Black Hawk Down: Deluxe Edition

Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down is unquestionably one of the most impressive, and successful, attempts at capturing the insanity and chaos of modern combat, specifically urban combat. Once deftly pass the character introductions and set-up, BHD becomes a non-stop series of incredibly realistic running fire-fights for over the next hour-and-a-half, immersing the viewer in the essence of combat: chaos and confusion. The tale of a day-long (and night) battle between Somali militia and U.S. soldiers (the elite Rangers and Delta Force commandos), in which 19 American lives were lost and more than 1,000 Somalis were killed, is based on a true story. During the capture of high-level criminal clan leaders in the city of Mogadishu (the most dangerous city in the world) in 1993, two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and everything that could go wrong did for the U.S. forces, as they were caught in the city during a failed rescue attempt and had to fight off seemingly the entire population for hours before another rescue could be organised. BHD features a talented ensemble cast (Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana) but it is Scott's meticulous dedication to capturing the chaos of battle as realistically as possible that is BHD's greatest feat. Almost as if acknowledging that the original BHD DVD was stingy at best with its extras, the deluxe three-disc edition is armed to the teeth. There are no less than three different commentary tracks from its writers, director, producer and, amazingly, a group of Task Force Ranger veterans. Not to mention both the History Channel and PBS specials on what really happened, which flesh out the events and give more context and explanation than the movie, which isn't as concerned with analysing U.S. foreign policy, world politics or passing judgement as it is with honouring the fallen soldiers and depicting, with incredibly accuracy, what they faced. Extras: audio commentaries; making of Black Hawk Down; eight deleted and alternative scenes with commentary; designing Mogadishu; production design archive; storyboards with commentary; Ridleygrams with commentary; BHD photo album and galleries; title design explorations with commentary; the History Channel's "The True Story of Black Hawk Down"; PBS presents "Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu"; mission timeline; target building insertion. (Columbia)