As in Saving Private Ryan, this is new generation of war films.
Gone are the bloodless tales of galant soldiers on a battlefield where
galantry is always rewarded with victory. Black Hawk Down is a gritty,
violet, horrific film. Images of severed arms, gushing blood, and spilled
intensines have replaced the sterile, romanticized images of so many
black-and-white war movies. For those who are not easily sickended by
such visceral, cinematic attacks, films like Black Hawk Down can
deliver a powerful, indelible, impact.
In the years following Vietnam, the US military has kept to low key,
"sure-fire" operations like the takeover of Grenada or the ousting of
Noriega. Only a few years after the Gulf War, the US military machine
was reminded that invulnerability is, at best, self-delusion. The screenplay
of Black Hawk Down is based on the book by Mark Bowden. Mark Bowden
is a war correspondent whose 29-part story was serialized by the Philadelphia
Inquirer. The film opens with quote by Plato: "Only the dead have seen
the end of war." Then, over a color-desaturated series of images, we are
presented with a brief history of why the United States is involved in
Somalia in the early 90s. The story begins on October 2nd, 1993.
Characters are introduced - Major General William Garrison (Sam Shepard),
who commands the US military presence; Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann
(Josh Hartnett), recently promoted to commanding a team; Company Clerk
James Grimes (Ewan McGregor), who gets to exchange paperwork for a gun;
Lt. Colonnel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), mission commander of the
ground forces. These men and many others are about to become involved
in a seemingly routine mission that will go disastrously wrong.
Scott's movie is riveting and you can't help but keep your eyes on the
action. The performances of the cast are all effective, because each of
actors knows how to downplay his part. The performance put forward by
Tom Sizemore and William Fichtner is exceptional, both of whom construct
vivid personalities in a limited amount of screen time. The cinematography
makes frequent use of filters to enhance the grittiness of location and
the set design transports the viewer to a war torn Somalia.
Black Hawk Down was not an easy movie to sit through, but it accomplishes
what is set out to do. It brings the audience deep into the heart of
combat. It's noisy, messy, and repetitious. Amazingly, Scott manages
to convey the chaos of experience without losing the narrative. There
is a story to be told here and it comes across cleary. Black Hawk Down
is about combat, not politics, not morality and preaching. Sure, it could
have had more character development and there are times when the gore
verges on being gratuitously extreme (instead of merely extreme), but
these are minor quibbles. On the whole, Black Hawk Down is one hell
of a ride. For better or worse, it will leave you stunned and reeling.