BLACK HAWK DOWN
Released: January 18, 2002
In what was supposed to be an easy in and out exercise, "Black Hawk Down" illustrates how a seemingly perfect military plan fell to pieces. This is the true story of the Battle of Mogadishu, the longest sustained ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. An elite force of 120 American Delta units and Ranger infantry were dropped into Mogadishu on October 3rd, 1993, to abduct two of Somalian warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's lieutenants. Instead, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and what was expected to take an hour lasted 15, resulting in the deaths of 18 Americans, 73 wounded, and hundreds of Somalians dead. Director Ridley Scott, fresh from the two mega hits "Gladiator" (2000) and "Hannibal" (2001), attacks his subject matter much like Steven Spielberg did with his "Saving Private Ryan" (1998). Scott does not hide any of the brutality and nor does he attempt to keep it short and tidy. Rather, he gives us a few main characters with bare minimum details about them and simply sends them into the action which ends up lasting the entire unrelenting duration of the film. Perhaps Scott was attempting to one up Spielberg with his uncompromising portrayal of war. At any rate, this is one hellish look at a military mission gone horribly wrong. The actors deliver super performances of soldiers caught in the middle of a no-win situation. The actors are stars but do not let their Hollywood image overtake the film. Josh Hartnett anchors the story and is supported brilliantly by Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner (both of "Heat" fame), Sam Shepard and Canadian Kim Coates. Don't be looking for any deep character developments or arcs - this is simply the telling of a story as it happened - we are literally with the soldiers through every aspect of the failed mission.
144 Minutes
Columbia/Sony