Directed by Ridley Scott Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Sam Shepard, Kim Coates, Ron Eldard, Ewen Bremner, Review by Fredric Hammarlund
SYNOPSIS:
A US mission to capture two key players in the civil war in Somalia goes awry when a Black Hawk helicopter is shot down and finds itself surrounded by a vast number of heavily armed Somali militia.
“Once that first bullet goes past your head, politics and all that shit just goes right out the window”.
Hoot’s (Bana) quote makes you think about the position of soldiers of war. And especially some of the US position taken in modern times. Black Hawk Down will only touch on politics, but bullets will fly by and into most characters and a realistic view on war is portrayed.
Our guides through the anguish are off different calibres. We got Grimsey (McGregor) who has served in several wars and operations, but due to his typewriting abilities has not seen any action. That is until one of the rangers injures his arm in a ping-pong accident. Then there’s sergeant Eversmann (Hartnett) a soldier who gets promoted to squad leader after the first ambush. And veterans of war like Hoot and McKnight (Sizemore). With nothing in common, but the war they fight in, these men are the heart of the movie.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has had a close relationship with the US military ever since Top Gun (1986) and is supported with Black Haws helicopters, Humvee’s and actual rangers. A more realistic view on war is hard to come by. The actual battle lasted for more than 18hours but director Ridley Scott manages to push it down under 3 hours. The movie itself is based on writer/journalist Mark Boden’s portrayal of the events. After writer Ken Nolan read the book he even opted to wash Bruckheimer’s car in order to get a shot at the script.
The movies isn’t actually shot in Somalia, but in Morocco and some of the Somali militia is actually played by the Moroccan military. Somalia was and is to this day a dangerous and unstable country.
Like any other Hollywood war movie it does have its US military glory moments that tend to overshadow the story and portray how great and victorious the US is. Hans Zimmer’s score accompanies these moments perfectly and almost brings them over the edge, but since it only occurs a few times it does not drag own the overall rating too much.
No matter what you think of US involvement in Somali this is a movie that depicts civil war and black ops gone awry truthfully. Death, starvation, desperation and nationalism all take its toll in the third world and in this movie. Plato said it well when he stated, “Only the dead has seen the end of war”. Scott chooses to quote the citation in the titles for all the right reasons. An earlier cut featured the TS Eliot quote: "All our ignorance brings us closer to death."
These days you can get your hands on the Oscar winner (Best Editing & Best Sound) in a 3-disc edition for a good price and I recommend this movie over recent and lighter war movies such as Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg 1998) and Tears of the Sun (Fuqua 2003). This is a solid 4 out of 5.
Giving you the BEST of Classic Movies from 1920 to present and in every genre!
BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN, BLACK HAWK DOWN,
BLACK HAWK DOWN
CREATIVE IDEAS
2009 MOVIE REVIEWS
BOX OFFICE RESULTS
BLACK HAWK DOWN, 2001
