2001 Directed by Ridley Scott
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
Josh Hartnett Ewan McGregor Eric Bana Jason Isaacs William Fichtner Tom Sizemore Ewen Bremner Sam Shepard Orlando Bloom Tom Hardy Charlie Hofheimer Hugh Dancy Tom Guiry Brian Van Holt Steven Ford Ron Eldard Gregory Sporleder Zeljko Ivanek Matthew Marsden Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Johnny Strong Kim Coates Jeremy Piven Enrique Murciano Glenn Morshower Brendan Sexton III Carmine Giovinazzo George Harris Razaaq Adoti Show All…
Jerry Bruckheimer Mike Stenson Chad Oman Ridley Scott Branko Lustig Simon West Charles Newirth Lucio Trentini Angela Quiles
Elli Griff Roberta Federico Monica Sallustio Mark Allett Antonio Murer Mustapha Haouas Lahcen Elyazidi
Anna MacKenzie Dino Dimuro Christopher Assells Per Hallberg Perry Robertson Michael Minkler Karen Baker Landers Andrea Eliseyan Gregory Hainer Michael A. Reagan Peter Staubli Myron Nettinga Chris Hogan Bruce Tanis Dan Hegeman Chris Jargo
Pad crnog jastreba, Падение черного ястреба, Mavro geraki: I katarripsi, La caída del halcón negro, Chernyy yastreb, Padinnia chornoho yastruba, Blek Khouk, Helikopter w Ogniu, Чёрный ястреб
War and historical adventure Politics and human rights Epic history and literature war, soldiers, combat, fought or military war, wwii, combat, military or duty political, democracy, president, documentary or propaganda historical, epic, battle, historic or fought nazi, war, wwii, hitler or jewish Show All…
Scott described the film as ‘anti-war, but pro-military’ and that is certainly true. There’s no single star-lead protagonist, but a team of individual heroes. There’s no sentimental bullshit; showing the families back home or close-ups of American flags fluttering in the wind. Instead Scott bravely removes these genre clichés and replaces them with the gritty reality of war.
Typically of Scott there’s an incredible attention to detail, with even something as small as a hot shell casing burning a soldier’s skin reflecting the terrors of war. The film is, in every aspect, beautiful in its creation. From the diversified camera angles of Sławomir Idziak’s breathtaking cinematography and the exemplary slow-motion sequences of Pietro Scalia’s edit to the sound team’s elaborate design and Hans Zimmer’s stunning score, Black Hawk Down is a gloriously immersive piece of cinema, a joy to watch and ultimately a masterpiece of its genre.
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
(Plato)
ADRENALINE PUMPING WAR WHICH RENOUNCES EVERYTHING UNNECESSARY, TO TELL A PURE BLOODBOILING STORY THROUGH THE GREAT VISUALIZATION
This really isn't my cup of tea so I'll be brief. The movie is incredibly tense and visceral, although it doesn't quite reach the level of something like Saving Private Ryan. It is also mostly on the right side of its politics with regards to war in general and the Battle of Mogadishu specifically (this half is a bit fuzzier). But for me there's just way too much of this:
Shot: people shooting guns
Reverse-shot: bullets ricocheting off of stuff
Shot: people shooting guns
Reverse-shot: people falling over
Shot: people shooting guns
Reverse-shot: stuff exploding
I don't mean to disparage the film or its fans, I just prefer a different style of action movie.
Scott's fetish for and power over this material is staggering; structurally it's his ZODIAC, for good or ill, buffered by Idziak's incredibly tactile transmissions of hot metal and black smoke. furthermore it plays today like an accidentally prescient microcosm of blowback from the 12 years of American hegemonic intervention that's come since (and reflects our complicated response to same). the first act repeatedly questions both our and the soldiers' relationship to the violence they're about to inflict before necessarily tossing that "out the window" for a purely subjective survival narrative. in order to protect themselves and their fellows, the soldiers can simply no longer allow themselves to consider the political ramifications of this event or the earthshaking loss of life…
Action!: The Scott Brothers – How To Get Screwed By Spielberg Twice W/ Ridley Scott
The year 2000 was in many ways an era of experimentation for the then-acclaimed director. It's like he decided to try new things after winning his Oscar and had nothing more to prove.
His first attempt with Hannibal failed miserably, as we have already seen. For his next try the director, however, decides to read from the pages of an unexpected but at the same time more obvious source: his brother Tony.
I have joked on numerous occasions, if it turned out tomorrow that this movie was in fact directed by Tony Scott, I would not be surprised at all. The frantic style, the cinematography,…
From a production perspective, this film is incredible, every shot, the color, the casting, the cigar smoking, everything is top-notch. As for the event itself, if the Somali combatants had just paused and aimed a little, they would have had it over with in half an hour.
Cinematic Time Capsule
2001 Marathon - Film #167
”Colonel, they’re shooting at us!”
“Well, shoot back!”
Mark Bowden’s book is easily one of the best accounts of warfare I’ve ever read. However, it was so detailed and layered that I couldn’t imagine how it would translate to film without being completely watered down.
Ridley Scott tackles that challenge head-on and creates an incredibly intense experience that captures the chaos, confusion and horror of a mission gone wrong.
Watching it today I was struck by how much gravity the real locations and practical effects bring to the film, which is something that’s completely lacking in modern day war films with their over-reliance on CGI.
"We have stirred up a hornet’s nest here."
ridley scott has basically no sense of thematic depth or humanity to his films but holy fuck does he know how to make achingly beautiful shots & brutally visceral action sequences. this is a masterclass in sound design & editing, the carnage basically doesn't stop at all after the 20 minute mark, and it's got the muddled ambiguous jingoism that characterizes all the greatest jerry bruckheimer action projects. it also hasn't really aged a day in terms of presentation, the digital effects are still great and the blown-out cinematography has an aggressive, distinct look that hasn't been perfectly replicated to this very day.
is it racist? oh yeah, definitely. but after a certain point, the consummate artistic craft of a work overtakes any petty thematic concerns that something like this pretends to have. it's pure american entertainment, very hypocritical but also undeniable in sheer scope and showmanship. an essential film for the real fucked-up action-junkie lizard-brains out there, like me.
In 1993, American troops in Mogadhisu capture two high-ranking advisors of warlord Mohamed Aidid. Their attempt to exfiltrate them from the city is met with surprisingly stiff resistance by local militia and results in a bloodbath for both sides.
There are very few movies out there that can match "Black Hawk Down" when it comes to visceral intensity and on-screen brutality. If you thought that "Saving Private Ryan" was too much for your sensibilities, stay as far away as you can from this picture. When the battle begins, there is just no let up until literally the last minute. This might not be a classic example of what we call an anti-war film, but it doesn't shy away from showing…
- Atto: You shouldn't have come here. This is a civil war. This is our war, not yours.
- General Garrison: 300,000 dead and counting. That's not a war Mr. Atto. That's genocide.
Shitty nitpick incoming:
There’s not many ‘Somalians’ in this.. Like if this movie was set in Italy, but all the Italians were played by Danish actors, wouldn’t it bother you? You would clearly see they weren’t Italian.. Not many Somalian actors in Hollywood.. I get that, but it kinda bothered me.. Like the black actors look West African.. not East African, or at least not Somalian.
The most war movie to ever war movie!
Surprisingly more violent than whatI thought it would be. The color grading was…
