Black Hawk Down (2001)

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, William Fichtner
Director: Ridley Scott

Rating: R

Studio: Columbia

Review Posted: 1.8.02

Spoilers: Minor/Major

Rating: 4/4

By Angelo.

I was 18 years old back in the fall of 1993, starting my freshman year in college and getting settled in my new dorm. Little did I know that half a world away, guys my age were being shipped to Somalia, providing humanitarian assistance to the thousands of starving people caught between the grips of a bloody civil war. Based on a true story, “Black Hawk Down” is an effectively powerful drama about a covert operation gone wrong. With its gritty look into warfare, “Black Hawk Down” is an unflinching account of the situation’s dire inhumanity, and it will surely become the standard to which all other post-Vietnam war films will be compared.

Terrorized by various factions of warlords all trying to seize power, Somalians are faced with constant bloodshed compounded by severe famine. International help via food drops have proven to be futile since the warlords just seize them. This is especially true for one of the more powerful warlords vying for control, Mohamed Farrah Aidid. A top secret mission has been organized by the U.S. to destabilize his forces, and when information of a meeting involving two of his top lieutenants are obtained, American military seizes the opportunity for their capture.

On that fateful day of October 3, 1993, over a hundred American Delta units and Ranger infantries are dropped into the middle of the capital Mogadishu, a major Aidid stronghold. The mission is supposed to only last for an hour at most, but when two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, the soldiers have to face the longest hour of their lives. Smack down in the middle of a terrifyingly hostile territory, they must find a way to help each other get out of a dismal situation; where every window, rooftop and alley can hold enemy fire.

Director Ridley Scott and screenwriter Ken Nolan have raised the bar for all other war films yet to come with “Black Hawk Down”. The imagery in the film is so intense and downright real that it instills fear and amazement. It is a film not for the weak of heart for it shows the brutality of warfare. Violence and tragedy are explicitly shown for both sides, but the film does not forget the emotional aspect of it all. The comradery between the soldiers, the affecting images of emaciated victims, and the ferocious determination of the opposing side are all very touching.

For a war that few of us are familiar with, “Black Hawk Down” smartly puts the situation in perspective. It shows why Americans are involved and the extent of our involvement in that part of the world. The film also rightfully depicts how others can see Americans as being overly meddlesome in foreign matters. The intense hatred shown by some of the opposition is quite troubling.

The amazing special effects heighten the film's realism, but do not overshadow the drama. The soldiers are the main focus of the film, and we follow their deadly dilemma minute by minute, hour by hour. There is no one main character, and I actually found it difficult to recognize individual soldiers. They tend to look all the same, especially with all the dust and blood on their faces, but this reinforces the film’s theme of brotherhood. It does not matter if you know the guy next to you; it just matters that you need to look out for each other.

“Black Hawk Down” does not give any new insights to the idea of war, which I could not have gotten from countless other war films (besides a new setting). However, “Black Hawk Down” is excellent filmmaking, simply put.

World War I had Kubrick's "Paths of Glory". World War II had Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan". The Vietnam War had Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". No war film about the post-Vietnam era has been made yet that has successfully captured the intensity like the films mentioned, until now. Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" is one of the best movies of the year and one war film that will always be remembered.

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