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Black Hawk Down

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Black Hawk Down is a 2001 film by Ridley Scott, based on the book by Mark Bowden. It depicts the Battle of Mogadishu, which was part of the U.S. military's 1993 campaign to capture Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The movie stars Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana and Tom Sizemore. It won awards for Film Editing and Sound at the 75th Academy Awards in 2002.

Contents

Plot

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Based on the best-selling detailing an ill-fated U.S. Army mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993.

An assault force of Delta Force commandos backed up by nearly 140 U.S. Army Rangers under the command of CPT Mike Steele were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two senior lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The mission was successful and the wanted persons were captured and taken into American custody. However, when Somali militia armed with RPGs downed two Black Hawk helicopters, a 30 minute mission becomes a pitched battle between the American forces and Somali militia. The movie recounts the efforts by the American soldiers to get to the crash sites and recover their wounded personnel. Most of the action centers on a few soldiers, such as Sgt. Eversmann and Staff Sgt. Yurek who command Ranger units Chalk Four and Chalk Two, respectively. Other parts of the movie focus on Lt. Col. McKnight and his rescue convoy that gets ambushed throughout the hostile city, Sfc. "Hoot" Gibson and his Delta operators, Sfc. Jeff Sanderson as he leads the Rangers to the first Black Hawk crash site, and the sole survivor of the second crash, Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, as well as the hopeless defense made by Delta commandos Gary Gordon and Randy Shugart to protect Durant's crash site. The comrades of Mike Durant that flew above him also tried valiantly to save Durant. A RPG hit Goffena's UH-60 and he made a forced landing. although he landed in safe territory. The soldiers were able to hold off the militia until dawn, when a convoy consisting of the 10th Mountain Division, U.S. Marines, Navy SEALs, and Pakistani and Malaysian UN troops reached them and they were able to successfully exit the city. During the battle, 18 American soldiers lost their lives, while it is estimated that over a thousand Somali civilians and militia were killed. The 19th casualty, reported on the DVD and through other sources was Delta Sgt. Matt Rierson, who was killed in a mortar attack on the Task Force hangar two days after the battle.

Spoilers end here.

Reception

As of May 2006, Black Hawk Down has grossed (USD) $108,638,745 in the United States and $64,350,906 elsewhere, for a worldwide gross of $172,989,651. The film ranked 154th on the United States box office on its opening day, taking in an estimated $179,823, however it rose to 24th by the end of the weekend, taking in an estimated total of $28,611,736.

The critical reception of the film was largely positive, with the film review collection website, Rotten Tomatoes, giving the film a 76% Fresh approval. James Berardinelli from REELVIEWS gave the film a positive review, concluding that Black Hawk Down is "[o]ne hell of a ride. For better or for worse, it will leave you stunned and reeling." Mike Clark, USA TODAY states that while the standard getting-to-know-you war-film characterizations are downplayed, this is, in fact, a virtue, given the nuts-and-bolts movie director Scott and company have elected to make. Jay Carr of the BOSTON GLOBE was unsatisfied with the film, stating that "[d]espite all the hard work by an army of craftsmen working on location in Morocco, the film takes the easy way out, subsiding into a thing of technical challenges met rather than attempting to probe the events at a deeper level." Doug Pratt from the Hollywood Reporter said of the film: "a massive, complex production that is amazing not only for the logistical effort that went into staging it, but for the brilliance with which the film managed to organize a coherent narrative out of a nightmarishly chaotic incident."

Larry King Dubed it: "One of the best war movies"

Controversies and inaccuracies

The factual accuracy of this section is [Accuracy disputedisputed].
Please see the relevant discussion on the [

The [Neutral point of view>neutrality] of this section is [NPOV disputedisputed].
Please see the discussion on the [propaganda on behalf of US military intervention, even though the US military was there at UN request to protect food shipments to civilians from Somali warlords. Unlike Scott's earlier film G.I. Jane, Black Hawk Down received the full cooperation of the US military and he allowed the military a veto over every aspect of the film in order to receive this level of military involvement. Some argue that this resulted in a biased finished product, although it is not clear whether the U.S. military asked Scott to modify or censor the film in any way. There is a small controversy that the Pentagon allegedly [[Citing sources citation needed]] asked that the character of Spc. John Stebbins be replaced by the fictional character, Spc. John Grimes, as the former was convicted by court martial in 1999 for molesting and raping his own daughter [link] [link].

