Rating: 
Summary: Black Hawk Down
Review: The reason I give this only 2 stars is that when I got the DVD home and went to play on my Panasonic(region free) DVD player it would not read the disk. I found that some DVDs are now using this "Regional Coding Enhancement" or RCE and have problems on some players. I tried the disk in my PC DVD and it worked fine. This is the first time I have ever had a problem. I knew the movie did not support DTS prior to purchase but when I tried it on my Playstation 2, which I have connected to my DTS surround theatre with optical cable, I discovered it would not even run on Dolby Digital. Hmmm??? How cheesy is this? I could not believe it. Upon closer analysis of the packaging, sure enough it reads "Digitally mastered audio" and English 5.1. The cover art even advertises the fact that the movie won awards for "Best Film Editing" and, hello, "Best Sound"!! Too bad the DVD has sub-par sound. I liked the movie in the theatres and I am a big fan of war movies but it is too bad Columbia Pictures had to skimp on the audio support.
Rating: 
Summary: ANYONE REMEMBER THE ALAMO?
Review: Like Ridley Scott's last film, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down is also about the way of the warrior. Unlike the former, the bloodshed and motive for it has a much more complicated motive in Hawk. IN 1993 members of the American Rangers and Delta Force are sent into a hostile somalian neighborhood to capture the top lieutenants of a local warlord. This local warlord is holding a stranglehold on the city's food supply, funneling it to his armies. Anytime you take sides in a civil war, you're going to get bloody. The worst place to get involved in a firefight has to be in the middle of a city. There's so many places for snipers to pick you off from. Every window and corner becomes a hiding place of death. They capture who they were looking for but soon after that a copter is downed by a missle laucher and the carefully laid plan to get out of the area falls to pieces. The Americans find themselves stuck in the middle of thousands of hostile Somalis. This was a great movie. All the performances and special effects were right on. No one actor really stands out to me. It was more of an ensemble piece. Eric Bana, who happens to be filming The Incredible Hulk right now does a good job as a hardened veteran who seems to have a sixth sense about war. Also, William Fichtner is attention grabbing as the Delta Force leader. Josh Hartnett, the clone of Chris Klein and Keanu Reeves, is better than usual, which isn't saying a lot. Tom Sizemore does his best impression of Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now as a general who never flinches and walks through bullets as if they were rain. Actually, this movie reminded me a lot of Apocalypse just in terms of showing the utter chaos of war. The big ad campaign and the slogan said over and over again in the movie is "Leave no Man behind". It's almost religious doctrine. The problem is that should you go back to get a man even though you lose even more men in the process who you in turn have to save and then more men get killed and you have to rescue them and so on....... Ridley Scott through his tone and the dialogue of the characters seems to ask the question "What were we doing there?", meaning that we should not have got involved. In that way, this film seems very anti-war. Violence was glorified in Gladiator in the name of revenge but here it's not. It's kinda disturbing because we got involved over there for humanitarian reasons and I just seemed to get this suggestion from the film that it was just another Vietnam. Somalia was not about ideology. It was about saving starving people. The DVD says it has "special features" but really the only bonus is a short featurette about the making of the movie. It's kinda funny that "animated menus" and "scene selections" are listed too. Something really humorous was the "theatrical trailers" which you would think would be those of Black Hawk Down. They're not. They're trailers for Jet Li's The One and Spider-Man. Also, you have the option of turning on Chinese or Thai subtitles. The picture and sound are excellent. You only have the choice of 5.1. I have a sneaking suspicion that another deluxe version of the DVD will come out one day. This is the bare essentials DVD. Why am I complaining? In the end it's the film that matters. In the end I am very proud of our armed forces. I was in college when the actual incident took place and I didn't remember a lot about it so I was glad I could really be educated and see the sacrifices that were made and the heroism those guys and girls in our armed forces have to exhibit. Of course, I need to read the book now and get the unHollywoodish version of the story.
Rating: 
Summary: Deceptive Digital Media
Review: Sonypictures should be ashamed of itself. Of course it's not the first time they get criticized for deceptive marketing practices. I haven't even watched the DVD yet, but the extras...
When the case says it includes "theatrical trailers" you expect at least one of them to be for Black Hawk Down. This thing is devoid of practically everything. If you enjoy extras, this is definitely not the way to go.
In this world of digital you have no idea what you're getting until you open it. Then you can't return it. Worst of all, I can't find a real address to gripe complain directly to Sonypictures. Digital this!
