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Dan Owen reviews
Columbia TriStar
- Cert: R
- Running time: 143 minutes
- Year: 2001
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English, French
- Subtitles: English, French, Chinese, Thai
- Widescreen: 2.35:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: $27.95
- Extras: Featurette
Director:
- Ridley Scott
Screenplay:
- Ken Nolan
(based on the novel by Mark Bowden)
Cast:
- Staff Sgt. Eversmann: Josh Hartnett
Sgt. Hooten: Eric Bana
Ranger Spec. Grimes: Ewan MacGregor
Lt. Col. McKnight: Tom Sizemore
Maj. Gen. Garrison: Sam Shepard
Ranger Spec. Nelson: Ewen Bremner
Delta Sgt. Sanderson: William Fichtner
Ranger Cpl. Smith: Charlie Hofheimer
Ridley Scottcontinues a career revival he began withGladiator,by teaming up with infamous producing legend Jerry Bruckheimer, and takingon a contemporary war movie based on a novel by Mark Bowden. The resultis a more believable and moderately intelligent movie than you’d usuallyexpect from the Bruckheimer stable, and one that gives ample room forScott to flex his technical muscles.
Black Hawk Down is based on a true event that took place in 1993, when123 elite U.S. soldiers were air-dropped into Somalia to capture twoLieutenants of a renegade warlord, only for the mission to go wrong whena Black Hawk helicopter crashlands in the middle of the hostile city.The rescue operation sees comrades of the downed chopper facing a cityfull of heavily-armed Somali renegades in a violent battle to ensurethat “no man is left behind”.
Jerry Bruckheimer projects are usually high-concept movies that domassive business at the box-office because of their potent mix ofincredible special-effects and gung-ho testosterone (witness Top Gun,Armageddon,Pearl Harbor and many more). Black Hawk Downcertainly looks like a blatant Bruckheimer movie, but with Ridley Scottbehind the camera, the movie manages to retain a greater sense ofhumanity and intelligence usually missing in past Bruckheimerspectacles. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruckheimer’s influence wassomewhat lost when pitted against the similarly focused Scott.
Scott gathers a great cast of rising stars (Josh Hartnett), relativenewcomers (Eric Bana), and established old hands (Ewan MacGregor, TomSizemore), but they ultimately become little more than stereotypes andwalking plot-devices here. Of course, 90% of this movie is dedicated torecreating 1993’s U.S debacle, with little time given to developing thecharacters or, indeed, setting them up in the first place. All you needknow about the cast, according to screenwriter Ken Nolan, is that EwanMacGregor is anxious for battle after spending the Gulf War makingcoffee, and Josh Hartnett is an idealistic young soldier. Once the firsthalf-hour of typical ‘meet-and-greets’ are dispersed with, Ridley Scottopts to simply film the doomed mission in true OTT Bruckheimer style.
Despite the almost ‘par for the course’ storytelling problems with themovie, there’s simply no denying that the film delivers both visuallyand aurally. Scott directs with the visual prowess of a man half his ageraised on MTV commercials, obviously having great fun mixing together acacophony of directorial tricks that should prevent anyone from draggingtheir eyes away from the action. There are plenty of gruesome sequences(especially an eye-watering emergency operation on an injured soldier)and enough loud assaults and explosions to appease even the mostfeverish action movie fan.
So while the pacing is fantastic and the technical brilliance of themovie without reproach, it’s difficult to truly rate Black Hawk Downas a great war movie. If Bruckheimer and Scott set out to create avisually stunning piece of contemporary showmanship – they mainlysucceeded. But in doing so, their approach stops Black Hawk Down beinganything more than just another flashy recreation of an event peoplewill have seen on the news. UnlikeSaving Private Ryan,there’s no defining sense of humanity or underlying sadness, and no hidden depthsas seen inApocalypse Now.There just lots of action, plenty of shouting, missiles, gunfire, explosions,smatterings of gore, and some impressive helicopter crashes.
Overall then, Black Hawk Down is an enjoyable movie to watch, so longas you only consider war movies good entertainment for the inherentvisual thrills and auditory ferocity cinema can deliver these days.Those hoping for some depth of character, storytelling nuance, andclever commentary on modern warfare, should perhaps look elsewhere.
Black Hawk Down on Region 1 is a 1-disc DVD release in an Amaray case.The animated menus perfectly capture the visual flair of the movie,together with some fast loading times and simple navigation ofsub-menus.
Picture quality is of a very high standard, with the 2.35:1 anamorphicwidescreen picture being an almost perfect transfer onto DVD. Themiltaristic hues are pleasingly grungy, the desert landscapeseffectively hazy, while the night sequences feature gorgeous blacks andnocturnal blues – punctuated with vibrant flashes from explosions.There’s really no cause for complaint with anything the disc deliversvisually, as Black Hawk Down retains the high-quality stamp allBruckheimer movies on DVD have been blessed with so far.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is also a fantastic transfer to DVD, withgunshots permeating across the rear-speakers, while helicopters roaracross your living room to the thumping music score that underpins thefilm. War films are one of the best genres to give your surround soundset-up a punishing workout, with even dialogue-driven scenes featuringbackground crowds or distant vehicle roars. Basically, Black Hawk Downcannot be faulted for its immersive soundmix, although the lack of a DTSmix should annoy those who are DTS-enabled.
Sadly (like a growing number of Region 1 releases this year!) the ExtraFeatures are practically non-existent, which should upset fans of RidleyScott and Jerry Bruckheiemer especially. A ‘Special Edition’ isdoubtless around the corner, and the Region 2 release is alreadyexpected to be a 2-disc set with all the extra trimmings. Still, ifyou’re more concerned with the film, and couldn’t care less about bonusmaterial, this Region 1 release is more than satisfactory.
The Extra Features you do get with this first release are: a blandmaking-of documentary, and some theatrical trailers for Spiderman andThe One. Unlike the blurb on the back of this DVD, I don’t count SceneAccess and Animated Menus as extra features, obviously!
In conclusion, a good movie with an excellent transfer, but let down bya terrible lack of Extra Features. Unless you’re really keen on themovie, or couldn’t care less about extra material – I recommend you waitfor the imminent Region 2 release which should have more extras.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.