"You're looking at the guy who believed the commercials. About be all you can be."

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2019)

Be prepared for a battle scene that's the longest and most relentlessly intense one you'll ever likely find in a war movie. It all results from a failed mission to extract a Somali warlord's top two advisers, going horribly wrong when first one, and then a second Black Hawk helicopter are brought down by enemy fire in the Somali city of Mogadishu on October 3rd, 1993. Operating under the military dictum of leaving no man behind, members of Delta Special Forces and Army Rangers go into action that's extremely up close, violent and bloody. What one witnesses almost makes it feel like you're actually there, as the drawn out battle makes you wonder if it will ever be over. Oscars for sound and film editing went to this picture and it's not surprising to see why. It's almost two and a half hours of gritty war footage that tests the camaraderie, spirit and resilience of American fighting forces in a virtually impossible situation. Not without it's casualties, the American side loses nineteen of it's bravest while inflicting untold damage on the Somali capital and a thousand of it's fanatical adherents to Mohammed Aidid. A brief moment of triumph is allowed at the finale as regular Somali citizens enduring hardship and starvation under Aidid welcome the American soldiers who tried to make things right. It's not enough though, to make it seem like the Special Forces and Army Rangers were victorious.