Average Rating: 
Rating:  - For truth's sake.
My only complaint about the whole Black Hawk Down experience is the critics. To hear things like, "Ewan McGregor should have had a larger speaking part" or "Josh Hartnett should have been less 90's sympathetic" makes me realize that most of the people that went to see the movie are average moviegoers with degrees from the Siskel and Ebert school of critique. Perhaps they should have made Task Force Ranger caputre Aidid in the movie, and put him on trial? You can't change truth. This movie wasn't about memorable characters, or Oscar Nominations. This movie was released to tell a story. An actual story. An actual story of American soldiers fighting for everyone's freedom. I guess if you've never served in the Armed Forces for the good of the country and mankind, you probably won't understand what kind of story this movie is telling. You'll want a love story. Perhaps with a "funny guy." And maybe a "quiet, loner kid." Maybe a high speed car chase. Or even a bomb on a bus. I've always said that Americans don't care about soldiers unless there is a war going on. There's an insensitivity from Americans toward their defenders. It's taken for granted that we'll protect you when you need it. Why does it take a Desert Storm for people to display yellow ribbons? Why does it take a terrorist attack for people to display their nation's colors? Before I go too far off on a tangent. I suggest that before you all write your 'informed' reviews, you at least read Mark Bowden's book. It may clear up some things for you. It may even enlighten some of you. And heaven forbid, you may even realize that the "gung-ho characters" of SFC Randy Shughart and MSG Gary Gordon weren't characters at all, but were in fact real people. And they were posthumously awarded Congressional Medals of Honor. For the benefit of everyone, that translates too "They were awarded the highest award possible, but only after making the ultimate sacrifice." My thoughts, prayers and condolences still go out to those 19 families, as they have since October 3, 1993.
Rating: - To Douglas B Cody of San Francisco
I felt the movie was well done. The action sequences were well played out and realistic. A lot of time obviously went into the authenticity. Mr. Cody, You missed the point! When a "civilian " picks up a gun and starts firing at american soldiers they are not a civilian anymore, they are a combatant. You obviously haven't been in the military! I didn't see any innocent bystanders get killed in the movie! War is ugly and I think this was a pretty accurate account of this particular skirmish.
Hopefully they will come out with another edition with DTS and the history channel's documentary.
Rating: - A Different Kind of War Movie
Ridley Scott's film Black Hawk Down does a good job presenting Mark Bowden's book by the same name. After reading the book and seeing this film I was astounded by how little I knew about this particular event. I recall the CNN tape of Corporal Michael Durant held captive by the Somalis and saw the hideous footage of the two American servicemen's bodies being dragged through the streets, but I had little idea that this was the result of a 25-hour battle. I didn't know that we lost 19 of our troops with fifty-seven others wounded. The film starts off with a little backdrop - Somali warlords commandeering the food deliveries being made by the international relief effort. The U.S. stepped in with 20,000 Marines to restore order and order was restored, at least until the Marines were evacuated. As soon as the Marines left Mohammed Aidid an Al Qaeda associate declared war on the U.N. and began to attack the food shipments again. By October of 1993 there was only a few Battalions of Army Rangers and some Delta Force commandos based in Somalia. Washington wanted "something done about Aidid," but when the base commander (played by Sam Sheppard) asks for more firepower he's denied. So on October 3rd, 1993 the U.S. forces set out on a mission to capture Aidid at a meeting in Mogadishu. The plan is to cover the four corners with Black Hawk helicopters, while a Ranger Battalion goes in with armored vehicles to take the prisoners. It's supposed to be a no muss, no fuss mission...over and done in a couple of hours. Of course, it didn't happen that way. The Somali militias are well armed with surface to air missiles (RPGs) and automatic weapons. What follows is a twenty-five hour pitched gun battle and that is the focus of this film. The battle scenes are graphically vivid and almost unending...some 80% of the film is compromised of this single engagement. The film is often disturbing, often repulsive - a makeshift "operation" on a soldier dying from a bullet wound that severed an artery is particularly gruesome. Still, critics who bash this movie for "lack of character development" and a weak story-line, referring to it as a "dressed up documentary," miss the point that THE UNIT IS THE CHARACTER. The battle and the troops response to this unexpected bit of war was the STORY-LINE. The battle itself is the protagonist and the human reaction to massive carnage is the story. It's hard to compare this film to other war movies. It has the terrible reality of the D-Day scenes in "Saving Private Ryan," but it's focused entirely on a single horrific event. The battle scenes are grisly, realistic and the acting is first rate. The film depicts an ugly reality, but in my view, it achieves its objective convincingly.
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