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  • Black Hawk Down When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
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Most people probably think this battle was called Black Hawk Down, the name of the book that the movie is based on. In fact, it has a name - the First Battle of.

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Preview — Black Hawk Down by Mark Bowden

On October 3, 1993, about a hundred U.S. soldiers were dropped by helicopter into a teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The action was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they spent a long and terrible night fighting thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, eighteen Americans were dead, and more than seventy b...more
Published February 10th 1999 by Atlantic Monthly Press
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  • 3 likes · like
Dave MccormickNot particularly. IMO, the book is much more compelling than the movie and is does a far better job of describing the events, the thoughts and the…moreNot particularly. IMO, the book is much more compelling than the movie and is does a far better job of describing the events, the thoughts and the sheer chaos of what happened. The book is a must read, the movie is interesting but not a must watch.(less)
  • 2 likes · like
PeterNo. This is the real time account of the Battle of Mogadishu between U.S. special forces and Somali militiamen loyal to a local warlord. Excellent and…moreNo. This is the real time account of the Battle of Mogadishu between U.S. special forces and Somali militiamen loyal to a local warlord. Excellent and riveting read.(less)
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Oct 27, 2017Ana O rated it it was amazing
SEMI-DECENT REVIEW FINALLY POSTED.
BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD.
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War follows the real-life events surrounding the Battle of Mogadishu, also known as The Battle of the Black Sea, as well as The Day of the Rangers.
'Sergeant?'
Eversmann turned wearily. Diemer wore a panicked expression.
'I think I just saw a helicopter get hit.'

It almost sounds like Hollywood fiction, but it's not. It’s intense and real.
I can’t help being struck by how young everyone is. Most of the so
...more
Apr 06, 2017Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Shelves: american-history, military-and-intelligence-non-fic, nonfiction
The book describes, from the ground up, a US attack on the part of Mogadishu controlled by Somali military commander Mohamed Aidid, after Aidid had attacked a UN peacekeeping force. They had intended to grab some of his lieutenants (it is unclear to me if they intended to grab Aidid) himself, an attempt to de-fang a local warlord who had been a thorn in the side re the attempt to establish a government in Somalia.
Image from BBC
There was a lack of appreciation for the theater conditions and many
...more
Impressive.
Another example of where the film is not even close to how good the book is, this narrative is gripping and very powerful.
I had an Army friend who was there in Mogadishu at the time and said that the book was good journalism whereas the film was ridiculous. From my perspective, the Captain Steele from the book was Colonel Steele, commander of the 101st Airborne Rakkasans between 2004 and 2006, while I was in Iraq. Professional tough guy, former University of Georgia bulldog under Vinc
...more
Mar 07, 2018Tara rated it really liked it · review of another edition
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Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War gives readers an impressively comprehensive look at the deplorably mismanaged U.S. military raid in Mogadishu, Somalia on 3 October 1993. 99 American troops, a force comprised predominately of Army Rangers and Delta Force operators, descended on the Bakara Market in order to capture two of Mohamed Farrah Aidid’s valued lieutenants. Aidid, a former Somali general, was head of the formidable Habr Gidr clan, then in control of the city. To the U.S., as well as...more
Nov 17, 2018Supratim rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I am giving the book a rating of 4.5!
I have played the computer game, watched the movie at least a couple of times, and finally got the chance to read the book. Trust me, the book is so much better. This is not just a booklover speaking – the movie was really good, but the book does a much better job of bringing out the human elements, insights into the Somali perspective and the aftermath of the mission.
The African nation of Somalia had been ravaged by civil war and a famine had broken out. The
...more
Okay, first of all, I am not usually the person that likes 'war' type books. But, I have wanted to read this book for awhile. I remember when this actually happened, but being a freshman in high school, I had bigger things going on... Throughout this book, I kept asking myself 'who are these guys??' It amazes me what wonderful guys are serving my country. I had to giggle when a group of men were holed up in a shack with many of the Somalians closing in on them, blood was seeping everywhere from...more
Jan 27, 2015Pramod Nair rated it really liked it
If 'Black Hawk Down' was a war novel, it would definitely have a place among the very best of that genre. Written with such intensity, this military history volume by journalist Mark Bowden, brilliantly captures every minute moments from one of the longest modern day infantry engagements.
When American soldiers were dropped by helicopter into the Bakara market right in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3 1993 for a supposedly easy in and out abduction mission they had no idea that they
...more
Jul 05, 2014Igor Ljubuncic rated it it was amazing
Shelves: combat, warfare, mark-bowden, modern, military, special-forces, history
First an apology. I've accidentally reviewed this book with two stars two years ago. Not sure why. I got confused. Anyway, I've done unjustice to a really excellent work of history and military biography, and now it is time to correct this.
