Black Hawk Down Review
by Edward Johnson-Ott (ejohnsonott AT prodigy DOT net)January 17th, 2002
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Josh Harnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Sam Shepard, Gabriel Casseus, Kim Coates, Hugh Dancy, Ron Eldard, Ioan Gruffudd, Thomas Guiry, Charlie Hofheimer, Danny Hoch, Jason Isaccs, Zeljko Ivanek, Glenn Morshower, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Sexton III, Johnny Strong, Richard Tyson, Orlando Bloom. Music by Hans Zimmer. Screenplay by Ken Nolan, based on the book by Mark Bowden. Directed by Ridley Scott. 143 minutes.
Rated R
By Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly htp://www.nuvo.net
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For the most part, "Saving Private Ryan" closed the book on war movies for me. The bookends of the story – which depict an elderly veteran reflecting on his experiences in the war – put the film into context, underlining director Steven Spielberg's goal to honor the veterans of WWII. The staggering 30-minute opening sequence is the definitive battle scene, putting the viewers directly in the middle of the nightmarish action. And the sprawling tale that follows serves as a poignant summation of the entire "brothers-in-arms" genre. From my viewpoint, any post-"Ryan" war movie needs to justify its reason for being.
"Three Kings" did, deftly blending a ripping adventure story with an indictment of our government for failing to live up to promises made during the Persian Gulf War. "The Thin Red Line," with its bad poetry and woozy meandering tone, did not, failing in its attempt to turn war, Zen musings and a National Geographic nature special into something relevant.
Which brings us to "Black Hawk Down," a spectacle that teams the generally acclaimed director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Hannibal," "Thelma and Louise," "Alien," "Blade Runner" etc.) with the generally reviled (by everyone except teenagers and studio accountants) producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Pearl Harbor," "Gone in 60 Seconds," "Armageddon," "Top Gun", etc.). Based on the non-fiction book by Mark Bowden, "Black Hawk Down" follows a group of U.S. soldiers sent into Mogadishu, Somalia, on October 3, 1993.
Their mission was to abduct two key military figures serving the Somali warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, as part of a grand plan to stop the civil war destroying the country. The entire action was to have lasted an hour, tops, but then something goes wrong. Two Black Hawk helicopters, considered to be virtually invulnerable, get shot down over the city. Suddenly, the brass had a new agenda: find and rescue the soldiers that survived the crash before the very angry people in Mogadishu get their hands on them.
Essentially, "Black Hawk Down" is a 143-minute version of the opening battle from "Saving Private Ryan," but with lovely art direction. Using the book as his model, Scott was determined to (quoting from the press kit) "create a story of combat which eliminated any information except that which was occurring during the battle. It was not in his interest to create backstories for each of the soldiers, or for the audience to learn their histories before or after the battle. Anything revealed of their personal world emerged in their actions during the mission."
As anyone who has watched a Ridley Scott film knows, the filmmaker is a whiz in the art direction department and his talents in that area are on full display here. "Black Hawk Down" looks amazing real, the verisimilitude shaken only by Scott's grand use of color (check out the gorgeous blends of blues and earth tones).
The story is certainly harrowing, although the non-stop balls-to-the-walls approach periodically becomes enervating. There's a reason why Spielberg kept his "Saving Private Ryan" journey-into-hell battle down to slightly under a half hour; viewers can only sit through so much horror before the attention begins to wander. From time to time, especially in the last hour, I caught myself evaluating the American accents of the British actors instead of remaining caught in the action.
Speaking of actors, there are many talented ones on hand, although the noise and fury swallow most of their efforts. A few performers rise above the din, though. Jeremy Piven ("Ellen") is likable as Chief Warrant Officer Cliff "Elvis" Wolcott, the first pilot to be shot down. "E.R." veteran Ron Eldard touches the heart as Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, a Black Hawk pilot taken prisoner by hostile forces (despite Ridley Scott's "no personal information before or after the battle" edict, the fate of Durant is revealed in the closing titles) and, as Major General William F. Garrison, Sam Shepard manages to be commanding without falling into cliché.
As for Josh Hartnett, the only cast member with his name above the title, well, he squints almost as much as he did in "Pearl Harbor."
So, in the post-"Saving Private Ryan" cinematic world, does "Black Hawk Down" justify its existence? As an example of how contemporary war is waged, it is instructive. As a reminder of what happens when any group of outsiders interferes in another country's civil war, it is daunting. But as an action movie, it is an exercise in excess, albeit one with a knockout color scheme.
© 2002 Ed Johnson-Ott
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
