especially as the copter blades spin overhead, or bullets and RPGs fly across the screen. The rumbling boom of the explosions can be felt in the room.

This release features beautiful new SteelBook packaging, which can be seen below. It has more of a matte finish rather than shinier, more reflective case included with The Guns of Navarone. The 4K and Blu-ray Bonus discs reside on the right side of the case and the Blu-ray feature disc on the left, while an insert provides instructions for redeeming a 4K Movies Anywhere digital copy of the film. Both the 4K and Blu-ray discs offer the film in both its theatrical cut and slightly longer extended edition. All of the bonus material resides on the Blu-ray discs—3 audio commentaries and an extensive 151-minute making-of feature on the main disc, and more than 4 hours of additional behind-the-scenes featurettes, news reports, deleted scenes, a music video, trailers, TV spots and more on the bonus disc. The bonus material is identical to the previous 4K disc release—there is no newly-added content for this SteelBook.

What’s Included:

Film: (2:24:18 Theatrical / 2:31:50 Extended)

4K UHD:
• Theatrical & Extended Versions
• 2160p / Widescreen 2.40:1
• Dolby Vision / HDR10
• Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1, Spanish Dolby Surround
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Blu-ray:

• Theatrical Version
• 1080p / Widescreen 2:40:1
• Audio: English PCM 5.1 (Uncompressed), English 5.1, French 5.1
• Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai

Digital (Limited time offer):

• 4K digital copy of both cuts of the film when redeemed via Movies Anywhere

Extras:
All bonus material resides on the Blu-ray discs.