The film is shot entirely from the point of view of the American soldiers. Unlike Mark Bowden's book, the film does not depict the extensive civilian casualties of the Battle of Mogadishu, nor the use of civilians as human shields by the Somali militia.

The film also portrays the delays in the rescue mobilzation of UN forces as stemming at least in part from spite on the part of those forces at not being informed about the mission, possibly suggesting they were willing to let US soldiers die for petty politics. Bowden's book argues that the delay was more due to inadequate contingency planning on the part of all parties involved.

Other omissions and inaccuracies are listed in articles such as the Slate article, "What Black Hawk Down Left Out" [link], which argues among other things that the Somalis who engaged the American soldiers that day believed themselves to be acting justly in response to what they perceived as disproportionate and cruel American and international military tactics used against them. The Somalis were apparently especially outraged by two retaliatory UN attacks shortly before the Ranger raid, in which women, children and clan elders meeting with Somali warlords were killed.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

The Malaysian government criticized the movie for not giving the Malaysian soldiers involved in the rescue mission enough recognition; one Malaysian soldier died during the rescue attempt. An American soldier wrote in a letter that he was grateful for the bravery and courage of the Malaysian soldiers, which helped prevent the deaths of 200 of his compatriots.[[Citing sources citation needed]]

The film neglects the wider political context in which the battle took place, thereby reducing it to a simple story of good versus evil. The truth, however, is more complex. The US and UN were seen as supporting one clan, led by Ali Mahdi, over the clan led by Aidid. This was further compounded by the July 12th missile attack by the US on a meeting involving members of Aidid's clan, who were arguing for negotiation. The large number of casualties and the fact that they were leading members of the clan caused a backlash against the US/UN and helped strengthen Aidid's position.

Background and production

This project was originally the idea of director Simon West who urged producer Jerry Bruckheimer to obtain the rights of the book with a view to directing it himself. However, West abandoned the project to direct (2001).[[Citing sources citation needed]]

Despite the fact that Ken Nolan is the only credited writer, there were others that contributed uncredited. Sam Shepard wrote most of his own dialogue as Major General William F. Garrison; Eric Roth wrote crucial speeches for Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana to deliver in the closing minutes; Steven Zaillian made a dialogue-driven rewrite; and Stephen Gaghan contributed to the writing of the screenplay.

About 40 of the actors who were portraying Rangers were sent to Fort Benning to attend a two week crash course in becoming Rangers, 15 of the actors portraying Delta Operators were sent to Fort Bragg and were given a two week Commando Course by members of the 1st Special Warfare Training Group. Ron Eldard went to Fort Campbell and was given a lecture by Michael Durant (whom he portrays in the movie) and by several Little Bird and Black Hawk pilots.

The Directors enlisted the help of the US Army, and all Black Hawks and Little Birds used during the filming were from the 160th SOAR, (Special Operations Aviation Regiment) and most of the pilots were involved in the actual battle on 3/4 October 1993. The US Army also supplied the ground vehicles and weapons. Additionally, a platoon of Rangers (serving with the 3/75 Ranger Regiment) were employed to do the fast-roping scenes.

Much of the film was shot in Rabat in Morocco.

