Black Hawk Down appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. A native 4K product, this Dolby Vision image worked well.
Sharpness fared nicely. Virtually no unintentional softness emerged, so we wound up with a precise picture.
I saw no shimmering or jaggies, and I witnessed no edge haloes. As part of the production design, moderate to heavy grain showed up on occasion, but that was intentional. Otherwise the image lacked any source defects.
Hawk featured a heavily stylized palette. Most of the movie offered intense tans and greens, with an occasional splash of red or blue tossed in as well.
Despite the inherently unusual look of the film, I felt the disc replicated the tones quite nicely. The colors appeared distinct at all times, and HDR added intensity to the hues.
Black levels also came across as dense and rich, while shadow detail was appropriately thick but not excessively heavy. HDR gave whites and contrast extra punch. This turned into a pretty spectacular rendition of the film.
Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundfield presented an active affair that created a nice sense of the setting. All the channels received a good workout, as the mix featured fine stereo separation for the music and integrated effects material well.
Material blended together neatly and smoothly. The different elements seemed appropriately localized as well.
The surrounds added a good sense of depth to the package, and they contributed quite a lot of unique audio during the battles. Since most of the movie consisted of fight scenes, this meant the rear speakers received a lot of work.
Audio quality appeared fine, as dialogue seemed clear and natural throughout the film. I heard no concerns related to intelligibility or edginess.
Music was bright and distinct and showed nice fidelity. The mix of score and songs came across with robust and lively tones.
Effects seemed crisp and concise. Even with all the loud action onscreen, I never heard any distortion, and the material appeared accurate and vivid.
Low-end response came across well, as the movie presented tight and taut bass. Overall, Black Hawk Down provided a highly satisfying soundtrack.
How did the 4K UHD compare to the 2006 Blu-ray? The 4K’s Atmos mix offered a bit more involvement and punch vs. the BD’s PCM 5.1 track.
As for the Dolby Vision image, it blew away the old BD – and I do mean old, since the latter came out early in the format’s existence. While I thought it held up better than a lot of its era maters, it couldn’t compete here.
The 4K offered vastly superior delineation, colors and blacks. Again, the dated BD didn’t slack off, but it fell far short of what I saw with the 4K.
Note that Sony produced a 4K UHD for Down back in 2019. While that one shared the 2023 release’s Dolby Atmos audio, the 2023 disc brings Dolby Vision encoding that the 2019 disc lacked.
The 4K disc provides both the film’s Theatrical (2:24:18) and Extended (2:31:50) versions. How do the two differ?
The longer edition includes more character information. We get additional details during the first act, as the film sets up the various Marines in greater detail.
It also adds more of those kinds of scenes during the battles, and we find a bit more action. These little tidbits add up to the extra eight minutes.
Do these clips make the Extended Down a better movie, though? Not in my estimation.
While the additions offer a little more meat on the bone, they fail to substantially improve the film. I’d opt for Extended in the future but can’t claim it does much to turn this into a stronger flick.
No extras appear on the 4K disc, but the included Blu-ray copy delivers a bunch. On BD One, we get a clone of the 2006 release.
This means we only get the theatrical version on Blu-ray, and it boasts three separate audio commentaries. The first presents director Ridley Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
Recorded separately, Scott provides a running, screen-specific track, and it edits in Bruckheimer’s remarks at appropriate moments. The producer shows up only occasionally, as he adds a few notes about subjects like the history behind the movie, the logistics of working with the US military, and the film’s reception.
Not surprisingly, Scott heavily dominates the commentary. A veteran of many other tracks, this may well be Scott’s best, as he covers virtually every appropriate topic under the sun.
I can’t hope to mention them all, but he includes matters like casting, effects and action set pieces, the facts of the real incident, his directorial style and choices, and location shooting.
Scott remains engaging and informative at all times and really brings a sense of energy to the piece. Scott fills us in on a vast number of subjects and does so well in this terrific commentary.
Next we get a track from author Mark Bowden and screenwriter Ken Nolan, both of whom sit together for their running, screen-specific piece. As one might expect, Bowden mostly discusses the real situations that the film depicts.
Bowden also remarks upon liberties taken by the production. Nolan fills most of the track’s space as he gives us his perspective.
Nolan helps provide the audience’s viewpoint, as he still seems excited to have been part of this major undertaking. He chats about how he based his script on Bowden’s book and other issues related to his text, but mostly Nolan offers anecdotes from the set.
Taken individually, most of these tales fail to tell us a lot, but cumulatively they offer a fun picture of the production. Though it seems less stellar than Scott’s chat, the writers’ track remains consistently lively and entertaining.
Finally, we find a discussion with Task Force Ranger Veterans MSgt. Matt Eversmann, Col. Tom Matthews (Ret.), Col. Danny McKnight (Ret.), and Col Lee Van Arsdale (Ret.). All four men were recorded together for their running, moderately screen-specific discussion.
A fascinating chat, the veterans give us their own perspective on the real events and their depiction in the movie. They seem frank about what happened and they convey their thoughts in a concise and involving manner.
