Black Hawk Down (2001)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Ridley Scott

Writers (WGA):

Mark Bowden (book)
Ken Nolan (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Leave No Man Behind

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:

War Violence | No Opening Credits | Mogadishu | Color In Title | Operation Restore Hope

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 4 wins & 29 nominations

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

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 | 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:

Some of the scenes on the monitors behind Major General Garrison are actual satellite images of the battle.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When PFC Blackburn and SFC Eversmann first meet, SFC Eversmann asks "You brought your weapon?" PFC Blackburn replies, "Yes sir, you want me to shoot? I'm rested." In the United States Army, Non Commissioned Officers are never referred to as "Sir". Only commissioned officers are referred to as "Sir". A new US Army Ranger would know this upon graduation from Basic Training, AIT and most certainly US Army Ranger school. The proper response from PFC Blackburn would have been, "Yes sergeant." Considering Blackburn's response in the film, SFC Eversmann's response realistically would have most likely been, "Sir? Soldier, I work for a living."

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

Referenced in 'Kingdom of Heaven': Interactive Production Grid (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Creep

Accurate and unflinching

Black Hawk Down is an incomparable war flick. Other movies I can recall, such as COURAGE UNDER FIRE, have a powerful story but fall short of authenticity. Because of the storyline, which showed a flawed and scandalous military hierarchy, the director, Ed Zwick, was not granted the permission to use real Army equipment. As you will read in the trivia/goofs section of that film, British tanks were loaned to the production company and dressed up to look like American M1s. The helicopters used were probably 'Hollywood arsenal' or rented from the National Guard. Even some of the dialogue and practices fell short in the realism department. As an US Army vet (1995-2000), I knew when I watched it theaters in 1996 that certain usages of weapons and vehicles were just not real! Yet COURAGE UNDER FIRE was interesting and legitimate. As for other war movies that TRY to tell a worthwhile story or give a message, any semblance of military jargon and practices are shot to hell (the terrible but watchable RAMBO III; the low quality Mike Dudikoff vehicle PLATOON LEADER), or overcooked (A FEW GOOD MEN - "Yes SIR! Roger that SIR!"), or just pure McSilly (BEHIND ENEMY LINES).

BLACK HAWK DOWN hits the mark in every respect. There are no ultra-formal or heroic Jack-Nicholson-from-A-FEW-GOOD-MEN speeches. The UH-60 and AH-6J helicopters used are the real aircraft loaned from the units involved on 8/3 and 8/4 1993, not slapdash-with-aftermarket fakes.

Detractors of the movie claim it to be a flag-waving, recruitment poster, special effects-only production. They also whine about how the Somalis were shown as non-human, the Americans were interchangable, and that more of the events surrounding the real life mission weren't portrayed. Well, those same folks either weren't in the service or miss the mark completely! First of all, note the absence of any top draw stars. There are many established or at-the-time up and coming actors, but it thankfully did not distract the viewer, like the soopy A-list heavy THE THIN RED LINE. Also, the Americans aren't shown as invincible or pretty - they are shown getting their asses handed to them, arguing amongst themselves, and suffering heavily.

And in regards to them being interchangable, like a few negative reviews state, hey - everyone does kinda look the same in BDUs! SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, a work of fiction (and also a tremendous accomplishment) that had fewer characters, could afford to give each man a face, a name, and a connection to the audience. Ridley Scott dealt with dozens characters pulled from over a hundred real figures from the battle, making that impractical.

Also, BLACK HAWK DOWN isn't about Operation 'Restore Hope', which stretched over 1993 and 1994. That's why some poorly thought out reviews point out that the Somali perspective isn't shown or the events leading up the US/UN intervention. It is about the 24 hour plus battle of Mogadishu from the US perspective. That's all. Otherwise it would have been a monstrous three hour production like those ensemble movies from the 1960s and 1970s, like THE LONGEST DAY and PATTON, both of which cover months of WWII, if not years. I haven't seen either one, but I'm a IMDb junkie, so I know!

BLACK HAWK DOWN uses composite events and characters spliced together for a watchable movie. Events are made up, yeah, but... Sure, there's the occasional continuity error. The CGI effects are impressive. Just imagine if this had been a Dominic West (CON AIR, THE GENERAL'S DAUGHTER) movie, or filmed by some Gen X shmoe. There would have been bullet-time cuts, extreme zooms, and who knows what else? Ridley Scott was the right man for the job.

BLACK HAWK DOWN is without peer. It tells the story of 24 hours in the life of US soldiers in a clear, focused, and honorable manner. What other true-events film has come close? APOLLO 13 dramatized and created people and events for a terrific film. GLORY and SCHINDLER'S LIST did the same, successfully and honorably taking liberties with actual occurences for the sake of movie-dom. PS: check out Mike Durant's new book "In The Company of Heroes". Great book. Feel free to contact me with feedback and notes. To anyone who has served in South Korea in recent years - Manchus lead the way!