Superbly made war film but pure propaganda

Rating: 6/10 (13 September 2003)

I love Ridley Scott's work, he is truly one of the best and most artistic directors working today. This is an excellent, very well made authentic looking war film that will pull you right into the intensity of a firefight. Unfortunately this film is pure propaganda and got lots of "co-operation" from the US government. It is an outrageous misrepresentation of the facts surrounding this event, the motivations of the Mogs, and the real background of our presence in that part of the world. It is once again showing the USA as altruistic defenders of "freedom" and coming to the aid of these poor starving oppressed people. This is pretty nasty propaganda designed to keep us Americans ignorant of our governments' military "adventures". If too many people start asking questions about the real reasons why we were in Somalia (or Afghanistan, or Iraq, or the upcoming Iran and Saudi Arabia) it could prove uncomfortable for the powers that be. Ridley knows better than this and I'm disappointed that he would go along with this misleading flag waver to bolster enlistments and garner support for this militaristic government.
As a Vietnam veteran helicopter pilot I was impressed with the technical accuracy of this film, it's as good as I have seen in a major commercial film. The underlying message however is a lie.