Black Hawk Down (2001)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Mark Bowden (book)
Ken Nolan (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Rangers Lead the Way.

Plot:

123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.

Plot Keywords:

Helicopter | Somalia | Warlord | Mogadishu | Army Rangers

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 29 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. July 23

10:00 AM

FX

Cast

Josh Hartnett	...	Eversmann
Ewan McGregor	...	Grimes
Tom Sizemore	...	McKnight
Eric Bana	...	Hoot
William Fichtner	...	Sanderson
Ewen Bremner	...	Nelson
Sam Shepard	...	Garrison
Gabriel Casseus	...	Kurth
Kim Coates	...	Wex
Hugh Dancy	...	Schmid
Ron Eldard	...	Durant
Ioan Gruffudd	...	Beales
Tom Guiry	...	Yurek (as Thomas Guiry)
Charlie Hofheimer	...	Smith
Danny Hoch	...	Pilla

MPAA:

Rated R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language.

Runtime:

144 min | Germany:142 min | USA:152 min (extended version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Somali

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Malaysia:18SG | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Portugal:M/16 | India:A | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (re-rating on appeal) | Australia:R (original rating) | Brazil:14 | Canada:18A | Finland:K-15 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #38095) | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Kénitra Airbase, Morocco

Company:

Revolution Studios

Trivia:

The documentary The Essence of Combat: Making 'Black Hawk Down' (2002) (V) that appears on the DVD is actually longer than the film itself.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: In the scene where Grimes is covering Sanderson and fires his weapon towards Somalis with heavy machine gun mounted on a car (about 1:23), we can see the soldier who was ordered to cover Sanderson yelling "I'm jammed!" but his lips do not move at all.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Dan Busch: There. Technicals, nine o'clock.

Movie Connections:

Features Three Brothers (1944)

Soundtrack:

Minstrel Boy (Film Version)

So many elements combine to make this movie good.. especially the music

I've just got this movie on DVD - I did see it on the big screen and it blew my mind. Being from Australia we had practically no idea of what was going on in Somalia, and after seeing this movie and then reading the book - it is an eye opener.

Now that I've watched it a few more times, I've noticed one thing with this movie. The music. Aside from the story and the cinematography and the editing which all are so well done that you feel like you are there with them; the music is a big contributor to the feel of the movie, and in my opinion, more so than in a lot of films.

It is very subtle, it has taken me 10 viewings to even notice there was music there. It really helps create the atmosphere, going from lighthearted, almost fun in the beginning with various rock/pop tracks into deep and moving operatic styles as the story progesses into the war and further.

It is the top of my list of favourites for many reasons, but I think mostly it is the way the whole package comes together to tell the story of what happened that makes it so good.

Well worth viewing many times over.