Rating: 
Summary: History about what we didn't see
Review: Black Hawk Down reveils the American stand off in Somalia during the Gulf War. This movie has a great cast of characters that will keep your eyes glued to the screen... Along with the action. The only reason why I did not give this movie a 5 star, was due to the story jumping around a bit to much, but still a great movie to own.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Not Great
Review: This is a good movie, but it could have been great. Ultimately, I think the director fell short of his goal. Most of the time, the film is intense and very realistic, but there are several inexplicable scenes thrown in that are supposed to be humorous, and in my opinion, they really take away from the film. It cuts from a graphic war scene to Ewan MacGregor talking about the art of making coffee. There are also several scenes with guys portrayed as idiots, running around acting like buffoons because they lost their hearing due to the loud explosions. Those scenes have no place in what should have been a serious movie that showed the horrors of war.
Rating: 
Summary: Great war movie
Review: I've seen just about every war movie made and this is one of the best, not as good as Saving Private Ryan or Band Of Brothers, but it is still a great movie filled iwth action and excitement
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: Black Hawk Down deals with a by now very well-known incident, a US operation in Mogadishu that should have been short, sharp and casualty-free, but eventually lasted almost a day and claimed the lives of nineteen American servicemen and more than a thousand of the local population, mainly because the military capabilities of the targeted warlord was grossly underestimated. The incident had a major impact on US foreign involvement during the Clinton administration. I am sure all of this is described well enough by some of the other reviewers.Firstly, I'll deal with the pro's of the movie. The battle scenes are technically excellent, and, although I have been fortunate enough not to have experienced anything like it in real life, they appeared extremely realistic to me (and are therefore very, very bloody at times). The computer-generated scenes are also mostly very realistic looking, which was not the case with, say, Titanic, where a lot of scenes were obviously computer generated. I also liked the fact that some of the soldiers involved were portrayed as scared and confused at times. Lastly, the acting was reasonable, although not too much was required of the actors. Regarding the con's: in the extras to the DVD I watched the chap who wrote the screenplay (I think his name is Ken Logan) said that he tried to make the viewer care for the soldiers involved in the incident. I think the movie fails in this regard. At the start of the movie an attempt is made to give each of these men a bit of colour/personality, by focusing quickly on each of them while they are still in the US base. One draws, one is a budding stand-up comic, one enthuses about coffee, one is an idealist out to make the world a better place. It's all very [weak], and did not increase my sympathy for them one bit. I would have felt sympathy for them anyway, even without this rather contrived introductory sequence. My other gripe is that the Somalian fighters are just portrayed as a bunch of crazed killers- at the end of the movie a thousand of them have been mowed down, but we know nothing about them. Why would they want to serve the evil warlord Aidid, and even die for him? These questions are left unanswered. The portrayal of Aidid's officers is also [weak]: they are urbane men, uttering quasi-philosophical waffle about power and Africa and war, but they end up looking and sounding like villians from a James Bond movie. In summary, I guess this is a very spectacular, technically impressive action movie, which tries to be more than just that but fails. Don't expect intelligent analysis of US foreign involvement, Somalian motives or, in fact, anything else at all- there is none to be found here.
Rating:
Summary: blah
Review: This movie had great potential but bottom line was it took way too long to tell the story of a very short event. Think "24 Hours" except not half as good.
Rating: 
Summary: A movie only a high school boy could like
Review: This was by far the worst movie I bought for my movie collection. It was the only movie I bought that I hadn't seen in the movie theater or rented....and I learned my lesson. Never again!!! This was one of the worst pieces of acting I have seen in awhile. Don't let all the 'five-star' reviews fool you....Yes, the cinematography and editing is very good (which is why it received an Oscar for best sound and editing, but PLEASE don't buy this film if you are expecting real acting. This is the type of film I used to watch and enjoy when I was in high school. I would like to think I've grown up and now enjoy films that offer more than 'cool war scenes'. For all those touting this film, I'll bet they fall into the following categories: they are either high school boys (which is fine), men who have not grown up, or jarheads (who in my opinion usually have the intelligence of high school boys anyway). The film and script were completely predictable as far as being one of those 'way cool war movies'. I know this was never supposed to be a drama type of movie like Platoon (which is one of my favorite movies)...so my expectations were extremely low. Even these low expectations were not met. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ONE!!! (Unless you're still in high school).
Rating:
Summary: Black Hawk Down
Review: This was an amazingly realistic and awesome documentation of what happened in Mogadishu. It is a little gorey, but it is a fantastic DVD that should not be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Only two things to say....
Review: Simply one of the most underrated movies of 2001. Realistic and accurate account of the failed attempt to capture top aides of Aidid. And that's all I've got to say about that.
Rating:
Summary: Made me sick and dizzy.
Review: The very thought of war as popcorn entertainment is nauseating but so many people seem to have bought into the glitz and titilation of stylized Hollywood warfare. The only good thing to come from viewing this tripe, which borders on flag-waving propaganda, is that I now am compelled to read the book on which this actual incident is based. Just to know that Jerry Bruckheimer was involved in the making of this film was enough to raise alarm bells. Ridley Scott's quick cuts and kinetic editing style made me dizzy. The fighting is constant AND overblown, and the graphic nature of the violence is (shamelessly) typical Hollywood that is maxmised for brutal, visceral effect. The opening beach scene of "Saving Private Ryan" was gut-churning and gripping, but see if you can watch that for 135 minutes. What compelled the film-makers to think that we would want to feel what war is really like? And without placing the chaos and senselessness in some humanistic context? We do not get to know any of the American Rangers intimately so its almost impossible to feel anything for them. The men whose lives are depicted in this film are heroes, brave and skilled all of them. But the Somali militia men were portrayed as a savage mob. I do not need to be told how to feel when I see a man's lower body blown off but somehow, the film-maker's believe that it is something we all should see to somehow hammer home the point that war is wrong. As an avid movie-watcher I always try to watch films to the end. I kept looking at my DVD player timer to see how long to go. The ending itself is underwhemlingly predictable and 'safe'. This incident did not need to be turned into $100M grossing Bruckheimer blockbuster. But I argue that in different hands it could have been a very insightful film. One of the worst movies of 2001-02, but worth a watch. One viewing of Black Hawk Down is enough for me.
Rating:
Summary: Realistic... unlike hollywood
Review: Hollywood has a terrible history of taking events that could be great "eye-opening" movies and flipping them into a typical bloody, glorious war flick. Nearly all of the time, however, war is far from glorious. This is the first accurate attempt that hollywood has made at making an "action" movie realistic. It shows the horrors of war, and describes a historical event, one which not many people knew about, and turned it into an educational yet still catching film, exposing the true face of war. This well-done movie is a must-see!
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