A great was movie

Rating: 8/10 (28 August 2014)

Black Hawk Down is based on a real event in Somalia in 1993. It shows one of many mistakes made by the US Military and it is obvious as the movie progresses, you realize how utterly stupid the higher ranks were when it comes to resources needed to carry out a military operation and when it comes to ensure you have necessary backup if things doesn't pan out as planned...which is usually the case in the military. The commander of the Task Force Rangers had requested light armor and an AC-130 Spectre but Washington did not want to allow that as it would be "too high profile". Man...I think someone regretted that crappy decision. What you should probably do is ask the man on the ground what he needs and then give it to him.
None of the characters in the movie is really developed, which is a positive attribute. We are shown the military as a team where people care for each other and cover each others' back at all time, and even ready to die for their comrades as we see happen. It is actually amazing that some people can be that unselfish. The cinematography is just great and it goes very well with the music score. I find that Ridley Scott usually has a very good combination between these two elements of a movie (with Prometheus being slightly off to a certain extent).
The acting is top notch in all cases and the direction is very good. I have seen the movie a couple of times and I can actually mistake the actors for military personnel. Well, you have certain parts of the movie being a bit too much Hollywood (one of the reasons for the score of 8 and not higher), but overall the acting is very good. I remember when I saw this movie the first time...I just had to finish watching it and once the unit move into the city to get the job done...it is action sequence after action sequence...and it does not feel like too much. The build up in the beginning is a perfect prelude to what is coming later.
Too bad though they didn't have the equipment and resources they asked for...if they would have had, the "skinnies" would have stayed inside.