What I wanted "The Siege" (1998) to be.

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2002)

Remember that small hit (if it was one) in 1998 with Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington about New York being attacked by an terrorist force. I was disappointed in that movie because the 'force' laying 'siege' to New York was just a bunch of crazy loonies with TNT strapped to their chests running around and blowing stuff up. Boom!
With a title like "the Siege" I expected an invasion force rolling off at NY harbour and starts running through buildings, people running in panic and entire buildings being toppled. Then the US army would come in, try to take control of the situation and run around, trying to chase the invasion force out of New York after much have been destroyed. But I didn't get that. The closest I came, that year, to that sorely missed movie experience was GODZILLA!
Then, out of nowhere came Black Hawk Down to rid me of a movie I had wanted to see back then! Not that it had toppling buildings, demolishing tanks, and Mogadishu remained as intact as what it was before the battle depicted in the movie. But instead of the US army chasing around the invades it turned out the US army was the invaders and the Mogadishins were trying to chase them out and that was good enough for me!
On a more serious note BLACK HAWK DOWN wasn't as much as an anti-war movie (which it is) as a warning to America that said "keep your noses out of nonsense that did not involve you!". After September 11th this idea, which was indirectly caused by operations such as this one.
All the acting is superb, the location was excellent and breathtaking and looks like a warzone. The action is grizzly, the pain is practically real. It will make you laugh, it would make some cry, but it is definetly the best war movie of the new mellenium and all others, especially those in a modern setting, would have to be compared to Black Hawk Down.
And if Black Hawk Down doesn't take your fancy as a warmovie you could always view it as a comedy of errors.