Realistic.....Smart.... Simply Put...Unbelievable.

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2002)

I went into Black Hawk Down with high hopes, being a fan of war movies, and Ridley Scott, i knew i was in for a treat. After reading the compelling book by Mark Bowden i couldnt wait any longer to see it, its just too bad i finished the book two months before it came out. After reading such a graphic novel i knew Scott could show the violence and gore in his own way, which would be a realistic way. Seeing the movie get an R rating for "intense realistic graphic war violence" kind of surprised me since ive never seen any rating reasons like that. But being a fan of these kind of movies i couldnt wait to see it. thought some say that you can compare the violence to the first 20+ minutes of Saving Private Ryan, you cant really, though it is pretty gory its not actually that bad, some scenes make you want to turn away or close your eyes but Ridley Scott is just trying to make it as real as possible. The acting is "ok" but you dont really get enough time to know any of the characters well because of the many different story lines, but war movies arent supposed to have that much character developement. if you want to see action, and drama this is one of your best choices of some of the poor films hollywood has to offer this time of year. so in conclusion Black Hawk Down is a first rate war movie without all that "getting to know the main character" stuff. its simply what it is, and it deserves 10/10 stars.