The commentary rarely slows as they give us lots of valuable information and present it well. On a disc with three strong tracks, this one might be the best of the bunch.
We also find a documentary called The Essence of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down. Actually, as depicted here, we get six separate featurettes that combine to create the overall program.
These run between 17 minutes, 55 seconds and 30 minutes for a total of two hours, 31 minutes, 20 seconds of material.
We get information from director Scott, author Mark Bowden, screenwriter Ken Nolan, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, actors Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, Ian Virgo, Orlando Bloom, Gabriel Casseus, Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett, Hugh Dancy, Jeremy Piven, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Johnny Strong, Ron Eldard, Brian Van Holt, Tom Sizemore, Ewen Bremner, Brendan Sexton III, William Fichtner, Matthew Marsden, Michael Roof, Kim Coates, Steven Ford, Razaaq Adoti and Tom Hardy, military advisor/associate producer Harry Humphries, Ranger Public Affairs Officer Major Bill Butler, extras casting Billy Dowd, costume designer Sammy Howarth-Sheldon, executive producer Branko Lustig, MSgt. Matt Eversmann, special effects supervisor Neil Corbould, stunt coordinator Phil Neilson, composer Hans Zimmer, visual effects supervisor David Jones, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, Task Force Operations Officer Major Brian Bean, Task Force Commander Lt. Col. Kurt Potts, and military consultants SFC John Collett (ret.), Col. Tom Matthews (ret.) and Col. Lee Van Arsdale (ret.)
”Getting It Right” covers the origins of the book, its adaptation and early drafts, condensation issues, and attempts by the actors to form accurate characters.
“Crash Course” depicts the actors’ training as well as some encounters with the real personnel who went through the incidents in the film.
“Battlefield Morocco” looks at the shoot itself and includes elements about local crew, extras, costumes, location challenges, accuracy in filming, pyrotechnics, and Scott’s methods.
“Hymn to the Fallen” examines the creation and recording of the score. “Digital Warriors” looks at the film’s visual effects, with a particular emphasis on computer generated imagery.
Finally, “After Action Report” takes a little historical perspective on the events and talks of the movie’s legacy, especially in regard to the memories of the soldiers who fought.
While the interviews include some good information, “Essence” works well mostly because of its behind the scenes footage. The program presents a surfeit of excellent footage that really helps give us a feel for the shoot.
I’m not wild about the format, as the conglomeration of featurettes almost inevitably must seem somewhat disjointed. Nonetheless, “Essence” covers a great variety of subjects that make it a pretty complete examination of the film’s creation, and the candid footage adds a lot to its success. The show details the production well and enhances the project.
On BD Two, we open with a 24-minute, eight-second featurette called On the Set. It involves notes from director Ridley Scott, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, author Mark Bowden, co-military advisors Colonel Lee Van Arsdale and Colonel Thomas Matthews, production designer Arthur Max, associate producer/military advisor Harry Humphries, operations officer, 160th SOAR Major Brian Bean, task force commander, 160th SOAR Lt. Colonel Kirk Potts, and actors Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, William Fichtner, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Orlando Bloom, Michael Roof, Hugh Dancy, Brian Van Holt, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Ron Eldard.
The first half of the program offers little more than story and character background, but the second half provides some more compelling information. It briefly covers the locations, training the actors, and working with the military, among other topics.
Overall, this remains a promotional piece that exists to sell the movie. However, it seems a little stronger than most programs in that genre.
A History Channel program called The True Story of Black Hawk Down spans one hour, 31 minutes, 35 seconds. It presents historical footage plus interviews with author Mark Bowden, former US ambassador to Somalia Robert Oakley, warlord’s son Hussein Aidid, UN Chief Security Officer Wayne Long, Mogadishu community leader Ashad Dedine, Somali militiamen Cabdulchi Maxamed and Jammaa Cabdulle, Aidid defense minister Abdi Oueybdid, US Army Rangers Aaron Williamson, Keni Thomas, Jeff Struecker, Mike Goodale, Anton Berendsen, Clay Othic, Aaron Weaver, Carlos Rodriguez, John Collett, Steve Anderson, and John Belman, US Air Force Combat Controller Dan Schilling, Special Forces operator Lee Van Arsdale, pilot Mike Durant, Somali spy for US “Sayyef”, Somali journalist Issa Muhammed, Somali medic Abukar Cali, and Aidid propaganda minister Adballahi Hassan.
That’s an extensive roster of participants, and “True Story” makes good use of them. For viewers of the film, a lot of the information will seem familiar.
Nonetheless, “True Story” presents it very well and offers a terrific little examination of the events that happened in October 1993. Actually, it does so better than the movie and appears quite gripping and moving. It’s a great documentary.
Entitled Ambush in Mogadishu, the other documentary first appeared as an episode of Frontline on PBS. It runs 55 minutes, two seconds and uses the same format as “True Story”.