Cast

Awards

The film won the following awards:
  • the 2002 Academy Award for Best Editing (Pietro Scalia)
  • the 2002 Academy Award for Best Sound (Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, Chris Munro)
  • the 2002 Golden Reel Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA for Best Sound Editing - Effects and Foley, Domestic Feature Film
  • the 2002 Harry Award
It was also nominated for the following awards:
  • the 2002 Academy Award for Best Director (Ridley Scott)
  • the 2002 Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Slawomir Idziak)
  • the 2002 AFI Film Award for AFI Cinematographer of the Year (Slawomir Idziak)
  • the 2002 AFI Film Award for AFI Director of the Year (Ridley Scott)
  • the 2002 AFI Film Award for AFI Editor of the Year (Pietro Scalia)
  • the 2002 AFI Film Award for AFI Movie of the Year (Jerry Bruckheimer,Ridley Scott)
  • the 2002 AFI Film Award for AFI Production Designer of the Year (Arthur Max)
  • the 2002 MTV Movie Award for MTV Movie Award Best Action Sequence (First helicopter crash)
  • the 2002 MTV Movie Award for MTV Movie Award Best Movie
  • the 2002 WGA Award (Screen) for Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published (Ken Nolan)
  • the 2002 Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Actor, Drama/Action Adventure (Josh Hartnett)
  • the 2002 Teen Choice Award for Film - Choice Movie, Drama/Action Adventure
  • the 2002 Golden Reel Award from the Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA for Best Sound Editing - Dialogue and A.D.R., Domestic Feature Film
  • the 2002 Golden Trailer for Best Drama
  • the 2002 DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (Ridley Scott)

