• Characters not satisfyingly fleshed out
• More of an action movie than a film about
war's tragedy
• DVD's features provide no historical/political
context
The Bottom Line -
"Black Hawk Down" is sometimes thrilling, but the
characters are not satisfyingly fleshed out. It's more of an
action movie than a film about war's tragedy. I like the movie,
and I do recommend it, but I can't help feeling that much more
could have been done with the material, especially on the DVD
version.
Product Description
•
DVD containing military action movie "Black Hawk Down,"
directed by Ridley Scott
•
Film tells story of 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, East Africa
•
DVD's only significant extra is a 24-minute making-of featurette
Reviewed by Ivana Redwine
"Black Hawk Down"
Directed by Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down" is a military
action movie about an ill-fated 1993 U.S. mission in which Americans
were killed. Local warlords battled one another in Somalia, and some
300,000 Somalis died of starvation. The U.S. involvement was to facilitate
the delivery of food shipments. American military forces mounted an
operation, and soldiers were flown in via Black Hawk helicopters,
two of which were shot down. The film uses exciting combat sequences
to chronicle the attempt to rescue the Americans, who were surrounded
by thousands of armed Somalis. I find the film sometimes thrilling,
but the characters are not satisfyingly fleshed out. "Black Hawk
Down" is more of an action movie than a film about war's tragedy.
I like "Black Hawk Down," and I do recommend it, but I can't
help feeling that much more could have been done with the material,
especially on the DVD version.
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