Advantages: Excellent Film Disadvantages: Not many
...article was a film called Black Hawk Down, which I had heard of but never, had the opportunity to watch and had no clue about, later on when in discussion on the article, somebody brought the film up and highly recommended it. Buying the Film I bought the film in Blockbuster when I was returning a rental; it cost £4 which I thought was highly reasonable for a DVD, especially one which was recommended and according to the front of the DVD won two ... ...called The Battle of The Black Sea took place. 19 US soldiers lost their lives in the battle and the films depicts the story of some of the characters involved in the real life mission, including those who died or had significant injuries and those who came through as heroes. Structure The film quickly runs into the point of which the US Army soldiers and Delta Force troops are taken by helicopter into the hostile territory in Somalia. This is a ...
amyloop 18.08.2009 (20.08.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Black Hawk Down (DVD)
Advantages: Detailed battle scenes, plenty of action Disadvantages: Not for the faint hearted, a lot of blood and gore
Black Hawk down is a film from the acclaimed director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Hannibal) and the renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Con Air, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor). The film is based on actual events that befell a group of elite American soldiers in Somalia during the civil war that raged through the early nineties. The battle of Mogadishu was remembered as the longest single ground assault that American troops had been involved in since the ... ...the loss of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
On the 3rd of October 1993 a group of elite American Delta Force soldiers are given orders to infiltrate a building within the Somalian capital Mogadishu and capture two top lieutenants of the infamous warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Adid the most powerful of the many warlords operating throughout Somalia rules the capital, Mogadishu. Around the building four groups of American Rangers are dropped in by ...
kepler3001 02.03.2004
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Advantages: Atmospheric, gritty and realistic Disadvantages: Nasty
...there, one of which is Black Hawk Down.
Black Hawk Down is set during the 1993 civil uprising in Somalia. A renegade warlord has asserted dominance over the area, with world aid being systematically seized and prevented from being received by the starving Somalis who so desperately need it. A United Nations resolution is in place, but this has done little to bring peace to the region and so the US military decides that it must capture two of the ... ...and when one of the Black Hawk helicopters is shot down, things take a terrible turn for the worse. With more and more rebels pouring into the area, the troops find themselves heavily outnumbered and outgunned and as the day progresses into night, there seems to be little that can be done to prevent more and more Us casualties.
Directed by Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down is an intelligent, impressive and shocking piece of cinema. Uncompromising in ...
LostWitness 05.10.2002
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Advantages: Brainless actioner for a friday night rental Disadvantages: Brainless actioner.
...for the lead role in Black Hawk Down, and its such a shame. But at least Josh Hartnett doesn’t get to ruin the film on his own, oh no Ridley does that very well. Remember; just because he made Blade Runner and Alien doesn’t make him a master Filmmaker, it makes him a master Sci-fi maker, and never has that been more apparent with Black Hawk Down. White Squall was dire as was G I Jane and now he can add another notch to his list of Turkeys.
... ...War, Behind Enemy Lines, and Black Hawk Down were either released or will be soon. As you would expect from a U.S war film it is suitably Patriotic, but in this case they went into overdrive post Sept 11th and turned it into a chest beating, flag waving, America is the best etc.
Shot in bleak grey tones (Saving Private Ryan anybody?), it follows the ill-fated mission to extract a Somali Warlords top two lieutenants in Mogadishu. The Americans in ...
willgould 02.02.2002
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...or unlucky enough to see Black Hawk Down on DVD last week, the decision is up to you?
A woman can only stand so much death and destruction and this grand epic based on a true story that happened on October 3rd 1993, a battle which took place in the war torn city of Mogadishu, whether they should have been there or not, who are we to decide. This story was based on the real life events of that day in early October, The book written by Mark Bowden ... ...lives of 18 Americans, two Black Hawk helicopters, but, also not forgetting the hundreds, if not thousands of innocent Somalian's that died over the entire period of reign of terror that is one thing that this film very easily forgets. The cast, some of which were lost amongst the plot included:
Josh Hartnett – Eversmann Lets just hope that the man he played had some sort of backbone because Josh just seem to be a real wet weekend
Ewan McGregor ...
Zoe30 22.09.2002 (23.09.2002)
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Advantages: savage depiction of real events, does what a war movie should Disadvantages: a bit too chaotic at times, needs repeat viewings to understand certain sections, which may not always be pleasant
...you're depressed now, let's watch Black Hawk Down. The captain thought it was a sequel to KES and ran to the toilet to be sick. When he returned the lights were off, the curtains closed, the tv on, the surround sound on and me laid half naked on the couch watching the opening moments of BLACK HAWK DOWN!!!!!!!
