Black Hawk Down

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Latte Thunder
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Black Hawk Down

Post by Latte Thunder »

I caught this about a week ago. I've been letting the imagery sink in a bit before I spoke on it. I always have to give big hype movies like this time to set in or I get carried away and sing golden praises of it only to bash it a year later (ala Phantom Menace) I also wanted it to see a wide release so other peeps around here would have something to comment on.

See this movie. If you can believe it, it's a Bruckheimer production that doesn't suck.

If you thought the Omaha Beach invasion scene from Private Ryan was a gruelling endurance test, try and sit through this movie. While not nearly as graphic as Private Ryan's openning 20 minutes, it is an unrelenting fire fight that is as intense. For those out of the loop, this movie follows the unfortunate events surrounging the US involvement in the Somali civil war back in 1993. In an attempt to capture some of Aidid's (the Somali dictator) people a division of Army Special Forces soldiers were moved in on Mogadishu for what was supposed to be a very simple in and out mission. Everything goes wrong, however, and the soldiers find themselves in the middle of Mogadishu, cut off from reinforcements and set upon by a mob of thousands of angry Somali militia men.

According to some folks who have read the book, this one sticks pretty close to the facts, sparing only a few details not essential to the plot of the movie. After a twenty minute lead in and introduction to the key players, the mission begins and the movie becomes one long, desperate fire fight where things just keep going wrong. It's visceral, it's extremely violent and it's loud. Scott went to great lengths to convey the terror and panic being felt by the soldiers pinned down in the city and it works.

The acting is also very well done. A lot more than you'd expect from Josh Hartnett here. Ewan McGregor also puts in a noteworthy performance as a desk soldier who spends his time making coffee during Desert Storm and Panama only to find himself in as a last minute replacement for an injured soldier. Tom Sizemore's character is hardcore. Watch the movie and tell me I'm wrong.

Great movie. Be sure to check it out.
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AC
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Post by AC »

This is a solid movie. However, it just doesn't do the job of capturing the brutality of the whole event that the book did. The book did a better job of relating the gore and brutality of tht whole event....then again, books are always better than the movie. I'm sure another factor was the rating. If some of the disgusting and brutal stuff from the book made the movie, there's no way BHD would be an 'R'.

Also, I felt that the rescue at the end was done rather quickly....it made it seem easier than it actually was. There was also no mention of the American bodies that were dragged up and down the streets after the event.

All in all though, solid flic.
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Post by Latte Thunder »

I think the bodies of soldiers being dragged through the streets was implied in the movie but never illustrated. The two snipers and the pilot that were captured, I believe, were the ones you were supposed to understand to be dragged around.
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Post by Rich »

Grrrrrrrreat movie, I wasn't let down by it in any way. It starts off nice building up the tension and then unleashes total hell and never lets up until the end. A couple of my friends didn't like the movie and continuously tell me how Pearl Harbor was a much better movie, I mean, come the fuck on! Pearl Harbor is a chick flick, unreal love story tripe! Black Hawk Down delivers. The movie could have been good with any actors they put in the roles, the soldiers never acted, they just fired their weapons. I do have a soft spot for Tom Sizemore though.

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Post by Latte Thunder »

when next you see your friends, tell them that your foot in their ass would make a better movie than Pearl Harbor Image
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