Makes you think...

Rating: 10/10 (28 January 2002)

I have read many comments about how great and how bad this movie is. People say that the cinematography is great, that it makes you feel like you were there. Others say that there is no character development and that it is racist because it doesn't give the somalian side of the story. This is where I think a good movie has become great.
The story behind the movie Black Hawk Down, which is based relatively accurately off of the book by Mark Bowden, deals with the trials and ordeals that the men of Task Force Ranger went through on that tragic day back in '93. From reading the book and talking with several of the men there, I can tell you from my perspective the movie is very accurate in the portrayal of events. Having that background knowledge probably helped me understand it better. However, this is where people seem to complain about character development and other issues that are left out.
Some people say a movie should leave you caring for the people in it and make you have interest in the story told. Well, this is where Black Hawk Down shines. Not only does it make you care about some of the characters (if the scene where MSG Gordon and SFC Shughart went into help out didn't leave you caring for those guys, then you have no heart), it makes you think about the actual events that took place. The big controversy about the movie over racism, lack of truth, current events, etc., leaves the viewers more self-aware of enormous events that have happened during their lives. I think that is a great sign of a movie if it can make you start to think about and research related topics. It doesn't leave you thinking about some fantasy world, it leaves you with the haunting thought that our world is not a nice place, and that the potential for the spread of regional conflicts are increasing greatly. This movie makes you think.
So, to sum up my thoughts about the movie, it is a non-stop action docu-drama that leaves audiences fearful of the violence of war, but also makes them think about recent and current events that are shaping the modern times.