Without a Doubt, the Best Film of 2001.

Rating: Null/10 (14 March 2002)

"Black Hawk Down" is everything that "Saving Private Ryan" wanted to be and should have been. But the film is smarter than Spielberg's masterpiece and director Ridley Scott (Oscar-nominated) took a few pages out of Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line" to convey some really strong messages about war and what the U.S. military is in this day-and-age. It is 1993 and warlords are controlling Somalia and the capital city of Mogadishu is an important initiative for the U.S. to control as they try to prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of poor people who are unable to get food and supplies needed to survive. The mission is simple: capture the warlords, seize the city and clear the area so supplies can be transported to the starving people of the country. A 30-minute mission then turns ugly as the U.S. is ill-prepared and they under-estimate the fire-power of those on the ground. What follows is total chaos as two helicopters are shot down and a 30-minute exercise turns into a frightening 15-hour battle for survival within the walls of the city. In all dozens of Americans were wounded and 19 ended up dead in the event, not to mention 100s of Somalians as well who lost their lives. Ridley Scott spares no expense in the gore department as the film is brutally realistic and sometimes very difficult to watch, but Scott's film is very honest. Early on, he shows how the U.S. acted before the attack and it is not complimentary at all when it comes to the military. It shows a group of young men that are unaware of where they are and ignorant of the fact that danger is looming from every direction. Some were turned off by this, but I felt it made the film much better as it showed why this tragedy happened. The best performances came from Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore and Ewan McGregor, but this is a director's movie from the word "go". This is the best film of Ridley Scott's illustrious career and with much competition, it was the best film of 2001. 5 stars out of 5.