The greatest depiction of modern warfare ever filmed

Rating: 10/10 (11 February 2018)

Ridley Scott has achieved what very few Hollywood directors could do; the ability to bring to life the visceral intensity and chaos of urban street combat, and to do it in such a way that tinkers exquisite cinematography and imagery that is both visually pleasing and mind blowing. Everything in this movie from the aerial shots to the close ups of soldiers wailing against a wall as they press their faces into the sandy cinder block surface whilst carefully peeking around a corner is expertly accomplished and brilliantly choreographed in such a way that the entire style of filming resembles a thematic dance to the retina. That's the thing about Scott....his capacity to absorb visual composition with image translation and process it in such a way that its blissful to watch.
I won't get into the details of the raid or the mission as that's left for the viewer to find out, but I will elaborate on what type of movie this is. It's not your ordinary war movie where there's a sweet lovable young handsome male with a loving family and a pet dog and a caring girlfriend who wishes him the best and sends love letters. That's called sentimentalism, and that's out the window. Black Hawk Down is sharp and straight to the point, there is no time for back stories or emotional connections to the characters, because real war movies with a focus on blood and battle disregard that silly trivia as nothing more than what it is...trivia. This is by far the greatest testament to the modern American soldier ever filmed, mark my words on that. Until something as impressive, visually encapsulating and combat orientated comes to pass, nothing is topping Ridley Scott's raison d'etre of war movies. Black Hawk Down is one for the ages.