We get interviews with Somali community leader Mrs. Abshir, Army Rangers Sgt. Randy Ramaglia, Specialist Mike Kurth, PFC David Floyd, Sgt, Keni Thomas, Specialist Jason Moore, Specialist Gregg Gould, PFC Anton Berendsen, Specialist Peter Squeglia, Specialist Aaron Hand, Col. Kenneth Allard (Ret.) of the National War College, Khalil Dale of the Red Cross, Director of Operations General Anthony Zinni, Ambassador Robert Oakley, Senator Richard Lugar, Deputy UN Commander Lt. General Thomas Montgomery (Ret.), Deputy Special Envoy Walter Clarke, US Army Colonel (Ret.) Dr. Kenneth Allard, Aidid Defense Minister Abdi Hassan Awaleh, CIA Special Agent Gene Cullen, Richard Gabriel of the US War College, Sgt. John Belman, Aidid militia commander Captain Haad, Staff Sgt. John Burns, Lt. Col. Larry Joyce, and Sgt. Mike Pringle.
Inevitably, parts of “Ambush” duplicate information heard elsewhere. At this point, we’ve heard the story of the attack eight billion times, so it would be impossible for “Ambush” to seem totally fresh.
That said, it offers a new slant, partially because it provides a greater emphasis on the background behind the mission as well as the political climate. The stories from the soldiers involved also continue to seem moving and involving. “Ambush” provides yet another solid program.
Next we find three separate Question and Answer Forums. These took place via the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (10:25), the Motion Picture Editor’s Guild (10:30), and American Cinematheque (11:43).
The BAFTA chat took place December 14, 2001, and involved Ridley Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer, Mark Bowden, Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, Jason Isaacs, and military advisor Col. Tom Matthews (Ret.). It provides a mix of new information and some bits we heard during earlier programs.
The Editor’s Guild conversation happened January 10, 2002, and featured editor Pietro Scalia. He gets into expected topics about cutting the flick as well as potential alterations made after September 11.
Finally, the American Cinematheque piece occurred on February 25, 2002, and presented Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer. They touch on some general issues as well as marketing and excised sequences.
Scalia’s chat is the most interesting if just because it provides the highest level of information we don’t hear elsewhere in this set, but all three seem reasonably useful.
Some multi-angle fun shows up in the Target Building Insertion area. It breaks the screen into six blocks with different perspectives and features commentary from assistant director Terry Needham.
Needham tells us about working with Scott as well as the planning and execution of the sequence. It’s a nice presentation of this material.
Eight Deleted and Alternate Scenes fill a total of 20 minutes, one second. In addition to an alternate narrated opening, we get a little more action here.
However, most of the segments expand on the various characters. This makes them interesting, but since they don’t do a ton to define the participants, it made sense that they got the boot.
The deleted scenes can be viewed with or without commentary from director Ridley Scott. As usual, Scott covers the material well.
He tells us why he excised the segments and also tosses in some editing notes and production information in his solid little chat. By the way, not until I watched these scenes did I realize how much Eric Bana’s Southern accent made him sound like Dale Gribble.
We find a music video for “Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends” from Denez Prigent and Lisa Gerrard. It simply mixes fairly static lip-synch shots of Prigent and Gerrard with clips from the movie, and it seems like a pretty dull piece.
Designing Mogadishu runs 13 minutes, eight seconds as it shows a mix of production sketches, stills and video footage from the set, and interview clips with production designer Arthur Max. We learn of research put into the project and the methods used to recreate Mogadishu in Morocco.
Max covers the subject in a concise manner and we learn a lot of the efforts put into the sets and visual elements in this good featurette.
Ridleygrams shows Scott’s self-drawn storyboards. The piece lasts seven minutes, 23 seconds and seems like a satisfying depiction of Scott’s storyboards.
Despretz discusses Scott’s artistic background, how that influences the way they work together and the director’s visual style. It’s another nice and useful chat.
Jerry Bruckheimer’s On-Set Photography offers another running program that lasts five minutes, 30 seconds. It opens with some video footage of Bruckheimer on the set and then goes through a series of his still photos.
Bruckheimer also narrates many of the shots and tells us a little information about some of them. Nothing special appears here, but it’s a decent collection of shots.
Title Design Explorations gives us some material from graphic artist Flavio (Kampah) Campagna. The opening text introduces the designer and then we can watch his work with or without commentary from the artist.
The three-minute, 28-second piece doesn’t show completed titles, but we get some glimpses of Campagna’s ideas. The artist tells us about his career and what he wanted to do with the titles in his reasonably informative commentary.
In addition to the film’s trailer and 10 TV spots, we conclude with three Photo Galleries. These cover “Production Photos” (298 stills), “Production Design” () and “Poster Explorations” ().
As a film, Black Hawk Down doesn’t do much for me. The flick has its moments and seems generally interesting, but it never really comes together and delivers the moving, visceral experience I expected. The 4K UHD provides excellent picture and audio as well as an exhaustive collection of bonus materials. I may not love the movie, but I think this 4K UHD becomes a truly terrific release.
To rate this film visit the original review of BLACK HAWK DOWN