Were introduced to the conflict and the main characters in the films opening half hour, basically a crazy warlord is captured by the U.S and ... ...capture some other lieutenants using Black Hawk helicopters and some elite soldiers. It all goes spectacularly wrong though when one of the helicopters is shot down and to make matters worse the troops are surrounded by thousands of gun toting somalians who are totally pi**ed off. A dramatic firefight ensues with the troops being split into groups. One group is led by Lt McKnight (Tom Sizemore- Pearl Harbor, saving private ryan) who leads a convoy ...
pablodiabloescobar 13.03.2003
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Advantages: Excellent Film, with no boring wait to get to the action Disadvantages: they didnt take any brits, that why it went wrong :)
...attack resulted in two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters being shot down and the deaths of 18 Americans and hundreds of Somalians.
On Sunday 3rd October 1993, 140 US soldiers stormed the Bakara Market in Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture two lieutenants in the service of a local warlord. What should have been a simple search and capture operation lasting under an hour, turned into a hellish battle in a foreign city that didn't end until the following morning, ... ...its heaviest losses since the Vietnam War. The soldiers that are sent in to the market are not just normal grunts, but these are the USA’s elite soldiers, their Army Rangers and their Delta Force (and no, Major Chuck Norris does not appear, different film). Unlike films these days, this film (thankfully) does not spend ages setting a plot with only a small amount of gunfire but I think within the first 30-40 minutes the action starts and it doesn’t ...
robin_best 07.12.2002
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Advantages: Best War Film of last year. Disadvantages: It was actually a true story
...wasn't enough one of their Black Hawk helicopters has been shot down and with the motto of "leave no man behind" the Ranger's have to get to the downed helicopter before the locals do.
The film is based on the book of the same name by Mark Bowden, which he collated from stories of those that were in Mogadishu on this mission. It quickly established itself as one of the best War films ever made and having watched it countless times I have to say ... ...Durrant's, one of the downed Black Hawk pilots, account of what happened and on the whole there are very few discrepancies between the two.
There are a number of stars in this film and I think that with the focus divided between two or three groups gives each of them decent camera time. There aren't any weaker performances and with Tom Sizemore, Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Eric Bana to name but 4 of the cast you really wouldn't expect any. ...
Andy.mack 01.04.2003 (31.05.2003)
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Advantages: Good Realistic, war film. Good storyline. Disadvantages: Limited Special Features.
...of others (Saving Private Ryan) Black Hawk Down acctually Represents what happened. There are no distraction in the story. It is straight to the point, you watch a movie that you expect to see. There are no love triangles (Pearl Harbour) there are no reunions with the soldiers wives.
The film was executed with impecabile style. There was no need from any of sets from the main story. There was no need for any invented situations. Ridley Scott Really ... ...pure, adrenaline rushing action. Black Hawk down is sure to keep you on the edge of your seat. One not for the faint of heart.
Director: Ridley Scott
Soundtrack: One of the greats Hans Zimmer (Gladiator amoung others)
Actors\Cast:
Josh Hartnett: Ranger Staff Seargent Matt Eversmann
Ewan McGregor: Ranger Specialist Grimes Tom Sizemore: Ranger Lieutenant Colonel Danny Knight Eric Bana: Delta Sergeant First Class Hoot Gibson William Fichtner: Delat ...
JamesBrock 05.05.2003
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Black Hawk Down is a film I’d been avoiding for some time as I had heard a few things that had put me off watching it, but Craig had been harping on how great a film it was supposed to be, so when I seen it Virgin Megastore last week, in the 5 DVD’s for £30 offer, I decided to take the plunge.
From the Director of Hannibal and Gladiator, Ridley Scott along with Producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Bad Boys, Armageddon and Pearl Harbour) brought ... ...mention the loss of 2 Black Hawk Helicopters.
The Military hope to catch Aidid’s men unawares, which is confusing considering the amount of helicopters and a convoy of trucks steaming their way in to downtown Mogadishu, it seemed fairly obvious that Aidid’s men would know they were on their way enabling them to prepare to hold them off.
Four groups of American Rangers are dropped off by Helicopter to secure the building, but find themselves ...
herby30 07.04.2004
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Advantages: Beautifully Shot, Agressive Style Disadvantages: The real story is never fully told
...quite good for Jerry Bruckheimer. Black Hawk Down is the second war film from the hollywood producer within a year. Last time round we got the cinematic bore that was Pearl Harbour. This time around the collaboration with director Ridley Scott delivers far better results. This time around there's no soppy love story to serve as a plot device for the real turmoil and bloodshed. This film gets down deep and dirty from the outset. It's 1993 and america ... ...Aidid's lieutenants. Instead, two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and what was expected to take an hour lasted 15, resulting in the deaths of 19 Americans, 73 wounded, and hundreds of Somalians dead. The film shows the soldiers in the the thick of things, trying to edge closer to the crash site and leave no man behind. The problem is that they are surrounded at every turn by gunfire and destruction. If there is one thing you can say ...
utero 01.03.2002
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Advantages: gritty realism, fast action Disadvantages: bit shallow, slow start
...that guy's leg go?!