Trivia

  • The photo of a wife and child that Durant is looking at is actually a photo of Eric Bana's wife and child. The props department forgot to take a photo of a wife and child with them, so they asked Bana's wife and child who were traveling with him if they could use a photo of them in the movie.
  • Disney passed on distributing this film because of its violent R rating. Its eventual distributor, Revolution Studios, is run by ex-Disney studios chairman Joe Roth.
  • Army pilot Keith Jones reenacted his real-life rescue of Delta operator Daniel Busch (Richard Tyson) for this film.
  • Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan Bremner, William Fichtner and Kim Coates all previously worked together in another war film, Pearl Harbor (2001).
  • Eighteen soldiers lost their lives during the raid. The epilogue lists 19. Eighteen of the soldiers who died were Rangers and Delta operators. There were also two soldiers, PFC James Martin and Sgt. Cornell Houston, from 2-14 Infantry, 10th Mountain Division, who died during the battles of 3/4 October. The 2-14 Infantry was the Army unit sent in to rescue the Rangers. Matt Rierson, who is also in the list, died after the battle when Somalis attacked Task Force Ranger's base with mortars.
  • Some of the scenes on the monitors behind Major General Garrison are actual satellite images of the battle.
  • On the last day of their week long Army Ranger orientation at Fort Benning, the actors who portrayed the Rangers received a letter that had been anonymously slipped under their door. The letter thanked them for all their hard work, asked them to "tell our story true" and was signed with the names of the Rangers who died in the Mogadishu firefight.
  • According to IMDB.com,
:The massive shoot of the "target building insert" sequence was intended to be among the first sequences shot in principal photography, due to its complex nature. However, negotiations to borrow four Black Hawk helicopters from the United States military were so arduous that an agreement was not reached until a month after shooting had commenced. Director Ridley Scott had prepared a rental of four Hueys from Germany that were ready to be painted black and work as substitutes in the event an agreement with the US Department of Defense could not be reached. Fortunately, the US Government was eventually satisfied that the film would portray the incident in a positive light, and shipped the helicopters to the location in two C-5 Galaxy transports. Ridley Scott says this was very fortunate for the film, since the title is "Black Hawk Down" and Hueys have no resemblance to Black Hawks.
  • One of the Black Hawk helicopters used in the film was named the "Armageddon" (a film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) and another was named the "Gladiator" (a film directed by Ridley Scott). Producer Jerry Bruckheimer believed this to be a sign of good luck.
  • The scene where a U.S. soldier falls out of the truck in the convoy was an outtake, but director Ridley Scott felt that it was funny and should be left in the movie.
  • Specialist Grimes, portrayed by Ewan McGregor, is a fictional character, though given his administrative position and penchant for coffee, he is unabashedly based on the real-life Ranger clerk Spc. John Stebbins, who was awarded the Silver Star for his actions during the battle. However, Stebbins was convicted in 2000 for child molestation and is currently serving a 30-year jail term. As a result, the Pentagon apparently pressured screenwriters to alter his name in the film, although a spokeswoman for the movie defended the change as "a creative decision made by the producers."
  • William Fichtner's character, Sergeant Sanderson, was actually a fictional version of current Delta Force operator Staff Sergeant Paul Howe. Name changes were made in an attempt to keep the Delta Force operators anonymous.
  • During the scene in which Captain Steele and Sergeant Sanderson argue about "Hoot's" behavior at the cafeteria, the story is only true on Captain Mike Steele's behalf. Captain Mike Steele had a problem with the Delta Force's behavior, feeling that they were a bad influence to his Army Rangers. Sergeant Paul Howe (the real-life version of Sanderson) on the other hand felt that the Ranger's strict training regimen was doing more harm than good when it came to actual combat situations.
  • SFC "Hoot" Gibson is a compilation character, whose storyline is comprised of the combined exploits of several anonymous Delta and U.S. Special Forces operators. "Hoot" himself is barely mentioned in the book.
  • The scene where Staff Sergeant Eversmann runs unprotected across a street under heavy fire to plant a targeting strobe did happen in the actual battle although it wasn't Eversman who did the act; SPC Twombley was ordered to plant a flat triangular marker (similar to a construction marker) out in the middle of the street so that pilots could identify their position. In another incident, Technical Sergeant Tim Wilkinson, an Air Force Pararescueman, repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to collect medical supplies and to treat wounded Rangers holed up in different locations. For his bravery, he was awarded the Air Force Cross, a medal second only to the Medal of Honor.
  • SSG Eversmann, played by Josh Hartnett, only has half-truths of his role in the operation. In the movie, he is shown as a key member of the movement to the crash site, who essentially substituted for the role of U.S. Army Ranger Larry Perino. Eversmann was actually a member of the lost convoy and did not initially move to the crash site. The only true event that happened to Eversmann was Blackburn's injury.
  • Like Eversmann, Sergeant Lorenzo Ruiz, played by Enrique Murciano, is shown as a key member of Steele's team. In actuality, Ruiz was also with the lost convoy, but he did get mortally wounded.
  • SFC Kurt Schmid played by Hugh Dancy was actually a Delta Force medic, not a U.S. Army Ranger medic. Although he started off as a Ranger, he became a Special Forces medic and served in the Delta Force during which time he was in Mogadishu. Kurt went on to become a Special Forces Warrant Officer and has since retired.
  • "Doc" Schmid is first seen with an M16/M203 rifle-genade launcher combination, but a couple of seconds later has a Colt R0933 Commando, and even later has an M16A4 rifle.
  • During the scene between Grimes (Ewan McGregor) and Sizemore (Matthew Marsden), Grimes asks Sizemore how he broke his arm. Sizemore says he broke his arm in a ping-pong accident. In reality, Sizemore broke his arm while in a scuffle with Lieutenant Colonel Harrell in the hangar (although saying that he broke it in ping-pong could be taken as a joke on his part).
  • The US troops on several occasions refer to the local Somalis as skinnies. This is a possible reference to the fictional alien race in the Robert A. Heinlein novel Starship Troopers. Another possible source of the term stems from the fact that many of the Somalis were malnourished or had slender builds, hence the description of "skinnies." Somalis were also referred to as "Sammies" in radio chatter during the first scenes.
  • In the last scene, SFC "Hoot" Gibson was seen using a colt M1911 after he ran out of ammo, but later is seen holding a beretta M92Fs.
  • Author of the book Mark Bowden wrote early drafts of the screenplay. He admited Jerry Bruckheimer gave him books on how to write Screenplays. The sceen between Durant and Abdullah "Firimbi" Hassan was taken from one of Bowden's Drafts.

References

  • Scott, Ridley (2001). [Black Hawk Down]. Sony Pictures Entertainment. Culver City, California (USA).

External links

 

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