A 2 hour version of the start of Private Ryan

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2002)

I was very much alive in 1993, and yet the Mogadishu incident only comes to light in my mind now. That's the thing with these films - they highlight things that people may not be aware of or remember.
My first impressions were of sheer awe (as usual) at Ridley Scott's visual control and pace, the battle scenes being among the best I've seen, easily comparable to the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan - only longer. The action was well handled, and the events accurately recreated. I have to say that the beginning was a bit timid, and felt like more of a chore to try and establish characters.
The amount of work that went into recreating the battle as accurately as possible is perhaps this film's main downfall. At the beginning we are really only given faces to recognise rather than characters, and I for one couldn't remember any of the names of the guys we were watching. Eventually I just gave up and enjoyed the view. Also, had I not heard the general plot before seeing it, I might have forgotten why the marines went into the town in the first place. The dialogue was the usual, cliche ridden macho marine talk, you know, like "Go go go!" etc., but the brotherly nature between the soldiers is very evident. There are other war movie cliches involved, the "Tell my kids this that and the other thing" when a soldier's on his death bed, and the guy tending to him going "No, you can tell them yourself, you're gonna be OK". Of course, this scene has been done so many times with the same outcome you have to really wonder why they still do it. My final gripe is that the 'War is Hell' motif has been done to death.
This is by no means a subtle film, and that can either be a strength or a weakness, depending on your point of view. I reckon that it's a strength in that it brings the reality to light of what happened in '93. I was amazed that they managed to cosily fit in some comic relief in this hellish battle. I reckon that things like that are a mark of a good director (or writer for that matter). To be able to make the audience laugh through such a serious film is quite an achievement.
Overall, I would say that this is an excellent chronicle of what happened in Mogadishu, with the biting, gory reality well depicted, and shot by a master artist - Ridley Scott is a pure photographer. However, where this film succeeds as a chronicle is maybe where it fails as a movie.
7 / 10