Black Hawk Down [Includes Digital Copy] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray] [2001]

Depending on the day of the week, Ridley Scott is responsible for my favorite film of all-time (Alien, which also found its way onto 4K this year,) or second favorite, just behind James Cameron's Aliens. Black Hawk Down and Tombstone rank directly behind those two. Despite my love for all things Alien, when it comes to Ridley Scott, you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that among his long career that Scott has crafted a film more important than Black Hawk Down. The events of Mogadishu are now over 25 years of age, and it's been 18 years since it debuted in theaters. Hopefully, this introduction to the new 4K format will also bring it to the attention of a new audience, as well, bringing to light the ill-fated, over-confident "in & out" mission the American forces attempted in their own interests, outside the knowledge of their allies, only to see their underestimation cost them dearly when seemingly the whole of Mogadishu fall upon them. The story here; not only of the American's misplaced bravado in assuming much, but more importantly, and thankfully, much more highlighted, is the heroics, the brotherhood, and the self-sacrifice, is told in a way very few films manage to capture. Rarely does Scott (if ever,) dwell on TELLING the viewers the faults or attributes of these soldiers and their commanders, and relies on showing you what you need to know. And, in that regard, viewers will take what they want away from Black Hawk Down. While it's going to be appreciated and have you FEELING more (Shughart and Gordon always makes my eyes well up,) if you choose to watch this as the visual spectacle of an action film it ALSO is, you'll still be left breathless. On the technical side, Ridley Scott has always had flourish, and it translates gorgeously to the 4K format in such beauty that you'd be forgiven in believing it wasn't filmed that way originally. The care for the film continues onto the extras, where every single extra from the masterful 3 disc DVD Collector's Edition that was issued many years ago has been ported over. Lastly, among this stellar cast- many of whom didn't have a lengthy cast sheet at the time, keep an eye out Game of Thrones fans, for Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jamie Lannister,) as Delta Sniper Gary Gordon in one of his first big roles.

This review is only about the uniqueness of the disc as this an old movie and if you're buying the 4K version, you probably have the DVD already. But, for those of you who do not have a 4K monitor with HDR capability, there's another reason you should be on the look out for this disc. The Blu-ray version has been beefed up using the new 4K mastering process. Picture is 5 / 5 (the grain in the image is what was intended for the cinematic look) However, a hidden gem NO website or review site has mentioned about the bluray: UNCOMPRESSED 5.1 LPCM audio track on the bluray. Dolby Atmos, DTS-X are "lossless" - not the same as uncompressed - and with a quality receiver or seperates, you will DEFINITELY hear the quality difference. Atmos / DTS-X outshines dTS_HD or Dolby TRueHD only because they are object based. But all are compressed and then uncompressed using a lossless algorithm. But Uncompressed hasn't go through all that extra processing, and worth the price of the disc itself, to me. i hope more manufacturers go with the Uncompressed Audio Track on their Blu-rays in the future.

I once owned this in another format, and was looking forward to a massive upgrade. The visual quality on this UHD was quite high. Detail was stunning in spots. Colors were exceptional. The visuals alone speak to the promise of the UHD format on deep catalogue releases. There was a question of black crush in spots; optimal viewing might require bumping brightness 3-5 notches. Assuming of course that your copy works. Mine had multiple audio dropouts. The last resulted in no sound from that point onward. Known working setup, all other UHDs play in optimal fashion. I was expected a battle on the return. But the manager cited that a recall was in progress anyway, so I got my funds back. If ordering from NYC Best Buys, be careful. Perhaps overseas copies fare better.

Sony is continuing it's great run of catalog films in 4K. Black Hawk Down looks and sounds amazing and is an upgrade from the already amazing blu-ray. The steelbook is a disappoint though. The front is the same as regular 4K cover and the back the shot of Josh Hartnett from the previous blu-ray release along with no interior artwork. It's not terrible just nothing special. Whether you purchase the regular 4K edition or the steelbook this is a release well worth buying.

Sony has remastered Black Hawk Down for 4K UHD Blu-ray with excellent video and audio quality. Video quality is vibrant and has a good amount of film grain, while the upgraded Dolby ATMOS audio provides an immersing experience, although it could have used a little more bass. Packaging includes a standard Blu-ray, which isn't remastered and contains the same old transfer from a few years ago, although it would have been nice if Sony would have also upgraded it. This is a good release overall and worth adding to your movie collection, especially if you have a good 4K TV and a surround sound system at home.

I am Shootergamerguy and yes I have played many shooter videogames and watched many military movies. I am posotively sure that you have read some of my reviews, and if you havent then my experience with playing those games and watching these movies is the only reason why I write these reviews. Black Hawk Down is a great movie that features a compeling true story about 18 or 19 U.S. Rangers and Delta Force soldiers lost their lives in the battle of Mogadishu or "Black Hawk Down". This movie is definetly one of my favorites that I have watched over and over again. I would reccomend this movie to you because of the good action and acting involved in this beloved film. If you want a good movie to watch on Saturday night, I would pick theis movie up as soon as possibile. until next time, Shootergamerguy check out my other reviews including Delta Force Black Hawk Down for the Playstation 2 Computer Enertainment System!!!!

Despite the movie's age I just watched it for the first time and I regret not watching it sooner. It is a powerful experience with an all star cast that pulls no punches yet makes no judgements. My one complaint is the release itself. The cover indicates that both versions are included but what you only find out after reading the small print on the back of the cover (if you can even find it in the first place) is that the extended version is only included on the 4K disc and NOT on the Blu Ray. Not cool.

This was one of the early Blu-Ray releases. Since then, optimizations to visual quality have been made (new codecs and such) to newer Blu-Ray titles. The Dark Knight is one of the more eye popping Blu-Ray's I own that I feel justifies owning a Blu-Ray player. Black Hawk Down on the other hand, is not. There's too much yellow shine in many of the scenes and film grain is literally everywhere on the screen for the entirety of the movie. Compared to the DVD version (which my dad owns), I honestly prefer it over the Blu-Ray version (and I only paid $4 for this on clearance). That being said, the sound quality is excellent and would be one of the few redeeming qualities of this version (though the DVD wasn't too far behind).