Hell ... from the Soldier's POV

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2002)

But for a (not-really-rusted) rusted Pepsi sign, "Black Hawk Down" is a stunning achievement in movie-making. Seen through the swollen but unsentimental eyes of the soldier, BHD replaces "Saving Private Ryan" among the (short) list of films to condemn war-making, on the one hand, while praising the heart of the warrior, on the other. "Do ya want to be a hero?" SS Eversmann recalls someone "at home" asking. Eversmann's answer is changed by warring as is the character of the warrior in Josh Hartnett's gripping portrayal of war's Everyman.
"Why does the United States have a military?" this film asks. Not, one hopes, in order to make more movies like this urgently needed one.