Makes a defeat seem like a victory

Rating: 7/10 (18 February 2002)

The film ends with the summary: a thousand bad guys died while only 19 Americans were killed. Wow. Even during a total SNAFU, 50 baddies get killed for every American. Makes one wonder why the Americans left Somalia.
The film is a wonderful example of how a battle plan can be go awry. If the kill rate was as high as claimed, the film does a bad job of showing why special forces are so much more deadly than semi-trained militia. For example, I found it hard to believe that the baddies would run up to the second downed helicopter, a few at a time, getting gunned down so easily by the 3 remaining Americans. The whole film seemed to give the baddies about as much sense as Indians riding in a circle around the covered wagons while the smart settlers sit behind cover and gun them down. I say baddies, because the "skinnies" certainly weren't fighting like real people.
Remember Saving Private Ryan, where some troops were so angry when they broke through, off the beachhead, that they shot some of the German prisonners? I can't even remember any good guys getting angry. Special forces don't get angry. Instead, they just cry when they have to shoot a woman. Yeah, right.
This film is dreck compared to Private Ryan. But it's ok entertainment, so 7 out of 10.