Black Hawk Down (2001)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Ewan MacGregor, William Fichtner, Orlando Bloom

Director: Ridley Scott

Time: 144 mins

Black Hawk Down is the second military-based film to be released in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, following Behind Enemy Lines. (Its original release date was November 2, 2001, which was pushed back to March 2002 because of what happened on September 11, then brought forward again to become eligible for Academy Award consideration as well as taking advantage of the surge in patriotic combat stories due to the Afghanistan conflict.) Based on the book by Mark Bowden, it tells the true story of a disastrous mission conducted by US soldiers in war-torn Somalia in 1993. While stylistically similar to Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan in terms of its realism and graphic depiction of war, the focus on so many different characters and the lack of a more meaningful story lessen the impact of the harrowing events. In the end, Black Hawk Down is competently directed (by Ridley Scott) but turns out to be just one very long battle sequence.

The events in the book (and the movie) take place in 1993. Somalia is suffering from civil war, and a famine is killing many of its people. When United Nations peacekeepers and the Red Cross distribute food, the parcels are seized by the warlord Mohamed Aidid. When the US regiment stationed near the city of Mogadishu learn of a meeting there that involves leaders of the warmongering Habr Gidr clan, they decide to stage a raid. A fleet of helicopters and humvees carrying rangers and other special operations forces are sent into the city's hostile zone, but little do they know of the fight they are getting themselves into, a fight for their lives against a swarm of angry Somalians.

There is not much of a story in Black Hawk Down. It is basically about a bunch of soldiers entering a war zone and then fighting their way out. While this may have worked in book form, the visual medium of cinema demands something deeper than a documentary-style approach. To be fair, the film's first half hour tries to provide some background for the main soldiers involved in the conflict, but there are so many it's hard to garner anything other than a brief glimpse.

The notional star is Josh Hartnett as Staff Sergeant Matt Eversman, but there are other well-known faces like William Fichtner (Contact, The Perfect Storm), Tom Sizemore (in his third war film following roles in Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor), and Ewan MacGregor as a desk man thrown into the middle of the battle. An interesting part could have been Orlando Bloom (he also played the elf Legolas in The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring) as rookie PFC Blackburn, but he is hardly in the film at all after an accidental fall during the first moments of the raid. Australian comedian-turned-actor Eric Bana, who was excellent as the title character in Chopper, has a relatively high profile role as Sergeant First Class Hooten (a fictitious character), but he is so mysterious and his motivations so ambiguous it's hard to gauge what he's doing there in the first place. Sam Shepard rounds out the cast as Major General William Garrison, who took full responsibility for the outcome of the raid.

The recreation of the raid is well filmed, but after an hour of constant bombardment, with miscellaneous rockets flying across the screen, and thousands of bullets being fired, it all becomes a bit wearying. The air of detachment pertaining to the soldiers and the raid doesn't help, either. It may have been better to eschew the exposition in the opening thirty minutes and launch straight into the battle a la Saving Private Ryan (where the opening exchanges were almost as gutwrenching for me as it was for the soldiers). In Black Hawk Down, however, I never really felt that I was there. I was a mere observer, rather than a participant.

The intensity of a battle is felt best in concentrated doses, but Black Hawk Down's battle lasts almost two hours. Also, while the Americans are easily outnumbered, the fact they're facing mostly untrained gunmen means there's not as much suspense as there could have been. (Contrast with the Germans in Saving Private Ryan, who were just as skilled, if not more so, than the Allies.) The film contains its share of gory moments, but they almost feel unnecessary, given the tone of the rest of the picture. Black Hawk Down is not about the futility of war, or that war is hell. It's about a group of soldiers involved in a fight for their lives, and the graphic segments don't quite fit in.

One can almost tell that this is a Ridley Scott film from the visual cues and the use of light and music. He has crafted a technically efficient picture, but one that is curiously devoid of emotion. I was expecting some more excitement out of Black Hawk Down, but towards the end watching the film became a war of attrition in itself.

(c) Joe Wong (1 January 2002)