A movie of wishes

Rating: 6/10 (19 March 2006)

Whilst this is an undoubtedly well made film which gets into the heart of battle in the same way the opening to Private Ryan does, it is spoilt only by the insertion of far too many "gung-ho/emotional" comments from the soldiers themselves. A kind of Oprah Goes To War.
The simplistic heavy-handed way in which American forces fight is shown (and the consequences thereof) but despite the way in which the film tries to turn around the mistakes it does leave them in a bad light. The shouting, the poor training, the mistakes and wrong decisions are all displayed.
The final credits begin with a display of the name of 19 soldiers killed in the event. It also mentions in passing the 1,000 Somalians who died and it is typical of the film that they are anonymous and far, far less important. Americans are worth more than Africans it seems.