"Black Hawk Down" Talkback (Spoilers)

[The Guard]

Leave No Man Behind.
http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/123/003_BLACK_HAWK_DOWN.jpg

Release Date: January 18, 2002 (December 28, 2001 - Oscar run)
Studio: Columbia Pictures, Revolution Studios
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Eric Bana, Johnny Strong, William Fichtner, Sam Sheppard, Ron Eldard, Jeremy Piven, Hugh Dancy, Ian Virgo, Ewen Bremner, Tom Hardy, Tom Guiry, Tac Fitzgerald, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Orlando Bloom, Brendan Sexton III, Michael Roof, Ty Burrell, Richard Tyson

Plot Summary: Black Hawk Down drops you into a crowded marketplace in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia with the U.S. Special Forces-and puts you in the middle of the most intense firefight American soldiers have fought since the Vietnam War. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, October 3, 1993, the soldiers of Task Force Ranger were sent on a mission to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and return to base. It was supposed to take them about an hour. Instead, they were pinned down through a long and terrible night in a hostile city, locked in a desperate struggle to kill or be killed. When the unit was finally rescued the following morning, eighteen American soldiers were dead and dozens more badly injured. The Somali toll was far worse: more than five hundred killed and over a thousand wounded.

Visit the official movie site here (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/blackhawkdown/).

Buy the movie! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00008YLV2/toonzone03/102-0510680-9422553)

Comments?


WOW.

[Stardust]

I thought the movie was pretty incredible also. my computer just wiped out everything i wanted to say and my anal roommate who hates the sound of keyboard clicking is sleeping right now so i'll cut to my question:

has watching this movie changed anyone's perception of today's US military (army, air force, marines, navy....etc)?

i'll post my thoughts later, maybe tomorrow, if i get the chance.

[Jedi Knight]

I've gotta say I loved this movie. Other than Memento and possibly A Beautiful Mind, it's gotta be the best movie of the year.

Ridley Scott does a great job of cutting together all the events to keep it moving smoothly and yet not form opinions about the conflict. It's pretty much just the events told from a soldier's viewpoint.

As to the question of the viewpoint on the military, I don't think it changed my perceptions all that much, because military tactics haven't changed all that much over the years. It's basically just find cover and shoot when the enemy is vulnerable. Granted, these were elite units that were designed for specific missions, but when bullets start flying, everyone pretty much relies on instinct and orders.

If anything has changed, I'd say I hold a lot more respect for modern warfare than I did before I saw this movie. All other war movies are from long ago (WW1, WW2, Vietnam) and don't really portray today's style. I used to think that modern fighting was all about hiding behind a wall and sniping off the enemy from far away, but after seeing this movie, it's a lot more gritty and hand-to-hand than I thought. I guess that also comes with the territory though (Somalia - and probably Afghanistan too).

Anyway, too much rambling. Black Hawk Down is an excellent movie, and every movie fan should see it. (I still can't believe it got snubbed at the Golden Globes, let's hope it at least gets nominated at the Oscars)

[The Guard]

As to the question of the viewpoint on the military, I don't think it changed my perceptions all that much, because military tactics haven't changed all that much over the years. It's basically just find cover and shoot when the enemy is vulnerable. Granted, these were elite units that were designed for specific missions, but when bullets start flying, everyone pretty much relies on instinct and orders.

Tactics have changed a bit. They learned from this mess. Now they bomb the hell out of whatever they're going for, and then they go in with OVERWHELMING force.

[Stardust]

Being contracted into the army, a lot of people (especially women) ask my why I wanted to join. I'm gonna die. no crap, this is the army, that's what happens. I'm not gonna like it because of the stress factor. Well hey, if i can't handle the stress in the army then i guess i'm not gonna be able to handle anything else.

no one really understands when I explain that I want to gain experience no one else gets, travel, and be able to do something everyone else in their own way wants to do: volunteer to help someone or something. in high school i did a lot of volunteering acts to help out the community. well now, i volunteer to defend the country.

the reason i asked if anyone's perspectives on the military changed is because my manager at an old summer job told me things she heard from her husband who was in freaking WWII. all the ladies there were totally against me joining the army. they knew me for only 3 months. i truly believe things have changed since then.

things are different now, and this movie didn't portray soldiers who were drafted into the army, fighting for the country against their own will. these are soldiers who volunteered to fight and defend. this is something they want to do, and are trained to do. although it's focused on the Rangers and Delta Force, the message is the same to me, a cadet in ROTC training. i participated in the Rangers program on campus and you know what? i hope i never complain on running a measly 6-mile ruckmarch along powerlines after those soldiers just ran the whole way out of hostile territory to get to safer territory.

this movie was so emotional for me because this is what i'm training to do one day after i graduate. and i did see where i'm gonna end up. i'm gonna end up like Yurek and his buddy, left behind defending nothing when everyone else had to cover the chopper because i know squat about anything and everything at this time about the military :p