Jingoistic, kind of racist, but spectacularly well made

Rating: 6/10 (27 May 2014)

Ridley Scott delivers a blunt force patriotic American film that is so jingoistic that some scenes seem one step shy of having 1-800-GO-ARMY appear on the screen. It's an unabashedly American film that shows delight in filming the American flag, as well as mowing down as many 'skinnies' as possible. There is a scene when an American soldier is wounded next to the downed black hawk and after he is killed by a rampaging mob of Somalis, they tear off his clothes and parade him around. That is not the offensive part, it's how Scott films them - close ups of grunting Somalis that seems like he's filming animals. In fact there is very little humanity on display in Black Hawk Down, the American soldiers are all cardboard cutout noble and most of the cast is indistinguishable from one another, with the exception of easily recognizing Ewan McGregor and Ewen Bremner because of their poor American accents. When I saw this film in theaters in 2001, I detested it, as it felt like a piece of violent propaganda. Years later, I revisited the film and while it still suffers from those issues that bothered me on first viewing, I was able to appreciate just how damn well made the film is. The cinematography is masterful and the action is staged almost perfectly. On a technical level Ridley Scott did deserve his Best Director nomination and the film is worth viewing for the sheer level of craft on display.