• Audio Commentaries
  • Author Mark Bowden & Screenwriter Ken Nolan (2:24:19)
    Author of the novel “Black Hawk Down” and the screenwriter of the film.
  • Producer Jerry Bruckheimer & Director Ridley Scott (2:24:19)
  • U.S. Special Forces Veterans ’93 (2:24:19)
    Task Force Ranger Veterans Col. Tom Matthews (Ret.), Col. Lee Van Arsdale (Ret.), MSgt. Matt Eversmann & Col. Danny McKnight (Ret.).
• The Essence of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down (2:31:20)
  Extensive 6-part making-of documentary. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with author Mark Bowden, screenwriter Ken Nolan, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director/producer Ridley Scott, military advisor/associate producer Harry Humphries, Maj. Bill Butler (public affairs officer, 75th Ranger regiment), extras casting Billy Dowd, costume designer Sammy Howarth-Sheldon, executive producer Branko Lustig, MSgt. Matt Eversmann, stunt coordinator Phil Neilson, composer Hans Zimmer, visual effects supervisor (Aslyum) David Jones, visual effects supervisor (The Mill) Tim Burke, military consultant SFC John Collett (Ret.), Task Force commander Lt. Col. Kurt Potts, and stars Ewan McGregor (“Grimes”), Eric Bana (“Hoot”), Jason Isaacs (“Steele”), Orlando Bloom (“Blackburn”), Ian Virgo (“Waddell”), Gabriel Casseus (“Kurth”), Sam Sheppard (“Garrison”), Josh Hartnett (“Eversmann”), Hugh Dancy (“Schmid”), Jeremy Piven (“Wolcott”), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Gordon”), Johnny Strong (“Shughart”), Ron Eldard (“Durant”), Brian Van Holt (“Struecker”), Tom Sizemore (“McKnight”), Ewen Bremner (“Nelson”), Brendan Sexton III (“Kowalewski”), William Fichtner (“Sanderson”), Michael Roof (“Maddox”), Steven Ford (“Cribbs”), Kim Coates (“Wex”), Tom Hardy (“Twombly”), Matthew Marsden (“Sizemore”) & Razaaq Adoti (“Mo’Alim”). Presented in 4:3 Full Frame format. Play All, or select from:
  • Getting It Right (23:11)
    The events, origin of the novel, the screenplay, and characters.
  • Crash Course (29:56)
    A look at the Ranger Orientation and training the actors went through.
  • Battlefield: Morocco (30:03)
    Filming the action in Morocco for Mogadishu.
  • Hymn To The Fallen (17:57)
    The music and score.
  • Digital Warriors (23:09)
    The use of visual effects.
  • After Action Report (24:58)
    How little people remember or know about these events.
• Black Hawk Down “On The Set” (24:08)
  The cast and crew discuss the story, characters, filming locations, boot camp training, and more. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with the cast and crew. Some of this footage already appeared in the previous Making-Of feature. Participants include author Mark Bowden, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, director Ridley Scott, co-military advisors Col. Lee Van Arsdale & Col. Thomas Matthews, screenwriter Ken Nolan, prduction designer Arthur Max, associate producer/military advisor Harry Humphries, operations officer 160th SOAR Maj. Brian Bean, task force commander 160th SOAR LtC. Kirk Potts, and stars Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, William Fichtner, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Sheppard, Orlando Bloom, Michael Roof, Brian Van Holt, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ron Eldard, Presented in 4:3 letterboxed format.
• The History Channel: The True Story of Black Hawk Down (1:31:35)
  History Channel documentary from 2002 on the events portrayed in the film. Presented in 4:3 letterboxed format.
• Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu (55:02)
  PBS news report from 2001 on the events portrayed in the film. Presented in 4:3 Full Frame format.
• Question & Answer Forums (32:38)
  Cast and crew members discuss the film following various screenings of the movie. Presented in 4:3 Full Frame format. Play All, or select from:
  • BAFTA (10:25)
    British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London, England, December 14, 2001. Participants: director Ridley Scott, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, author Mark Bowden, stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor & Jason Isaacs, and technical advisor Col. Tom Matthews. Moderator: Andrew Collins.
  • Editor’s Guild (10:30)
    Motion Picture Editors Guild, Beverly Hills, CA January 10, 2002. Participant: editor Pietro Scalia. Moderator: Bennett Goldberg.
  • American Cinematheque (11:43)
    American Cinematheque, Hollywood, CA February 25, 2002. Participants: director Ridley Scott & producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Moderator: Dennis Bartok.
• “Target Building Insertion” (6 Angles) with Commentary (5:44)
  Assistant director Terry Needham talks about working with Ridley Scott and the role of the assistant director, and discusses the “Target Building Insertion” sequence with six different angles of the scene displayed on the screen at once.
• Deleted & Alternate Scenes (20:01)
  Collection of 8 deleted/alternate scenes with optional commentary from director Ridley Scott. Presented in 4:3 letterbox format. Play All, or select from:
  • Opening (3:27)
  • Downtime (1:37)
  • Ping Pong Injury (:53)
  • Snafu (3:22)
  • Triage & O.R. (1:15)
  • Night Moves (1:48)
  • Taking Stock (5:58)
  • Alternate Ending (2:25)
• Music Video: Denez Prigent & Lisa Gerrard: Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends (3:54)
• Image & Design (29:31)
  Presented in 4:3 Full Frame format. Play All, or select from:
  • Designing Mogadishu (13:08)
    Production designer Arthur Max discusses creating the look of Mogadishu in Morocco. Includes production photos and artwork, and behind-the-scenes footage.
  • Ridleygrams with Commentary (7:23)
    Side-by-side comparisons between Ridley Scott’s original storyboards and the final shots, along with an unidentified commentator talking about Ridley’s art background.
  • Jerry Bruckheimer’s On-Set Photography (5:30)
    Producer Jerry Bruckheimer talks about his early love of cameras and working on the movie, over a slideshow of the photos he took on the set.
  • Invisible Design/Title Exploration with Commentary (3:28)
    Flavio (KAMPAH) Campagna discusses the process of creating the opening titles for the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (2:24)
• Original TV Spots (6:35)
  Collection of TV spots presented in 4:3 Full Frame format. Play All, or select from:
  • #1 Movie (:32)
  • Academy Awards #1 (:32)
  • Action Quotes Final (:17)
  • Compassion Even Revised (1:02)
  • Emotion Quotes (1:02)
  • Josh (:32)
  • Review (:32)
  • Triumph (:32)
  • Unforgettable Alt (:32)
  • Witness The Courage Final Revised (1:02)
• Photo Galleries
  Advance through galleries of production and behind-the-scenes photos. Select from:
  • Production Photos (4:34)
  • Production Design (2:30)
  • Poster Explorations (1:08)

Final Thoughts:

Black Hawk Down is a intense, exciting and raw look at modern warfare, depicting a real-world event, and featuring an amazing star-studded cast. It’s another excellent film from director Ridley Scott, who really puts the viewer right into the chaos and action. The audio and video presentation is excellent, and the release includes an extensive compilation of previously-released bonus material. Sony had previously released this film on standard and SteelBook 4K, but the 4K disc in this release now includes Dolby Vision, and is packaged in a different SteelBook case. Those who already own a previous 4K release will need to decide if it’s worth a double-dip. But if you don’t already own a copy of this movie, or just own the original DVD or Blu-ray release, this is definitely worth picking up.

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Black Hawk Down SteelBook (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital) [4K UHD]

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35% Off $45.99 $29.99 (as of April 26, 2024 13:38 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)

Returning to 4K UHD as a limited edition SteelBook Feature now includes Dolby Vision, plus existing Dolby Atmos audio Includes hours of special features!