Rating: 
Summary: Stunning
Review: StunningThe Movie In one word, this movie is Stunning. It doesn't glamorize war or portray it in anyway to be anything but terrifying, bad and horrible. I do recommend that you read the book as well though as it gives you alot of background information about the situation and individuals. The acting is great, the camera work is terrific the sound is crystal clear and the picture is very sharp. I don't think this movie was made to entertain as much as it was to tell the soldiers' story and commemerate the heroes who belonged to Task Force Ranger, Delta Force and the 160th SOAR who fought on those days. It shows how heroic every single one of those soldiers who fought on October 3rd and 4th, 1993 were. Soldiers like SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon who were willing to die trying to save Mike Durant and his crew must not be forgotten. The Book - The Movie Lot's people of people say Ridley Scott cut a lot of things that were in the book from the movie to make the "Americans" look good. This is not true. Ridley Scott cut things from the book that made the Somalis look bad. He changed things such thimgs as Todd Blackburn falling from of the Blackhawk because the pilot dodged an RPG and cut things like Blackhawks coming in at night to deliver IV bags, ammo and food to the pinned down forces. What Ridley Scott also didn't show was Somali militia hiding in crowds of women and children while shooting at the US soldiers. What he didn't show was the Somalis dragging the bodies of the dead American soldiers through the streets and damaging them beyond recegnitionand cutting limbs off and swinging them around as if they were trophies. One thing that was cut from the movie that made the Somalis look good was how well CWO Mike Durant was treated by the Somalis.This movie has no faults despite what you might hear.
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Summary: best war movie of the year
Review: this really happened and it makes me sick to see peaple misspell the names of the Rangers And D-Boys an they coplain about others not likes it
Rating:
Summary: Black hawk down Good or Bad
Review: Is this a good film or a bad one. It is a film which has a vairying opinion. Many people think cats rule and dogs drule but i think dogs rule and cats drule pete
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Summary: moviewatcher
Review: This is a must for anyone eager to learn about how U.S. Special Operations units work. No other film captures the intensity, heroism and dedication these men display on a daily basis. See it and marvel at how well crafted this film is in depecting this true event.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Directing & Visual Effects + Poor Story Telling= BHD!
Review: Black Hawk Down is indeed a good movie, but the critics and fans over praised it. It does indeed have Oscar worthy directing at some points, but at others I think Ridley Scott over did it. The acting is about average (nothing to talk about I guess). The visual effects are about up to par with Saving Private Ryan, they are that good. But at some points your just begging for it to go ahead and end. The story telling is horrible, which leaves a gap in whether or not you would care about the characters. (Which you don't, or I did'nt). I think BHD did deserve the two Oscars for Best Editing & Best Sound, but thats it. I wouldnt own the DVD either, why you may ask? I have two reasons: #1 The DVD has NO Special Features #2 the movie isnt worth owning. For a older release movie rental just to pass time, I would recommend this, otherwise, save your time. Other Films Recommended In This Genere: - Windtalkers (2002)
- We Were Soldiers (2002)
- Behind Enemy Lines (2001)
- Band of Brothers (2001)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Platoon (1986)
- Apocalypse Now! (1974)
Rating: 
Summary: Don't Buy This DVD!!!
Review: Don't Get me wrong, I think Black Hawk Down Is A Great movie, but this dvd [is not good]!!! it has basicly NO extra features. However In a few months a collecters edition 2-disc set of this movie is coming out. I am waiting for that one before I buy this movie. It will be worth it!
Rating:
Summary: Honest Portrayal of the Brutality of War
Review: The characters in "Black Hawk Down," remain fairly anonymous. The film isn't about the participants of the battle, but the cold, fierce battle itself. It is told from the point of view of the collective American soldier--although omnipresently--who only wishes to do his duty. The soldiers are comprised of typical people next to whom the average person may live. There's the idealist, the class clown who would impersonate everyone for laughs, and the hotshot who everyone wanted to emulate. He was brave, dashing, and resistant to authority. It is important to note that the only reason that it appears this way is because it was this way. Battles aren't fought by glittery or gruff characters such as Mel Gibson, John Wayne, or Tom Hanks. They are fought by our friends and neighbors. Some are boastful, others humble, but always someone we can approach and trust if need be. This is what makes the relative anonymity of the actors in "Black Hawk Down" one of its most redeeming traits. The action sequences are hard to beat, since it doesn't waste much time with character development. The movie portrayed different forms of the enemy--the calculating strategist and the vengeful savages. One need only look up the footage of the way the Somalis paraded the dead troopers to know part of the portrayal was accurate, and the makers of the movie should not be raked over the coals for being honest in this regard. One team leader from "Black Hawk Down", a D-boy whose courage and experience helps preserve the lives of many of the men on that mission in Mogadishu, offers a bit of advice to the recently promoted leader of Chalk four. "Once the first bullet flies past your head, all that politics flies right out the window." Just so. However, the movie manages to magnificently straddle the fence of mildly condemning either the political mission or those who initiated it, while vindicating those who were charged with fulfilling it. We would do well to learn the lesson this movie teaches, that we need not condemn the military to protest a "rightly-fought" war. Likewise, nor must a protest of the war be construed as an assault on those who were ordered to conduct it.
