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Director: Ridley Scott
Release Date: 2002
Rating: R
See it on Amazon
 The "incident" everyone forgot
In 1993, when CNN broadcasted the bodies of American soldiers being dragged through the streets of some town we could not pronounce in Somalia (Mogadishu), nobody really knew what was going on. What were we doing there? What had gone wrong? Were we going to war? Two weeks later, Clinton had all US troops pulled out of Somalia. Although eventually recognized as "The Battle of Mogadishu", the incident in Somalia quickly became a forgotten ordeal among the various scandals and other world events of the time.
Black Hawk Down makes sure we will not forget.
Following the true story behind U.S. involvement in Somalia during an ill-fated humanitarian mission, the plot of Black Hawk Down is laid out clearly within the early stages of the film. On October 3, 1993, U.S. soldiers entered Somalia on an exercise that was supposed to take about thirty minutes. The mission turned into a nightlong battle pitting a handful of American soldiers against thousands of heavily armed Somali militia. Nineteen U.S. soldiers and more than 1000 Somalis were killed as a result.
What can you expect?
The first half hour of the movie builds up to the actual mission; then for the next two hours the audience reels through the intensity of the battle. Even with the constant shock of horrific after gruesome situation, the film flows along fairly evenly and is not hard to follow.
This film focuses a lot on the sacrifice of war and the blurring between right and wrong. Some have dubbed it the most violent film produced by a major studio. Many audience members were obviously disturbed by the detailed gore. Some were disturbed so much, that by the time something positive happened, they were too shook up to realize it.
Thankfully, Black Hawk Down is not a political movie. The question of "Should we have been there?" is not answered. This avoids decades of trends that have permeated Vietnam War era movies. On the contrary, Black Hawk Down focuses on telling the story of the soldiers involved with dignity.
Black Hawk Down tries to be as accurate as possible. The audience is constantly made aware of the real-time historical charge of the story through captions labeling when, where, and what is happening.
History almost by the text book
Even with all the attempts to accurately portray the events, you can't please everyone. So far, Malaysians have been upset by their lack of inclusion in the film. Malaysia sent in troops to aid the Americans and lost men as well. The movie only briefly mentions their name.
The usual problems in any intense war film are also evident in this movie. During all the bullets, explosions, yelling, and confusion, it's very easy to forget who is who. Unless a character has a very distinct facial feature or voice, they are quickly dubbed as "the bald guy". And in a war movie with a large cast like Black Hawk Down, it's easy to dub half the cast as "the bald guy".
The acting is decent. I'm not exactly sure how one would audition for the role of someone that gets killed, or kills others, or cries over his friend getting killed, but this group of actors does as good of job as any. You may have heard the saying "Nobody goes to Hooters for the wings"; well, nobody goes to a war movie for the Oscar-winning acting.
Overall, Black Hawk Down is an extremely well done war movie - great cinematography, decent dialog, and a fairly accurate storyline. Ridley Scott has another great film to add to his credits. The best thing about this movie is that it has reminded us of an "incident" that was brushed under the rug, yet good soldiers gave their lives for. When you see it, keep in mind that you are viewing one of the most intense films ever produced, but that this is what war is like.
Related Links:
Black Hawk Down's Official Website
CNN: Somalis cheer at 'Black Hawk Down' screening
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