Rating:
Summary: An empty technological achievement
Review: You want to know something funny? I'll tell you. While critics get themselves all in a lather poring over vapid movies like the recent Star Wars films for offensive racial subtext (The Trade Federation? Asian stereotypes! Jar Jar Binks? Stepin Fetchit redux!), movies with truly offensive racial material, like "Black Hawk Down," get a free ride. Hiding behind the fact that it is "based on a true story," Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer's film ignores any complexities behind the conflict between US troops and Somalian forces, and renders the Africans in the movie as subhuman targets for American bullets. Even an uneven film like "Three Kings" did a better job than this. Ever a technician, Scott takes normally proficient actors like Ewens McGregor and Bremner and basically turns them into REactors for the entire movie, running around ducking bullets and explosions without more than one character trait apiece. Some characters don't even have one! To its credit, "Black Hawk Down" features the very frightening, extremely visceral battle sequences that filmgoers expect in post-Saving-Private-Ryan movies. Deafening bombs explode, sending soot flying. Blood pours from wounds. Nearly severed limbs hang off from tattered flesh. However, without the emotional investment that Spielberg provided in "Private Ryan," it all becomes numbing after a while. Sure, there's suspense and tension, but we have no overwhelming reason to pull for the movie's protagonists, other than the fact that they're American. And white. I have to say, when I saw it in the theater, I was able to table some of these reservations and get swept up in the battle scenes of "Black Hawk Down." That's the only reason I give it 2 stars. But Ridley Scott's last insult pushed me out of the movie for good. After in effect disappearing from the film after the first 20 minutes, the lone African American soldier in the entire US unit reappears in the final battle sequence to mow down an armed Somalian woman with automatic weapons fire. Black-on-black crime? I don't think so.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't see the problem...
Review: I really don't see what some people were complaining about. The film depicts the actions of the men that fought and died, simple as that. It doesn't go into detail about why the U.S. was involved, why should it? This is a film dedicated to remembering those who fought, not those who told them to...
Rating:
Summary: The Best Thing Ever to Come Out on DVD
Review: This is a very good movie if you understand it. I highly recomend you read the book first(You can buy and preview the book ... in [any] Military History Section). You will get a better understanding of the U.N.'s purpose of the missions that were held in Mogidishu(Or as the Rangers called it, Mog). You also get more connected to the Delta Force, Rangers, and Night Stalkers that took part in the missions. I also recomend that you watch "The True Story of Black Hawk Down" on the History Channel.
Rating: 
Summary: blood, guts, violence and a whole lot of eye candy...
Review: I highly recommend this film. whether you like war movies or not, it is a great film and you will love it. It was very well directed and the actors were wonderful (not to mention attractive). But if you have a weak stomach, you may find some of the content hard to watch. The only problem one might find is that there is no backround story as to why the US troops were there or what the War was really about. If you are a person who needs information like that then it will bug you (as it did me. i suggest reading the book or information on the subject). But you must remember, most of the soliders going in there didn't know what the war was about, or why it was any of the US's business. They were never given any real details. the beauty of the film is that it's more throught the soliders' point of view. you're left wondering 'what is going on and why?' well, so were they. I can only ask that you keep an open mind while watching this movie. don't think of it as a real event or think about the politics related to it. it will be easier that way. otherwise you'll be sitting there like i was wondering what in the hell were our men doing in that country. it wasn't our war, and we shouldn't have been there. I didn't enjoy it the first time because i kept thinking of those things. so please, just treat is as just another movie, nothing more. the DVD: is not the best i have seen, but is still great. it has a few trailers (not for the movie itself though) and behind the scenes look at the filming. and a few other things.
Rating:
Summary: Must See Movie
Review: This movie (like Saving Private Ryan) is a great depiction of what happened. The movie, to me, is more bloody and violence. My fiance started crying in the movie there was so much, she couldn't handle it. But it was a very awesome movie. Word of Advice: If you or spouse can't handle blood and gore, don't watch it. But if you like war movies that are true stories, this is the movie to rent. And don't watch it at 10pm at nite, the movie is 3 hours long. :)
Rating:
Summary: Suberb story of real heroes
Review: Mark Bowden did a spectacular job of reporting a story hidden during the Clinton years. And the producers remained remarkably faithful to the original, detailed research. By sticking to the basic story, using special effects and explosives in context, and simply letting these real heroes havee their stories unfold, "Blackhawk Down" works out to be one of the most inspiring, well-produced, riveting human stories of the past decade. The ensemble cast avoids the "headliner" effect of most "action" movies. The story, based on the real events, doesn't need a pivotal figure. There is enough credit to go around.
Rating:
Summary: "I think you shouldn't have come here"
Review: A great film from ridley. It's not blade runner, but what is? The non-stop action is well done and the atmosphere of the film is excellent. I liked the segments that showed the war from the somali point of view although its couldnt hurt if there were a few more. If anything, this film is very one sided. We should not have been there and yes...the operation was a total waste and a complete defeat for our boys on the ground...sad of course but the truth hurts as they say.
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