“Black Hawk Down” isn’t so much a movie as it is an experience. It depicts the events as they occurred in 1993, when U.S Forces attempted a raid on Somali warlord, Mohammed Aidid in Mogadishu. In one of those situations where everything went wrong, the troops had planned the attack to take only an hour but it went on for over a day. Pinned down, with one failed rescue attempt after another, the U.S. Troops faced unbelievable odds just to stay alive. In the end, 19 American soldiers and over 1,000 Somali citizens lay dead. It was a nightmare from start to finish. As directed by Ridley Scott, “Black Hawk Down” is an unbelievably powerful movie, punctuated by the fact that it is based on real events. The documentary style of the film made you feel as if you were there, and you couldn’t help but sympathize with what these brave men endured.

Though there is no way to truly understand or feel what they went through, this movie does an admirable job of putting you there.

I would go on and on about the movie, which ranks amongst the finest ‘war’ movies ever made. All the actors did incredible work in “Black Hawk Down.” Most of them could have been lost in a sea of faces and crew cuts, making it hard to identify who was who, but each brought enough of a difference to their performance as to help keep them apart. The cinematography is unbelievable. Actually I can’t think of a single thing not to like about this movie, with the possible exception of the almost non-stop intensity of the battle.

When “Black Hawk Down” was first released on DVD, it was pretty bare bones. I had been wondering if there was a plan to release any kind of special edition. Turns out, there was. And folks let me tell you, this new ‘Deluxe Edition’ is a great example of how to put out a fantastic DVD set. Spanning 3 discs, there are multiple commentaries, featurettes and documentaries, none of which could be mistaken for Hollywood fluff pieces.

Many times, the behind the scenes featurettes tend to be five or ten minute interviews with everyone gushing about how working on a particular project, or with a particular actor or director was ‘the best experience ever.’ Or you might get an HBO: First Look special with a few minutes of the same stuff. You won’t find any of that on this DVD set.

The first disc, aside from offering the film itself and some cast biographies, has three commentaries. And as unusual as it may seem, they are all interesting. The first, by director Ridley Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer is one of the most detailed I have heard. Scott does most of the talking, and as opposed to some commentaries that are all over the place, his is very concise and well structured. The second, by author Mark Bowden and screenwriter Ken Nolan is no less interesting. They get to point out and discuss the changes that were made from the book, and in some cases why they were made. Some of their discussion is quite humorous and be sure to listen for Nolan’s impression of Ridley Scott.

The final commentary is by far the best. Four of the men who lived through the real attack, Master Sergeant Matt Eversmann, Colonel Tom Matthews, Colonel Danny McKnight and Colonel Lee Van Arsdale discuss various aspects of the film. They talk about where they were and the men they knew. These were the voices I most wanted to hear. And I’m thankful to the people who put this DVD together for one aspect of this final commentary I had not seen before. As each of the men is speaking, their names appear on screen to help identify whom you are listening to. It’s a really nice extra touch.

The second disc is a veritable mother lode of information about the production. The documentary, “The Essence of Combat”, is broken up into several chapters but put together as a whole is actually longer than the movie. I’ve never seen such a detailed making of documentary ever. You really need to set aside an afternoon for this one. Every aspect of the creation of this film is covered from the events themselves, to the writing of the book, to the making of the movie. Or so you think.

Just when you though you knew it all, the disc then offers up 8 deleted scenes and a featurette on how the Mogadishu set was created. So that’s it right? Wrong. After you’ve watched all of that you can still find more. There are two sets of storyboards, one by the film’s storyboard artist, Sylvain Despretz as well as some by Ridley Scott himself. Then for that sense of being there, you get a look into Bruckheimer’s personal photos that he took when he visited the set. There’s even more here, but I’m still going through it all.

The third disc is for the history buffs in the audience. Here you’ll find two different documentaries about the actual events. Both are really well made, though the first one, which was made for the History Channel, “The True Story of Black Hawk Down” was the most in-depth. Coming in at 90 minutes, it offers up many more points of view, and not just the ‘official’ word on the subject. The second, PBS’ “Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu” is a little more one-sided. While both contain a lot of graphic images, they are a recommended watch if you want to know more about what really happened. The disc also has a mission Timeline which utilizes clips from the film to give an idea of what happened and when.

There’s also 3 different Question and Answer sessions presented with various members of the cast and crew, poster concepts and more on this final disc.

This new 3-disc set of “Black Hawk Down” is not only the definitive set for the film, but it certainly sets a standard for what audiences want to see and hear on their DVD releases. My 2003 ‘MUST OWN’ DVD list is growing slowly (I’ll be sure to post it at the end of the year), and without hesitation have to add the Deluxe Edition of “Black Hawk Down” to that list.

Directed by: Ridley Scott
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGegor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, and Sam Shepard
Extras:
Disc 1 – Commentary by Director/Producer Ridley Scott and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Commentary by Author Mark Bowden and Screenwriter Ken Nolan, Commentary by Task Force Ranger Veterans, Filmographies
Disc 2 – “The Essence of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down”, Eight Deleted and Alternate Scenes with Optional Commentary, “Designing Mogadishu” Featurette, Production Design Archive, Storyboards with Optional Commentary, Ridleygrams with Optional Commentary, Jerry Bruckheimer’s BHD Photo Album, Title Design Explorations with Optional Commentary, Photo Galleries
Disc 3 – “The True Story of Black Hawk Down” History Channel Documentary, “Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu” PBS Documentary, Mission Timeline, Target Building Insertion: Multi Angle Sequence with Optional Commentary, Q&A Forums: Bafta, Motion Picture Editor’s Guild, and American Cinematheque, “Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends” Music Video performed by Denez Prigent & Lisa Gerrard, Theatrical Poster Concepts, Trailer & Teaser Spots.
Specifications: Widescreen (2.40:1), English, French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 6/03/2003
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (Intense Realistic Graphic War Violence and Language)
Website

We'll give Black Hawk Down - 3 Disc Special Edition an A.