film: review

> BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001)
Unless they could somehow make real bullets whiz past your head in the theater, I don't think a war movie gets more realistic, scary, and powerful than this.

By John C. Lyons
Film Critic

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard

Directed by: Ridley Scott

Written by: Mark Bowden (book), Ken Nolan (for screen)

Genre: Action, Drama

Our Rating: 9.5 out of 10

After seeing Black Hawk Down I could manage two thoughts: "wow" and "I am real happy that I have never been in a situation like that (war)." Saving Private Ryan showed everyone how gritty and sad the world of war is. This film turns it up even another level on the intensity and realism scale, if you can imagine that. I was extremely disappointed that this film did not receive more Oscar nominations.

The movie follows the men and women who were sent into Somalia in 1993 on a mission to take out some Somalian warlords. A mission into the heart of the city of Mogadishu, a mission that was supposed to be over in an hour and that took a turn for the worse when the first Black Hawk helicopter was shot down. This film was brutally intense and directed to perfection by Ridley Scott. Most of the film takes place during the 15 hours that the troops (a cast ranging mostly from B-level to unknowns, with some exceptions) were pinned down in the city, fighting for their survival and trying to maintain some sort of plan and order while taking fire from civilians and warlords alike.

Each time a war film is made with such life-like images and harsh realities (Saving Private Ryan and now Black Hawk Down) I gain a new level of respect for those military personnel that are put in these situations of conflict and insanity. The film made it even more clear for me how much we don't know, and cannot begin to understand, sitting in our living rooms watching CNN. I remember hearing about Somalia, but never could I get this much of the story from the 2 minutes of news snippets. War is hell, and for those of us not directly involved in these conflicts we can find new appreciation for the people who put their lives on the line for us and others everyday from films like these.

I saw this film at the Tinseltown theaters on upper Peach Street in Erie.

PROs: Intense vision of war. Ridley Scott and his cinematographers create as much "reality" as possible in a theater.

CONs: Some storylines I would have liked to see wrapped up in a better way than just reading a paragraph or two at the end of the film (i.e. Warrant Officer Durant's subplot). Some of Producer Bruckheimer's patented testosterone and over-patriotism came out (which always takes away from the believability of a film), but thankfully not too much.

(02-0220)

related links:

Black Hawk Down - official site