A well-directed war film that tries real hard to overpass the usual..

Rating: 8/10 (4 May 2002)

Black Hawk Down Leaves No Man Behind
On October 1993, African leader Mohamed Farah Aidid was taking over Somalia by controlling the food that was sent by the United Nations to the starving citizens of such a poor country. That is when numerous U.S. Delta Commandos and Army Rangers were sent to join the U.N. in Somalia on a peacekeeping mission. Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner) directed this first-time representation of the `forgotten' Somalian conflict, Black Hawk Down; he gave it a lot of violence because, as he says, `Violence is the only way to show the real truth and intensity of war.' British director Scott didn't make a patriotic portrait of this movie at all; he made it more like an act of solidarity viewed from each of the soldiers' point of view.
The mission for a group of U.S. soldiers is to enter an Aidid controlled part of Mogadishu, Somalia, and capture some of the most important warlord's men. Their plan was to enter via helicopter, withdraw the men, and go back to base. The operation was supposed to last thirty minutes. Trouble starts to grow when one of the seven helicopters in mission, Black Hawk, gets shot down by armed civilians who are angry about America's intrusion into their national affairs. That is when every soldier is not anymore concerned about his mission, but about the group's dictum, `No Man Gets Left Behind.' At that point, their half-hour mission becomes a non-ending battle of struggle for life and rescue of comrades.
Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckeimer produced this nearly-over-the-top movie; as the first time working together, they certainly did a good job creating this non-stop battle with a very anguishing atmosphere. Director Scott creates more of his amazing lighting games and terrific shots. In this movie especially, he liked giving only the U.S. soldiers' point of view; their run towards the enemy or their view of the battlefield. There are very few scenes that represent the rebelling civilians' situation. Scott created the numerous action scenes in a way he never adopted before; he followed the subject of the scene with close shots until this reaches his destination. It was what Kubrick did in his Vietnam film, Full Metal Jacket, when the soldiers approach to the enemy-controlled town.
The acting surely wasn't the strong part of this film; Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbor, The Virgin Suicides) plays the Rangers' leader, he uses his usual strong, dark voice to command his men. Tom Sizemore (Red Planet, Heat) plays the tough lieutenant colonel who, on battlefield, gives adrenaline to the beginning soldiers. Other members of this `team of heroes' are Ewan Mc Gregor (Moulin Rouge, Trainspotting) and Jason Isaacs (The Patriot).
This conflict that should have lasted thirty minutes, ended up lasting eighteen hours; eighteen hours of uninterrupted battle between people who wanted to help, and people who didn't want any help. Nineteen U.S. soldiers and over one thousand Somalis lost their lives in the Mogadishu battle. Also in this movie, Mr. Scott was able to incise a picture in the spectator's mind; he is not ashamed to show the truth, and that is what makes him one of the best. Rating: ***1/2 Directing: ****