An educational experience and a great movie.

Rating: 10/10 (27 June 2003)

Black Hawk Down is one of those rare movies that I find myself watching repeatedly and pressing on friends, family and anyone else who cares to listen. It is without doubt one of my favourite movies and I will tell you why. In 1993 America intervened in Somalia. First by sending in 20 000 marines (maybe not exact figure but it's in my head from somewhere) to aid UN efforts to feed the thousands of starving Somalians, later that year they brought in their special ops, their Task Force Ranger to track down the warlord Aidid. When I first saw Black Hawk Down I did not know any of these things, I in fact knew nothing about this movie other than it was a war movie and it starred Josh Hartnett. Seeing this movie made me realise something, I was alive in 1993 (okay only 7 at the time) and yet I knew nothing about what had happened then, you could i guess say the film was an educational experience for me but it was more than that. The movie inspired me and afterwards I read the book by Mark Bowden and have done research of my own to bring myself to the point where I feel that relatively I know what happened that day.
So now I know the facts and I know the movie is not completely accurate, and that certain people's roles have been beefed up or amalgamated into one person however I still watch it because this is a GOOD movie!! Ridley Scott throws us right into the action on that day. We see war for what it really is. Yes war is hell but in that extreme situation we see other humans doing amazing things; the best example I can think of is Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon roping in when the second helicopter went down. Their bravery speaks for itself, amazing people.
The movie has been criticized for having all the characters look alike and blend in but that's the point, no person should stand out as "the star" they are a team. The acting is very good and some of my favourite scenes are the ones showing the camaraderie between the men such as the scenes in the hangar before the mission. I have seen the movie countless times and yet I still cry during the scene where the medic and other soldiers battle to save Jamie Smith.
Yes this movie has flaws, it is hugely one sided in parts showing the Somalians as an evil mob. However the good things outweigh the flaws. this is a great movie with great performances. This movie shows the heroism of men drawn into a battle where they fight not for themselves, but for their friends. Even if they never wanted to be heroes I think they are.
This comes from a non-American
10/10