Rating: 
Summary: Best War Movie in awhile
Review: Black Hawk Down is a great film, paper by me gave it *1/2 but not sure why at all. It's moving, tense, very graphic, the performances are strong and it has some of the best war action ever put on film. Speaking of the strong performances, I'm not sure why none of the actors were at least nominated for best supporting actor. There's so many that should of been considered, like Eric Bana (The Hulk), who's gonna be a huge actor. His little speech at the end is fantastic. Also Tom Sizemore and Sam Shepard give osacr worthy performances as well. Sizemore should probably be in every war movie as he's great in all of them, was in Born on the 4th of July, Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor. At his best in this though, probably his best performance yet. Has all his soldiers being shot up right in front of him yet he always has a solid "lets move on" attitude, he's just great. Ridley Scott (Gladiator), is one of the best directors out there, liked G.I. Jane but always knew he had a better war movie in him and this is it of course. Nothing more I can really say, except that this film deserved more awards than Gladiator got. Should of won best picture for this instead, don't think it was even nominated for best picture though, certainly deserved it more than a Beautiful Mind which was good but not Best Picture bound at all. Well anyway, if you're looking for a good war movie this is it, the best since Saving Private Ryan.
Rating:
Summary: "Black Hawk" soars
Review: Where were you October 3, 1993? If you're like me, you definitely weren't paying attention to our military involvement in Somalia. After seeing "Black Hawk Down" I wonder how I could have been so oblivious to the whole situation. The most violent and intense war movie I've ever seen, it's also one of the best. Benefiting from a strong ensemble cast (Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Sam Shepard) and taut direction by Ridley Scott ("Gladiator", "Thelma & Louise"), this film tells a powerful story in a powerful way. The action and effects are amazing; you'll feel you're actually in the middle of a Mogadishu street with bullets whizzing by your head. Hans Zimmer's score is effective and contributes to the heightened emotion. This is one Hollywood film that Hollywood got right. Not for the weak-stomached, "Black Hawk Down" is, nonetheless, a film you should see.
Rating:
Summary: Honest Review
Review: The best movie of the year. It shows our military endurance on what they most go through in combat. The way the movie was written and played showed the realistic emotions that makes you so shocked.
Rating: 
Summary: Been there done that
Review: Wonderful movie only gave it 4 stars because I have seen saving private Ryan and it was done slightly better.
This is a very realistic view of war. Should we help people just because they need help, or should we just let them wipe themselves out? Would it do any good to kill the persons responsible for starting the war if most of the population had rather fight the war than grow crops to feed themselves, even going so far as to not let people have food given to them because an outsider was delivering it.Maybe in the next war we can just go and get the sane people out of the country and let the people who are left finish their war. :,(
Rating: 
Summary: Best Movie of the Year, on the worst DVD of the year
Review: Hopefully Blockbuster will let me return this DVD with receipt and get a credit on the special edition when it comes out. The movie is a must see, but rent it until a better DVD comes out. I've soaked up about as much information as I could regarding this historical event. The DVD offers nothing more than a short behind the scenes featurette. Buy the book, see the movie, and don't ever forget this story. It is possibly the most important event in modern American history, and guys like Randy Shugart, Gary Gordon, Mike Durant and the thousands of other guys like them should never be forgotten. It's single minded purpose is its greatest strength. Steven Spielberg should take note of Ridley Scott's historic achievement in film making, and so should you. God bless our Armed Forces.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Awful Transfer
Review: Too bad this DVD release is such of such low quality - the film itself deserved better than this. This DVD 'features': - poor image quality ('edge sharpening' artifacts all over the place - someone obviously screwed up the high definition mastering process) - a funky widescreen transfer (text that appears at the edge of the image is cut off) - and bizarre, blocky subtitling (i.e., when the Somalis speak) that appears to have been generated by a $50 home-video editing kit(the text appears in giant, ugly yellow letters) All of which serve to ruin what should be an immersive, intense war film. Hopefully Criterion or Superbit will license the rights to publish and do it right. Sony Pictures' shockingly bad release is lacking in all respects; even the theatrical trailers are missing (the ones on the disc are for Spiderman and The One). The 'On The Set' Featurette (commercial) is short and annoying. Where was the QA? Did no one bother to look at this thing before they sent it out for mastering? Save your $20 and wait for the release from Criterion or Superbit.
Rating:
Summary: Best War Movie ever made
Review: I used to reserve that title for "Saving Private Ryan", but by looking at this movie I have to say that "Black Hawk Down" is the best war movie ever made. Let's stress that it's the most REALISTIC war movie ever made. No pauses for drama, no "symbolism", no "hidden messages". This movie is about how an American force of about 100 men found themselves under attack by thousands of the enemy. And this enemy was not simply an army, but an entire city where women and children were more than willing to pick up a gun. The politics of why we were there are simple: we were there to stop a famine. Anyone who says this movie does an injustice to the Somalis is a misinformed liberal who should realize that, hey, SOMETIMES AMERICA IS RIGHT! The men who fought at the Battle of Mogadishu deserve the highest honor for their heroic stand. Everyone who saw our men being dragged through the streets should realize with that image which side was right and which side was wrong. This is not an easy movie to watch, and it can get confusing. But guess what? That's what war is. Confusing, scary, and you don't have time to think about what you're doing. You just try to survive, and try to keep the man next to you alive. That's why this movie is the best war movie ever made. It shows it like it is, no candy coating and no glossing over.
Rating:
Summary: WATCH IT TO BELIEVE IT
Review: This one different war movie I have seen in my lifetime. I am a movie buff and people may say I am doing nothing but but just making comment or writing a review. Believe me this is not the case. The movie has a different taste and please dont go by the critics words. The movie has all the excitement, drama and spices of a true war movie. Since this one is made of a true story in Somalia you can capture the real emotions. What else can I tell ya, go grab one and see it ur'self..........
Rating:
Summary: great movie
Review: Black Hawk Down is a movie that realistically portraits the Rangers and Delta soldiers in Somalia. It's an ensemble cast (something like 35 speaking roles) that acts well and feels genuine. Ridley Scott does a great job making this movie. The man has made some of the greatest movies (Blade Runner, Alien) and Black Hawk Down lives up to his previous works. There is also a haunting score from Hans Zimmer. The set design is so realistic that I can't believe it didn't win an award for its production design. It's a great movie, and it is no surprise to find Jerry Bruckheimer as one of the producers. It does fall a little short as a dvd. There is no commentary, and really no special features outside a short documentary on the film. But even without fully realizing the capabilities of dvd, the movie itself makes it worth buying.
Rating: 
Summary: Why were we there?
Review:
This movie's pretty good at showing what it was like in Somalia back during our intervention. What the movie isn't so good at showing is any character development, or what we were doing there in the first place. If it could do those two things, it might have been a bit better.
Basically, Bush Sr. and his buddies thought there was a good chance that we could pacify Somalia with some food and humanitarian aid. Once that was done and someone docile was in charge, Western oil companies would be able to roll in and drill.
Unfortunately, Somalia wasn't suffering from a lack of food and medicine, but serious social ills and upheaval that were a lot harder to cure than an empty stomach. Once the US committed to the country, we were stuck there. This movie shows the battle that made Americans realize our presence there was pointless at best.
This movie's good at showing the capabilities of the US Army, and instructional on how an underdog can fight a technically advanced adversary. What it doesn't show is why the soldiers in this movie had to be wounded or die in a hellhole on the other side of the world.
-- JJ Timmins
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