BLACK HAWK DOWN

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Jason Isaacs and Sam Shepard
Director: Ridley Scott
Running Time: 131 mins
Certificate: 15

Out to buy on DVD 16th September

Somalia 1993, the country is been held to ransom by warring parties who control the countries food supplies. The UN has forces in the country to make sure food is distributed to the people and they are backed up by US Rangers and Delta Force troops. When the commander of the US task force, General Garrison (Shepard) orders a tactical strike against the Warlord Mohamed Farah Aidid, snatching two of his lieutenants in one quick raid. Thinking the whole mission will be over in lest than an hour, things don't go as planed as the troops encounter more resistance they intelligence had suggested. When two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down the mission turns into a fight for survival as three thousand Somalians surround the one hundred US troops.

Pulling no punches in its depiction of the longest ground battle the US have engaged in since the Vietnam War, this movie shows the savages and pure terror of modern ground warfare. Those of you who think modern weaponry would be less brutal than say, what was shown in Saving Private Ryan or the TV series Band of Brothers, you are in for a shock. What this film shows is that no matter what level of technology and superior firepower you might have, you should never underestimate an enemy that will give their lives for a cause that the believe in. The US did this in Vietnam and they nearly did it again in Somalia.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has delivered a movie that does not shirk away from the gritty realism of war and shows a more true depiction of battle than the mushy, overly sentiment Pearl Harbor. Master filmmaker Ridley Scott takes you into the action as if you where right there, witnessing the conflict first hand. The overall look of the movie is astounding; hundreds of extras and masses of equipment come together to give the completely authentic look.

All this relentless conflict does come at the cost of character development. You never really get to know any of the soldiers before or during the battle and it seems like all of their performances amalgamate into one. You can't tell who is who during the fight and the story never spends enough time with each squad for you to know who is dead and who isn't. The only real standout performance is that of Eric Bana as Hoot, he is the only soldier that is given any real screen time and shows that Bana is an actor to watch.

What it does do very well is show that modern war is not as easy as we think it is. Whatever level of technology we have and however fast we think we can solve a problem, people will always end up loosing their lives and this movie shows that in graphic and harrowing detail.

2 Disk set - Audio commentary from director Ridley Scott & producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Audio commentary from author Mark Bowden & screenwriter Ken Nolan, Interviews with Task Force veterans, Trailers, TV Spots, Filmographies, 'Bootcamp' featurette, 'On Location' featurette, 'Black Hawk Helicopter' featurette, 'Tribute To The Fallen' featurette, Deleted and alternative scenes, Multi-angle sequences, Image and video galleries, Interview with author Mark Bowden, 'Production Design' featurette, Storyboard to feature film comparisons, Ridleygrams, Camera and lens tests, Unit photography montages, Continuity and costume polaroids, Jerry Bruckheimer photo gallery (with optional Bruckheimer commentary), production interview archive, Post-production interview archive, Animatics and visual effects test, Poster art, Print advertisements, Premiere footage, Interactive menu, Scene access and Dolby Digital 5.1