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DVDs
Black Hawk Down (CE)
 By
Richard Moore
The
more I see Black Hawk Down
the more I like it and Columbia TriStar's release of a three-disc
collector's edition gives this chap the chance to watch it again.
It also gives those wavering on the edge of buying it some terrific
reasons to pick it up as it is jam-packed with excellent-quality
extras.
Black
Hawk Down is the story of an exceptionally brutal battle US
Ranger and Special Forces fought against overwhelming numbers of
heavily armed Somali militia in Mogadishu in 1993.
The
Americans went in to snatch a couple of high-level aides to the
bandit warlord Mohammad Aidid, who was using UN emergency food supplies
as a weapon of war leading to millions of Somalis facing starvation,
but poor intelligence dropped the troops into a trap.
Aidid's
men were well trained, experienced street fighters and could put
thousands of guns into battle against just over 100 US troops.
The
Americans were cut off in a hostile city, were separated and faced
being butchered by the locals.
To
make matters worse two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and,
responding to the Ranger creed of leaving no-one behind, that meant
their supposedly 30-minute mission turned into a 24-hour fight-to-survive.
At
the end of the battle 18 Americans had died, while between 1000
and 10,000 Somalis had been killed.
Black
Hawk Down is an exciting adrenalin rush that puts you in the
frontlines with the Rangers.
The
video transfer is superbly sharp and has no discernible or majorly
annoying faults and the sound is fantastic.
The
soundtrack is dominated by haunting North African music, the audio
brings the battle right into your lounge and the speech - albeit
drowned out at times by RPGs and heavy machine guns - mostly clear.
If
you've been holding off on this movie don't wait any longer than
this collectors edition - the extras package is better than the
movie!
Conclusion:
Movie:
85%
DVD
Extras: 90%
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