Ridley Scott’s “Black Hawk Down” is not to be missed. “Black Hawk Down” depicts the tragic 1993 Battle of Mogadishu. Not one to praise the cliched war movie, I was skeptical entering the theatre, expecting yet another display of macho heroism amiss globs of blood. What made this movie so great, was that there was no star, there wasn’t a plot, there wasn’t even a climatic scene.
There was a cast of about 20 men: Josh Hartnett, Sam Shepard, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore, among others. While in the typical war movie the background stories would’ve been told about the main characters to induce emotional attachment, “Black Hawk Down” disregarded the traditional approaches and dove into a true story and presented it to the audience as though we were there, with no foreseen knowledge of the characters or even the event in and of itself.
While traditional war movies try to emote a sense of patriotism and leave the viewer wanting to sign up at the nearest army headquarters, “Black Hawk Down” was different in that it was a relatively unbiased view of the events in Somalia. There were moments where I did get a bit squeamish. The blood scenes were dramatic yet necessary to hold true to the story. As in “Gladiator,” Scott has shown his passion for the disturbing image of a severed limb.
A mission that should’ve been easy went drastically wrong with just a few twists of fate. A mission to capture the warlord Adid turned into a rescue mission to save the fallen soldiers of the Delta Force. In actuality it was the events of Somalia that caused much of the public to doubt the United States’ involvement in foreign affairs.
While ultimately there are 18 deaths of United States Soldiers in the Delta Force, the movie does not portray the United States soldiers as the only victims. Images of a father walking across an abandoned street with the limp body of his child draped across his arms are sure to haunt the viewer for nights to come.
It is obviously impossible that the creators of “Black Hawk Down” would’ve had the foresight to know the current situation that we as a country find ourselves in. However, this movie’s significance comes tenfold as you compare to foreign affairs and wars of the current.
This movie does not glamorize war and death as cliche movies like “Pearl Harbor” do. No, instead this movie sheds light on the fact that these soldiers are just men, often boys, out there doing what they are told. The chain of command is one that is never doubted, and the strength of brotherhood is one that can never be broken. The end of the movie leaves the viewer with a stunned view of reality.
These men do not choose to be heroes, often heroism is achieved only through death. Soldiers make mistakes, sergeants make mistakes, generals make mistakes and yes, even nations make mistakes.
“Black Hawk Down” is by far the best war movie I have ever seen. The scenes are realistic and powerful. Most importantly, it is a piece of history that many of us choose not to immortalize. This movie has done it.
Leave a Reply