Kicking ass for a good cause - no kidding

Rating: 1/10 (16 January 2011)

This movie is fascinating and interesting for two reasons. It is fascinating because it is a 100% pro-war, pro-American propaganda movie in the style of Dr. Goebbels, and it is interesting because it is obvious that that kind of bold propaganda still finds an audience.
This movie tells the story of some American soldiers who are trying "to kick some ass" in Mogadishu - for a good cause as the movie tells us, leaving an uninformed audience with a wrong premise and doing an excellent propaganda job for all those who believe in what they are being told. On top of that, the intro tells us, that it all is based on a true story. False premises and alleged authenticity are mixed into a dangerous cocktail, typical for propaganda.
Then, the movie develops into a bold good-guys-against-bad-guys-story. All the American soldiers are shown as good people, they all have hobbies, play chess, basketball or draw children's books (no kidding). They make jokes and laugh, they are happy, good people who happen to be in the army because they want to fight a war for the good. The bad black guys all look gloomy, pray to Allah and shoot their machine guns for fun. The do not smile unless they do something nasty. When the Americans move out, rock music is played in the background. When we see the "enemy", you can hear some weird Arab music or threatening noises.
And so on. The reason for why the Americans actually are there is never questioned. They are there, apparently for shooting the bad guys in order to teach them that shooting is bad. Interesting.
Some reviewers claim that this is a good war movie. Well, there are two kinds of war movies: pro-war movies and anti-war movies. This is a pro-war movie. It shows glossy, beautiful fighting scenes with rock music in the background. It does not show what war does to the people. It does not show mushed heads, brains, bones, pus and horror. It shows fair, chivalrous and over all heroic American soldiers who remain fair no matter how unfair the enemy might be. It shows a clean war, where not too many civilians are hurt and where the US Army only hits those who "deserve" it.
I despise movies that propagate war like this one does. "Black Hawk Down" is a prime example of how the US film industry creates bold propaganda in a time when the US government needs it. It is a shame that a director like Ridley Scott does such stuff. And now I have to correct myself: it is not propaganda à la Goebbels, because even the propaganda made by the Nazis was a great deal more subtle than this homage to American imperialism.
If you want a good anti-war movie, pick "Das Boot" or "Full Metal Jacket". Even "Platoon" shows you more of the cruelty of war. This movie shows nothing of it, on the contrary. It should be banned for lying so hard about such serious issues. A shame.