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| Josh
Hartnett, Sam Shepard, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor,
William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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"Hoot" (Eric Bana):
Y'know what I think? Don't really matter what I think. Once that
first bullet goes past your head, politics and all that shit just
goes right out the window.
A dramatized account of the disastrous
1993 attempt by the US military to find and arrest a Somalian warlord,
leading to an intense battle on the streets of capital city Mogadishu.
 Only
a precious few directors working in the film industry today can
boast
the level of technical skill that Ridley Scott so effortlessly
displays in each of his films from the very start of his career.
But even after
twenty-five years of regular mainstream box office success and
a recent Best Picture Oscar under his belt for Gladiator,
the legend 'style over substance' continues to cling to the former
commercials director's name.
Having struggled but failed to bring a Gothic sense of style to
the ill-fated
Hannibal, Scott quickly returned to his talent he had scored
the most points with in the popular spectacle Gladiator,
turning post-Saving Private
Ryan war film Black Hawk Down into an exercise in technical
craftsmanship.
The first half-hour of this gung-ho comrades-in-arms battlefield
epic, in which the characters are summarily introduced and the
situation
is crudely outlined, is so mediocre that one some might be tempted
to simply tune out after the first reel. But once the doomed operation
is
underway,
Scott's technical supremacy takes over from his underdeveloped
sense of character direction, resulting in a breathless and occasionally
stupefying two hours of almost non-stop military assault. This
part of the film is so perfectly executed that one immediately
forgets
the
sketchily drawn stereotypes meant to pass for actual characters,
the lack of any true sense of historical or political context
for
the battle being fought, or even the overblown sense of pathos
leant to any sequence in which an American soldier meets a tragic
end.
But the tiny captions at the end jolt the viewer back out of this
slightly bewildered sense of heroic admiration, as we read that
over a thousand Somalis were killed during these fights, not one
of whom is actually awarded any screen time or motivational context.
This locked-down perspective makes one feel rather cheated by the
end, having been manipulated as an audience to cheer on one side
of a battle without getting the time to realize the opponents and
their motivations remain completely unkown to us as viewers. It
makes the film into a technically dazzling exercise in filmmaking,
but one that fails to back up its style with a real point besides
its mind-blowing depiction of the horror of warfare. |
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Released on DVD fairly quickly
after its theatrical run in a bare-bones Region 1 DVD, Black
Hawk Down
later appeared first in Europe as a densely packed two-disc set,
with a special three-disc collector's set available in some European
territories. A three-disc set with identical features has since
been released in Region 1. Those looking for a DTS audio track
that is even better than the powerful Dolby Digital mix can either
turn to the Superbit disc, which has no extras at all, or the handsome
Korean 'Superbit Dluxe' box set, which only misses out on the commentary
tracks from its Region 1 counterpart, but which does include a
fourth disc with the film's full soundtrack CD.
The anamorphic widescreen image
is framed at an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1. The cinematogrpahy
has an intentionally grainy look, utilizing harsh, contrasty lighting
schemes to further emphasize the visual sense of realism. This striking
visual style is flawlessly captured in a striking transfer with deep, solid
blacks and phenomenal background detail.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound mix is thunderous and detailed enough to make one
instantly forgive the lack of the expected DTS mix on this release.
Directional effects are effective and highly precise, with the highly
active and aggressive sound design hugely enhancing the action-packed
final two hours of the film.
Many were disappointed when Black
Hawk Down originally appeared on DVD in an almost completely
featureless Region 1 release early this year, especially because
Ridley Scott has proven himself a big supporter of the medium with
the outstanding special edition releases of most of his features
that have appeared on DVD so far. Thankfully for European DVD buyers,
distributor Columbia Tristar was able to make the film's DVD dªbut
a feature-packed two-disc release, with the French market particularly
fortunate, as an extended three-disc set includes an extra disc
with further historical background on the troubles in Somalia to
the package.