Black Hawk Down is an extremely realistic war violence thriller, and it certainly has no mercy for the weak stomachs in the audience. The film is the story of real events that happened in Somalia, when elite US soldiers make a capture effort in the heart of a hostile area in Mogadishu. Things go a bit wrong, and then get worse, and it all unfolds in front of you as you cringe, sigh, shake your head, etc. to the events that transpire.
... ...Blade Runner, Alien, etc) and features a quality cast with some welcome British names in there:
Josh Hartnett - Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann
Ewan McGregor - Company Clerk John Grimes
Tom Sizemore - Lt Colonel Danny McKnight
Eric Bana - Sergeant 1st Class Norm 'Hoot' Hooten
William Fichtner - Master Sergeant Paul Howe
Ewen Bremner - Specialist Shawn Nelson
Sam Shepard - Major General William Garrison
Gabriel Casseus - Specialist Mike Kurth
...
psrose78 18.02.2002 (19.04.2002)
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Advantages: Gripping action sequences, Private Ryan reality in a modern "true" war Disadvantages: The Hollywood version of a true story is never entirely true
I first watched Black Hawk Down innocent of its crimes of omission and enjoyed it immensely - but after doing a bit of digging came to recognize that the movie is another of Hollywood's convenient creative misappropriations of a true story.
Attack of the Clones
While others report finding Scott's contemporary frenetic camera-work distracting I found no issues plunging into Scott's world of a Kabul-like bombed out Mogadishu invaded by almost clone-like ... ...In this respect if Black Hawk Down had really portrayed what had happened it might have performed a better service for the world. Ewan McGregor's character, here portrayed as a hero, is actually serving 30 years in Fort Leavenworth for raping a 12-year old girl. (From what I can glean the crime didn't occur in Somalia - if you know more please add a comment to this review).
McGregor plays John Grimes who is really based on John "Stebby" Stebbins. ...
rihallix 13.08.2004
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Advantages: Gritty, atmospheric, based on a true story.good soundtrack Disadvantages: no big stars, not uite saving private ryan.
...be writing this review of Black Hawk Down. My plan was to watch it then send it back and insist that i had put a cross in the box on the form provided.
Anyway. I got comfy on the couch with my five cans of lager, popcorn, chips and nachos and selection of sweets ready to endure the next couple of hours. I presumed that after an hour I would be turning the movie off and going to bed. I was wrong!
Allthough this movie isnt in the list of my all time ... ...this is mainly due to one scene that I will not forget for some time yet. I will com,e to that later.
Back to the details.
Director: Ridley Scott - probably most famous for directing Alien and Blade Runner, with this pedigree I figured that the film wont be too bad.
Starring: Josh Hartnett - whom I cant really remember being in anything significant, (but I am sure I will be corrected). Ewan Mcgregor - Trainspotting, (and Obi-Wan-Kenobi). and I ...
daylight 23.10.2002
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...and expenditure. However, when a Black Hawk helicopter is shot down by the masses of heavily armed rebel fighters in the city things go wrong, the kidnapping turning into a rescue mission which was doomed to failure. Suddenly it seems that everyone inside Mogadishu is either an American in a whole lot of trouble or a Somali rebel with an automatic weapon or bazooka and all hell breaks loose...
If the movie was meant to be nothing more than a shooting ... ...hours then it is pulled off superbly. The action is non-stop and the effects superbly pulled off. It delivers the message that war is hell nicely and its not often that you'll see ths many US body parts strewn about the film set as they suffer something of an ass-whupping from an opposing force. Its interesting to note as well that apparently Ridley Scott had the backing and support of the Pentagon in making this as authentic as possible and the ...
wampyrii 16.02.2002
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Ridley Scott directs this fast moving action adventure about the disastrous mission in ... more
Somalia on October 3 1993 where nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers commanded by Capt. Mike Steele were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to ...
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From acclaimed director Ridley Scott and renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer and based on ... more
actual events, Black Hawk Down is the heroic account of a group of elite U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia in October 1993 as part of a U.N. peacekeeping...
Production Year: 1970 - War - Director: Brian G. Hutton - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring: Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Carroll O'Connor, Donald Sutherland, Don Rickles, Gavin MacLeod