A GREAT movie at a GREAT price. If you're as big a fan of 'war movies' as I am, Black Hawk Down should be on your short list of 'gotta have' movies. While in reality it was a tragic event, the somewhat documentary nature (relating to the timeline of events) of this movie tells the whole story fairly accurately, at least from what my research uncovered. The Blu-Ray version is REALLY of excellent video and audio quality, and this is THE one to get.

Given that this is one of my all-time favorite movies, it's one of the few dvds in my collection worthy of an upgrade to Blu-Ray.

I read the book, which is excellent, when it was first published and thought there was no way a movie could do justice to what happened there. I was wrong.

Technically, both the video and audio quality are excellent. In terms of value, the extra features, most especially the commentary by some of the military personnel who were present, are alone worth the price of admission. As far as the movie itself, this is a great one. The story is compelling, especially since it's based on an actual event. The directing is top-notch. The acting is excellent and wholly believable. Black Hawk Down is the sort of movie that stays with you long after it's over.

Black Hawk Down is a worthy tribute to our men and women in uniform in general and to the soldiers who took part in this battle in particular.

Really really good movie. This is one of the best shot war movies ever. It was incredibly good, and in some sways better than "Saving Private Ryan." The photography and the production design were just so good, masterful and expert even. The only slight flaws were that the script was a little confusing and had too many things going on at once, with too many plot lines. However, I read the book and that was true to life, there were many characters, and if they wanted to cover all of the action, they had to jump around. That is a tough task, while remaining realistic. Also, the sound was a little off: I couldn't quite hear what they were saying all the time, or remember who was who. Unlike other people, I actually wish there were more shoot-em-up scenes in here. Overall, it was fantastic movie, though.

This movie spends little time building up to the actual battle. It does develop a few characters and let you get to know them so you care what happens to them, but then it jumps right into the action and just keeps building to the end. The battle scenes are intense and you find yourself almost wanting to duck and cover throughout the movie. It is fairly graphic and hard to watch at times, but it does a great job of showing the bravery of the soldiers who did the best they could in a horrific situation while showing how a lot of little decisions can add up to a big problem later (i.e. don't take enough water, ammo or night vision because they are heavy and you don't think you will need them).

The recreation of the actions of MSgt Gordon and SFC Shughart who selflessly volunteered to go into a desperate situation to protect a downed helicopter pilot knowing that the chances for survival were extremely poor was especially striking and a little hard to watch knowing that they were awarded posthumous Congressional Medals of Honor for their bravery. Bottom line is that while the movie most certainly is somewhat sensationalized to fit into a 2 hour Hollywood movie format with big budget stars etc, it also does a great job conveying the futility, fog and confusion of modern urban combat.

There are a plethora of reviews of the movie, but my review is mostly a comparison of the BD vs DVD version.

The DVD version was quite good, but the BD version is great. Its audio does not have the imaging of HBO's Band of Brothers, but its still a good use of a wider sound stage with sound quality FAR above DVD.

The BD transfer still has the grain and high contrast that was how the movie was shot. However, the details are far sharper and clearer, so many of the background elements have more detail given the higher quality of BD.

The greater details make snafus much clearer: in the final scene of Durant's downed chopper, the same assaulting Somali rebels are seen attacking and are killed twice in 2 separate attacks; in the end where Hartnett is reviewing fallen comrades in the morgue, one of the bodies starts moving his eyeballs; in many scenes direct lines of site are made with weapons pointing at targets and despite a hail of gunfire, nothing is hit nor bullets impact the area. Considering the marksmanship caliber of these troops, it was distracting. By contrast, in Saving Private Ryan, or Band of Brothers, a view through weapons was succeeded soon by the effect of fire hitting the area viewed.

Disk extras are identical to the DVD version but there is a commentary track with some living veterans of the event. The veterans suggest events on almost every other scene is less true, but they do say that the spirit and most key events are true. For example, the Durant rescue is close to true, but the depiction of what the Somali's do to the rescuers bodies are not. The General was never hands on the radio during the entire battle, and the actions on ground depicted by Hartnett's character was actually done by another officer. These veterans testimony are in stark contrast to the book author and screen writer, who suggest most of the movie depictions are factual.

sat on the edge of my seat...even though I knew the outcome. the action and adventure in this film were unbelievable, the cast was most impressive, the acting very very good. I even liked the musical score, which I rarely notice in a film. I loved the friendship of the soldiers and everyone's belief that no one is left behind. I enjoy the war movie genre and this one was right up there with some of the best. There was a lot of blood and it was a bit gory-definitely not for the faint of heart. It was 2 1/2 hours long, but I didn't notice...didn't look at the clock once to see how much longer it was going to go on. I would highly recommend this movie. It tells the story of modern day warfare and I will never forget the bravery of these young soldiers.