Black Hawk Down Review
by Eugene Novikov (lordeugene_98 AT yahoo DOT com)February 28th, 2002
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Reviewed by Eugene Novikov
http://www.ultimate-movie.com/
"Leave no man behind."
Starring Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewen Bremner, William Fichtner, Charlie Hofheimer. Directed by Ridley Scott. Rated R.
Black Hawk Down is a film of astonishing power. Never has the terror of war been so palpable or its scope so frightening; the movie, directed by the ubiquitous Ridley Scott, leaves Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in the dust in nearly every category. It doesn't forsake its characters in favor of a political statement or a loaded "message," and it contains many startling, intensely personal moments that will endure in my memory far longer than the admittedly impressive war imagery. And Scott's directorial achievement is incredible almost beyond description.
In 1993, the United States embroiled itself as a would-be peacemaker in a Somalian civil war. On October 3rd of that year, 120 elite Delta Force units were dropped into Mogadishu to infiltrate a gathering of high-ranking lieutenants and take the top two prisoner. It was a simple mission, one that should have taken no more than an hour, until everything that could have gone wrong does. Enemy rockets shot down two Black Hawk helicopters. Soldiers expecting to get in and get out, find themselves in a battle for their lives, as teh warring factions bring in unexpected reinforcements and start taking prisoners themselves.
Josh Hartnett, daring to try another war movie after Pearl Harbor and suceeding admirably, plays Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann, who is put in charge of his teams for the very first time. Ewan McGregor, completely transformed from Moulin Rouge or, really, from any of his previous roles, plays a soldier thrown into battle -- and chaos -- for the very first time after spending his preceeding military career as a secretary. Charlie Hofheimer is a rookie corporal looking forward to seeing some action -- an obligatory character, I'll admit -- and Tom Sizemore contrasts by playing a seasoned veteran entrusted to drive the humvees across the violent terrain.
To conceptualize the scale on which Scott is working here, image an entire movie in the scope of the Normandy scene that opens Saving Private Ryan. It is a staggering visual experience. The story unfolds in multiple places at once, and Scott manages to somehow keep the action fluid, comprehensible and exciting; when the three monosyllabic words of the title were actually uttered, the effect was so devastating that I nearly tumbled out of my seat.
Black Hawk Down was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, but there is no mindless flag-waving or hero-mongering to be found. The film looks at war as an experience rather than an endeavor; it doesn't strive to judge the decisions behind the fateful mission but to recreate the experiences of the soldiers going through it. These soldiers are courageous because they do what they must despite their utter terror, not because they try to save the world. Ridley Scott's central theme is responsibility, but not to your country or your military. As one character puts it late in the film, "it's about the men next to you."
A few moments will remain with me. One is the anguished close-up of Hartnett's Eversmann as he sees one of the members of his team fall from the helicopter. The look on his face powerfully translates the shattering horror of seeing a man he is responsible for on his first mission in charge fall to his death. Another is Sizemore's character riding a humvee and making the "let's roll" signal immediately after being told that he does not have to go back out on the battlefield. Human responsibility. That's all it is.
Grade: A
Up Next: 40 Days and 40 Nights
©2002 Eugene Novikov
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