Black Hawk down [4K UHD + Blu-ray]

One leaves the theater breathless after seeing "Black Hawk Down". Now, with my new DVD in hand, I am pleased to be able to see this film whenever I like. This is, most simply put, the most grittily realistic and overpoweringly authentic and accurate depiction of modern combat imaginable. This is the closest we ordinary citizens can come to the actual experience, as we are sucked involuntarily into the terrifying vortex of the world of modern combat. We careen into combat with the young volunteers, our hearts pounding, the sweat pouring off us as we go, feeling our blood pressure rise as we rappel breathlessly down with them to the hard dusty ground! Of course, with Ridley Scott involved, one comes to expect such amazingly spellbinding theatrics, yet this movie threads quickly along the well-greased storyline provided in the best selling book, adding the sharp, quicksilver dimensions of reality only such a stunningly visual depiction can offer in addition. And, from the anxious hand tremors of a young trooper about to descend into the madness of a flurry of hostile gunfire to the knowing worried glances a special forces combatant exchanges with one of his men, this is a superbly acted, casted, and choreographed set of battle scenes. And the scenes go relentlessly on and on.Precious little time is wasted here providing the outlines of what turns out to be a mission from Hell; policy makers in Washington (read Secretary Albright here, trying to show she could out-testosterone the guys) decide this bunch of cravenly aggressive mercenary tribes can be corralled and democratized, that Somalia can become an instant shining example of our new-found powers of nation-making, and the American peace-keeping forces are suddenly tasked with missions for which they are ill-equipped. Without sufficient armor or enough reaction troop strength, the command orders a kidnap mission to eliminate one of the warlords who is most actively opposing the new "pie-in-the=sky" political objectives, and a small force of young troopers are dispatched in several helicopters to make a quick-strike raid into the heart of Mogadishu. Just as they have reached the point of accomplishing their mission, a helicopter is shot down, and all at once, hell breaks loose.Yet this is truly just the beginning. The story of how these men stood their ground, how exceedingly well they fought, and how savagely they staved off the vastly superior numbers of local opponents who were well armed and supplied is only now becoming the stuff of legend. The real question one is left with after seeing the movie (or after reading the wonderful book, as well) is how such a valiant and well-executed action could have ever been described by both our government and the press as a defeat. It is more a lesson in the extraordinary and shameful timidity of everyone in the chain of command, from Madeline Albright to Colin Powell to the Secretary of Defense on down, who refused the Battle Scene Commander the resources he requested, that literally doomed the mission once things began to go awry.Therefore, while we did unfortunately lose eighteen men, we also inflicted hundreds of casualties on the opposing forces, and finally were able to successfully evacuate the balance of the American forces after having engaged the street fighters for an incredibly extended period of time. This engagement and the kind of men who fought in it should be sung of in battle hymns, not decried as evidence of American softness or lack of a will to fight. As always, the fault in the action lies not in the ferocious young men who fought and died so courageously and so well, but in the despicable and all too-human failures of their leaders and their government to use them wisely, to take greater care in placing them so carelessly in harm's way. Simply put, this is a great film, easily one of the best war films ever produced, and one I can heartily recommend! Enjoy!

Fantastic movie and even better with the extended scenes

An amazing war movie, very well done. Very good cast, effects. A must buy!

Old one broke got a new one still a good movie

This is a fantastic movie. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The action sequences are some of the best ever put onto the big screen. The Army Rangers and Delta Force are brave and dedicated in their efforts to capture a violent warlord. The movie focuses entirely on a mission to capture the lieutenants of a violent warlord. It was hoped that their capture would provide new intelligence on the wherabouts of the warlord, which was the ultimate goal. When this incident occurred the President and the country had already lost interest in Somalia. This is reinforced in the movie from what we don't see- there are no cutaways to politicans and generals in some Pentagon command center debating the proper course of action. Instead General Garrison(Sam Shepherd) is reminded by a subordinate to keep Washington apprised. The movie takes place on the day leading up to the mission and the day itself. Shortly after the Rangers commence their well orchestrated operation things go badly awry. The commanders, coordinating events from blackhawk helicopters, rush to adapt as casualities mount. The sequences of soldiers confronting the Warlord's militia and an overwhelming number of hostile citizens are gripping.The actors give fine performances and no doubt received much technical training from military advisers. Eric Bana is superb as a seen it all Delta Force soldier who gives comfort to a less experienced Army Ranger Sgt. One oddity though is Tom Sizemore who plays Colonel McKnight. All of the soldiers (save for Sizemore)accurately follow proper Army technical training by using all available cover and crouching to give the smallest possible profile to the enemy. Tom Sizemore's character defies this obvious logic and instead stands fully erect and out in the open with his big frame as bullets are whizzing by? Perhaps he thought this movie was a remake of the Green Berets.This movie is apolitical. It entirely focuses on the actions of the soldiers as they attempt to make it back to the safety of their base despite being surrounded by overwhelming numbers. As for the polictical events which go unmentioned- many people have characterised the events in Somalia as a failure of U.S foreign policy and of the Clinton administration. But what is little known perhaps because of our limited collective memory is that the decision to send U.S. forces to this country was made by President George Bush Sr. not President Clinton. When President Clinton took office U.S. forces were already in this war torn East African country. As history goes both of these Presidents should receive critisism for our failed effort in this country. They should both receive critisism for taking their eye off the ball. One takeaway from this film - we, as a nation, are much better at initiating military campaigns successfully then we are at ending them in the same manner.Just as the movie Apollo 13 showed NASA personnel at there best when facing the crisis of Astronauts in peril this movie shows our armed forces at there best as they work to avoid an even greater tragedy. I would put Blackhawk Down in the top 15 war movies of all time.