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Summary: THE HORROR! THE HORROR!
Review: I look for movies that work on several levels at once. The ones that do make it onto my shelf. "Black Hawk Down" has a spot. I first saw it in a theater with a colleague who saw combat in Korea. At several points, I heard his sobs alongside my own. BHD is, one one level, a cracking good war story. Anyone interested in military hardware or tactics will be satisfied. It's a story about human evil and the degradation it causes: "This food is the property of Mohammed Farah Aidid!" cries a militiaman at a Red Cross station while his countrymen fall down faint with hunger. BHD is about the power of one accidental event to throw already questionable plans askew. Not even sure they have the right building, Rangers rappel from hovering helicopters to arrest Aidid's cabinet at a building in the marketplace of Mogadishu, Somalia, some of the most dangerous real estate on the planet, even today. One man falls, his friends stop to assist him, and it's all downhill from there. A militiaman scores a hit on the tail of a helicopter, and things get worse. The word that changes the mission from arrest to rescue goes out: "Black Hawk Down." The film is about courage and loyalty, and the ability of those virtues to bring men out of terrible danger. Though several characters are composites, Sergeant Eversman, a fellow Iowan, is real and believable. In his first stint as the leader of a "chalk" (a small combat unit), Eversman does his job and does it well. Though the story is set against the backdrop of global politics (and particularly the politics of Clinton's first term), the film dwells no more on this than on any other area. Everything works, and works well. I hereby forgive young Josh Hartnett for appearing in the wretched "Pearl Harbor" (and what was Ben Affleck thinking?). Someone said once that war is at root an experience of shared suffering. Ridley Scott made me feel the suffering of everyone in Mogadishu that day. Including the starving man who wordlessly carries the body of a child across a street as bullets fly. BHD is not anti-war. It's not pro-war. It's war. Each generation needs to count the cost, though none do. More's the pity.
Rating: 
Summary: Movie is Fine; DVD Not Great
Review: I will echo one previous reviewer's comments: The movie is terrific, and a lot of other reviewers can fill you in on the details of the movie itself. The DVD package contents, however, are pretty underwhelming. This seems to be Hollywood's new game; release a base version of the movie on DVD as soon as possible, than, around X-Mas, re-release a "special" version. The fact that this DVD doesn't even include original Trailers for Blackhawk Down (instead for Spiderman and one other forgetable movie) is ludicrous.
I bought it, because I wanted to see it, and ***may*** upgrade to the inevitable "special" version when it is released. My advice: If you have waited this long, you may want to consider holding out a bit longer until a better DVD version appears. I reckon that to be around October, but a quick search of some relevant websites would confirm the actual date.
The movie is worth the money. Just hope you don't buy this version today, than feel ripped off when they release a much more complete DVD shortly.
Rating:
Summary: Crazy good movie but DVD lacking...
Review: I really enjoyed the movie "Black Hawk Down." I thought it was a nice description of the events that went down in Somalia in the early 90's. It had the power needed to convey the idea that these actors were there reliving the events, rather than simply recreating them. It was good to see that this movie cared more about realism than how pretty Josh Hartnett's hair looked. The actors all looked so similar, that it was almost impossible to tell the difference. Exciting action, coupled with a bad situation gone worse, leads to an excellant movie that would have gotten a better rating...
However, it is clear that a better version of DVD will be coming out later this year, packed with extras, thus making this one almost useless for stuff other than the movie. Also, i found it odd that it billed that one of the extras was a "theatrical trailer" which i assumed to be a nice preveiw of the movie. Much to my surprise, it was a commercial for "Spiderman", a movie that the distributer obviously cares much more about, which is a shame because "Black Hawk Down" is a much much better film.
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