So please disregard any comments and thoughts on my behalf before Oct 2, 2017.
Now, the actual review:
A fantastic book.
Spectacular narrative, lots of personal touches, and we learn about the soldiers who fought, their fears and frustrations, their ideas and ide
...more
Jun 13, 2009'Aussie Rick' rated it it was amazing
This is one of those great books that you can't put down; it reads like a novel, a fast paced narrative that can sometimes make you forget that it's a true life drama where real people die. I enjoyed reading this book and it's nice to see an honest appraisal of a stuffed-up mission, which was no fault of the men on the ground.
This is a well presented account of the men of the US Army Rangers and Delta Force troops involved in a mission to capture a pair of high-ranking deputies to warlord Moham
...more
The movie is a gore-fest, but the book chronicles all the background intricacies that you can't find in a movie (of course). One highlight for me: When I finished reading the book, my son, who was in Iraq at the time, told me he had met one of the men who survived this incident. However, he also told me he met this man as he was being flown out for a cancer checkup. This man who had escaped this brutal attack had cancer two years later. After surviving that, he went on to go back into the Army a...more
Expertly done in so many ways.
The chief drawback: so many of the characters were interchangeable, it became very hard to keep them straight each time we returned to one.
Feb 24, 2009Elizabeth rated it it was amazing
Gripping read and detailed account of the 1993 horrific operation in Mogadishu that resulted in American soldiers dead and wounded. Before reading this book, the only memory or information I had about the event were the images of two American soldiers being dragged through the streets by the Somalians- courtesy of CNN.
This is a story about bravery, honor, and camaraderie- all of which are borne out of utter chaos. Everything that can go wrong during this operation does: two Black Hawk helicopter
...more
Apr 25, 2017Edwin Priest rated it really liked it · review of another edition
In 1993, a small force of US Rangers and ultra-elite Delta force soldiers staged a lightening raid in the center of Mogadishu, Somalia. The purpose was to capture several higher-up Somali warlords who were reeking havoc on the local populace in their bids for power. The raid, as we all know, did not go well, and the task force ended up getting pinned down in a fierce gunfight with the local populace, losing two helicopters, 18 soldiers and requiring a huge multi-national operation to rescue them...more
May 28, 2013Jur rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
The book provides an in depth account of the U.S. (not U.N.) operation to capture two main partners of General Aidid, leader of the Habr Gidr, the clan dominating Somalia at the time.
Last weekend I also watched the movie (directed by Ridley Scott) and there's a couple of disconcerting differences, the main being that the movie strips out most of the uncomfortable parts of the book. That is the very strong criticism on the leadership (although Bowden often uses the Delta Force participants to vo
...more
Mar 07, 2017David rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
Recommends it for: Rangers, D-boys, military journalists, Black Hawk pilots, Somali warlords
Shelves: non-fiction, 1990s, history, war, audiobook, military-history
I haven't yet seen the film (it's in my Netflix queue) but this book is probably one of the best war memoirs written by someone who wasn't a soldier and wasn't there.
Mark Bowden is a journalist who took an interest in the disastrous 1993 mission to capture the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. A well-practiced mission executed by the elite Army Rangers and the even more elite Delta Force (the 'D-boys' as the Rangers called them), they went into the heart of Mogadishu expecting to do a snatch-n-grab.
...more
Mar 01, 2014Judy rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: non-fiction, favorites, somalia, africa, history, 2014-reads
After reading Matterhorn, I never suspected any other war account could shake its #1 War Classic status in my mind. This book does. I'm still not ready to bump Matterhorn down; however, this book at least equals it considering that it is a particularly engaging non-fiction account.
Here are a few outstanding aspects of this narration of the Somali firefight:
(1) The author includes the perspective of Somalians as well as UN Peacekeepers.
(2) The author does a wonderful job of eliminating his own bi
...more
May 23, 2015Steve rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I realize it's silly to review a best-selling book that's been made into a movie and repackaged and reprinted multiple times, but that's never stopped me before, so...
