Flat, Uninspiring Patriotical Propaganda

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 2002)

This bland, bloated action snapshot of a one day conflict in Somalia is a war film in the purest sense: an incessant barrage of chopper effects, frenetic machine gun fights and fountains of spraying gore. Whilst achieving its goal of an accurate rendition of a recent, real life war instance with inch-perfect SFX cuts, this tiresome film contains none of the philosophical insights, none of the nerve-wrangling tension, none of the timelessly parodiable quotes or scenes and none of the memorable performances of its hugely superior peers, Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. Indeed, its prominent tagline 'Leave No Man Behind' is also it's nadir; a farcical, routinely patriotic utterance which barely relates to the film's incidences. Other shortcomings, such as the blatant, liberal racism, and the unredeemable wasting of the film's best actor, coffee-fabricating superstar Ewan McGregor, further ridicule this pointless exercise in mega bucks SFX. The film's raison d'etre would be far better employed in a documentary format - if it's noisy blood-ridden action you're after, this movie fits the bill; real movie-goers retreat to Apocalypse Now.