And the rockets red glare, the bombs.....

Rating: Null/10 (31 January 2002)

I have read the book and have now finally watched the film by Ridley Scott, and in both instances I was left with a feeling of mild shell shock. The book just blew me away, with its harrowing account of the 17 hour fire fight within the city confines of Mogadishu or as the U.S Military reffered to it, "The Mog". I had told a few of my friends to read the book and they were left with the same feeling as I, and as the release date for the film kept changing we waited with growing anticipation for what we knew would be a great film experience.
Before I get into the film let me confess something, after reading the book and seeing the film I am scared that I didn't quite absorb the message about what hell war is, I mean I understand how horribly scary and stupid it is, but my lasting feeling from both book and film is that "Damn I would love to be a 'D-Boy'. No matter how I look at the story, what these guys went through, what they will forever live with, I still think, Wow those Delta guys kick ass, so for me I feel that the book and film play like a recruitment ad for the US Military, that scares me a little, Anyway.
----------------------Spoilers---------------------------
There are a few things that I wish the film would of included, but I understand why Scott decided not to
1. Definetly it would of been nice to include a little more facts into the stupidity of the higher ups of the American Government, including President Clinton's misguided efforts or lack there of.
2. give a little more understanding as to why the Somalis were so pissed this includes the 71 elders killed by an american bomb, and the perceived arrogance of the american troops by the somali villagers, also the targeting of Ahdid when there were many other warlords that could of been equally held responsible.
3. The Rangers and 'D-boys' killed alot more people than they showed, especially when they first started to return gunfire. In the book they opened up on crowds with 50 and 20 calibre guns.
4. There were alot of humorous moments in the book that were left out. I understand though how including these events would of given the film a hint of non - believability.
5. Finally, the downplaying of the "little bird' action and the Malaysian troop involvement was regrettable.
Now, overall the film conveyed the frenzy of the action and included many gory scenes, if you really enjoy this sort of thing, as I do, then you will love it. The moment the action starts it is truly unrelenting. I myself didn't find it confusing figuring out who was who, as the beginning gives adaquate introductions to all the players. I also thought that Josh Hartnett was actually pretty good, along with Sizemore and Mcgregor. I didn't really care for Fichtner's Character or the sillyness of Bremners'. They both seemed out of place and uninteresting.
What I especially liked was the Ridley Scott style of the film, it looked amazing, and the action was shot with such realism and force that I was sitting there just riveted to the screen. Here is a list of the moments of the film that stood out for me:
1. The approach of the choppers to 'the mog', very unlike the chopper scene in "Apocalypse Now", Instead of blaring wagner over speakers, there is complete silence as they get nearer to the city, shot beautifully, and almost as powerful as "Apocalypse"
2. Eric Bana is awsome. I would love to see a movie made about SAS in Afghanistan, with Eric Bana as a bad ass SAS soldier, because he just rocks,(aside from a little melodramatic speach at the end). The best character in the film by far.
3. The Durant scene, with the two Delta guys giving the ultimate sacrifice to protect the lone surviving crewman of the second BlackHawk to go down, was done very well.
Anyway I would not recomend this film to most women I know or people that don't really care for military action, for people who do like this kind of film I would say that it ranks right up there with the best war films ever made.