Black Hawk Down (2001)

Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Sam Shepard, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Tom Hardy, Brian Van Holt, Jason Isaacs, Hugh Dancy, Tom Guiry, Ron Eldard, Charlie Hofheimer, Enrique Murciano, Kim Coates, Danny Hoch, Orlando Bloom, Johnny Strong, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Brendan Sexton III, Jeremy Piven, George Harris. [R]

Dramatization of a U.S. military raid in Mogadishu during the Somali Civil War that went terribly wrong when a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down, leading to a lengthy firefight with the Mogadishu militia, sustaining heavy casualties as efforts to extract the survivors and ground forces are repeatedly thwarted. An exceptionally well-crafted film on a technical basis (the sound and film editing both won Academy Awards), capturing the chaos of the disastrous engagement and pockets of heroism and humanity within the ranks of the cooperating Task Force Ranger units. It’s also a relentless military action-drama, delivering a barrage of noise and carnage without let-up for the better part of two hours, which becomes exhausting, even numbing, in its horrific repetition. As such, Ridley Scott and company have crafted a visceral experience for the audience, but one that overrides anti-war tragedy in favor of pro-war jingoism—we see just enough of the enemy so they’re not faceless hordes, but not enough for nuance or depth, and most viewers will walk away feeling that combat is hell, but interventionist policies are for the best against such foreign savagery. Produced by Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer. Tom Hardy’s film debut.

70/100