Duration: 144 mins
Release on: 17 Jan 2002
Drama, History, War, is the Genre
There are a lot of excellent war films that come to mind when discussing them. For some reason, I don't recall learning anything about the Somalian civil war or the Battle of Mogadishu, which served as the inspiration for Black Hawk Down. The strategy appeared straightforward enough: the government sent the army to Somalia in an effort to terminate the Civil War. On October 3, 1993, several of them were dispatched on a brief mission to apprehend the Somali warlord who had been firmly in control of the nation.
The Rangers' situation got worse when they discovered that they were surrounded by thousands of armed Somalis, all of whose objectives were to kill any American soldier who entered their territory. The mission turns into a desperate attempt to uphold the Rangers' credo, "Leave No Man Behind," after "raising up the hornet's nest." Without a doubt, Black Hawk Down by Ridley Scott is the ultimate war film.
You don't have to wait long for the Rangers' mission to start, unlike some war movies that break up the fighting with lengthier character-building scenes. The following two hours of the film are spent in nonstop action, with flying objects, explosions, and bloodshed. It can be difficult to follow the fighting and understand what is going at times, and it is almost too simple to get desensitized to the violence.
Although the American soldiers enter the battle with a clear plan, panic quickly sets in, and before long, it is difficult to tell which side is more chaotic. The soldiers are surrounded by what appears to be thousands of extras playing Somali militia, and it's incredible to watch them struggle to flee through the streets of Mogadishu while the action and camerawork are evocative of a video game.
As the story goes on, the suspense intensifies as the troops' and the audience's realization of the dismal and unending hopelessness of the situation grows. Amazingly, despite the fact that more than 1000 Somali men, women, and children were slain during the attack, so much attention has been paid to the 19 American soldiers who have fallen.
Although Eric Bana plays a minor role in the movie, some of his best words really drive home the concept of why warriors do what they do. Even though Ewan McGregor's part is small and unimportant, his Trainspotting co-star Ewen Bremner provides the film with some lighthearted humor. The film has a gray, almost monochromatic look that really makes the orange flames and red blood stand out.
The achievement of portraying a recent historical event realistically in Black Hawk Down is impressive. It's difficult to imagine that something like this could ever happen, and the majority of this film leaves the audience shocked and in disbelief. The atrocities of the event appear even more genuine because of this film's astounding technical achievement, which provides the audience one of the most authentic sensations of what it would feel like to be in the midst of a conflict. Black Hawk Down is unquestionably the best war film ever produced in a genre that has produced some of the best filmmakers and actors.
Here's the movie trailer