The film itself is accompanied by an astounding three audio commentary
tracks that already go a long way towards illuminating the production's
major topics. The first features director Ridley Scott and producer
Jerry Bruckheimer. They were recorded separately but have been edited
together very smoothly, allowing for an uninterrupted and natural
flow, that occasionally even sounds convincingly like an actual
discussion. Together, they cover the most general topics about the
feature, including the casting process, the thematic approach and
visual style chosen for the picture, and the way the project initially
got off the ground. Scott is his usually acerbic self, with a strong
focus on the more technical aspects of filmmaking, but he does have
a lot more interesting things to say than Bruckheimer, who at times
seems out of his depth with a film like this.
Far more compelling is the commentary track recorded by Mark Bowden,
author of the book upon which the movie was based, and Tom Nolan,
who ended up adapting it for the screen. The two writers were recorded
together, and engage in a lively, impassioned and highly energetic
discussion of the factual background, the choices that were made
in dramatizing the story for the film, and their initial ambitions
for the film, which ended up slightly more conventional in style
and format than had been originally envisioned. Both are articulate
and candid speakers, making their precise and often humorous comments
a joy to listen to. The third and final audio commentary track features
four US Army veterans who lived through the actual events in Mogadishu
that year. Most of the track is devoted to the pointing out of differences
- both major and minor - between fact and fiction.
 The
multitude of extras on the second disc are conveniently arranged
into three major sections: 'The Essence of Combat: Making Black
Hawk Down', 'Image and Design' and 'Deleted and Alternate
Scenes'. All these supplements were produced exclusively for this
DVD release and offer thorough, fluff-free insight into the production
process. The three sections break down into the following items:
- The Essence of Combat: Starting off with the 23-minute
featurette 'Getting it right' about the necessary changes to
the book to adapt the story to the screen, the extensive list
of documentaries in this section provides a vivid overview of
the production process, including a half-hour look at the location
work in Morocco, a twenty-minute investigation into the digital
trickery employed to visualize the helicopter crashes, and a
lengthy look back at the events and their aftermath as well
as the renewed attention the film brought the veterans.
- Image and Design: This section contains a number of
vast galleries of conceptual art, photography and storyboards,
as well as a featurette dealing with the set design for the
Mogadishu streets. Also included are several 'Ridleygrams' -
storyboard designs by Ridley Scott himself, viewable together
with the final images with or without audio commentary - and
an exploration of the original opening credits design by graphic
designer Flavio Campagna, which were ultimately deemed too arty
and distracting, and were therefore replaced by a simpler design.
- Deleted and extended scenes: Six deleted and two extended
scenes, handsomely presented and available with audio commentary
from director Ridley Scott.
For viewers looking for more historical context about the events
portrayed in the film, the third disc in the three-disc DVD collection
offers two outstanding documentaries, both originally produced
for TV, with a combined lenth of over two-and-a-half hours. The
first and longer documentary was produced by the History Channel,
and it offers a detailed moment-by-moment analysis (including
some re-enacts) of the military operation in Mogadishu. The second
documentary, produdced by PBS, offers a broader look at the events
leading up to the disastrous military campaign. With a different
set of experts and veterans from the battle, this is an equally
worthwhile addition to the film.
All
in all, this two-disc release is an impressive special edition
DVD
by
any
standard,
with the
three
commentary
tracks
alone covering
enough terrain to keep anyone interested in the film occupied
for several evenings. The extras are also immaculately produced,
and only occasionally suffer from the pompous self-congratulatory
atmosphere that traditionally pervades fact-based war films.
All in all, it's one of the finest, most complete and absolutely
riveting DVD sets yet produced.
 The
animated menu screens are stylishly designed, with smoothly animated transitions
leading from one screen to the next. The extra material is very well-organized
and immaculately presented.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
December 17, 2002
updated: October 15, 2004
Click
here for IMDB info on Black
Hawk Down.
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