As a military (and military history) reader, I offer no rational excuse for not having read this book long ago (nor can I explain why I never saw the movie). I remember reacting poorly to one or more book reviews I read at the time, but, still, I should have read it.... On the other hand, there was a certain kismet in that, without
...more
Jan 19, 2012Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was amazing
Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Ultimate Reading List
Shelves: history, political, ebooks, non-fiction, 2012-around-the-world, ultimate-reading-list
Bowden's book is every bit as riveting as the film based upon it, every bit as harrowing and visceral. It takes us minute by minute through the terrible battle on the streets of Mogadishu in Somalia on October 3, 1993. The American mission to capture two of clan warlord Aidid's top people was supposed to 'take an hour' and at first seemed like it would be completed within minutes of their taking off from base. But then a black hawk helicopter went down, then another, and 'ninety-nine American so...more
Apr 28, 2016Michael Gerald rated it really liked it
In 2001, the movie Black Hawk Down was critically hailed as one of the greatest war films of all time. Its depiction of the Battle of Mogadishu on October 3-4, 1993 was based on the book of the same title, published in 1999.
Somalia evokes two images: famine and a failed state. The collapse of the Somali state after years of war with neighboring Ethiopia and among rival clans exacerbated famine and made it man-made.
The UN moved to intervene and provide humanitarian assistance and, with the the le
...more
Black Hawk Down
Black Hawk Down is a nonfiction novel written by Mark Bowden. When he decided to write this book, the government wouldn’t give him any information, but when he attended one of the soldiers funerals, he found that many soldiers were glad to tell their story to someone. By compiling their memories and suffering, he wrote this amazing novel. This is the story of 100 marines against an enemy of over a million. When a simple kidnapping mission goes badly, the men are stuck out in a fo
...more
Jun 10, 2013Booknblues rated it really liked it
Black Hawk Down
By Mark Bowden
4 stars
pp. 486
I am not one to shy away from difficult subjects, but Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down is one of the most disturbing books which I have read in recent years and it is disturbing on so many levels, the loss of life, the senselessness, the clash of cultures, the fact that the necessary time was not taken to learn the essentials lessons from this, but instead a rush to put the past and Somalia behind us.
Black Hawk Down is an account of a battle fought on Octo
...more
Mar 30, 2014Kym Robinson rated it really liked it
I was one of those who read this book after they had seen the film. I found the movie to be refreshing in its depiction of action and events, despite only knowing about those events through mini documentaries or magazine articles.
It was not until I read this book that I was able to get a greater picture of the men involved, what 'went down' and the atmosphere surrounding the 'Mog' in the early 1990s.
This is a very easy book to read as far as writing goes, Bowden is skillful in his ability to de
...more
Hard-hitting and gut-busting!
I read this immediately after watching the movie and was impressed how much the film followed the book. The author received interviews from soldiers first-hand, and the details Bowden includes in his book are incredible. Like the movie, your eyes will be glued to the pages in this book.
US soldiers are assigned to arrest and bring to justice a Somali warlord who has been stealing food shipped by the United Nations to prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths by starvati
...more
Sep 19, 2012Amanda rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: somalia, owned, skip-the-book-watch-the-movie, around-the-world, war-of-the-worlds
War is hell. Anyone with delusions of it being glorious or anything other than hell needs only to read a few chapters of Black Hawk Down to have those fantasies shattered to smithereens.
I am not exactly sure how to review this book. After all, it is a presentation of real events so I do not think it fair or appropriate to complain about it being dry, depressing, or long since the author is telling it the way it happened.
Mark Bowden definitely did his homework before writing this book. It is pa
...more
Reasonably accurate. Having served with some of the participants, it's inevitable some things would be left out. But by giving both sides, Bowden does a good job of showing the fog of war.
Violating one of Rogers Rules of Rangering is pretty amazing for Rangers and Delta to do, but they did. Same plan over and over-- eventually they will catch on.
Oct 13, 2012Monica rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Shelves: non-fiction, history, military, worldwide, pub_1990s
Bowden absolutely nails the chaos and fear and confusion of battle. This book is riveting in its detail of the 'fog of war'. Not a book about foreign policy, but about what the implementation of the policy entails. America is the greatest nation that ever existed, with distinct and huge technological and military advantage; however it is not invincible. What essentially amounted to a well armed gang, was able to penetrate that military might. We grossely underestimated the Somali people's will a...more
This account of the infamous battle in Mogadishu, Somalia benefits both from the story being so compelling, and from Bowden's structuring style. Bowden interviewed everyone he could get ahold of, both in the US and Somalia, before writing the book- then compared stories and asked for clarification wherever there were discrepancies. Because of this, you get the story from many different perspectives, shifting between them as it unfolds, and the honesty of it serves to illustrate the many complica...more

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Jul 17, 2011Bonnie E. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition
An intense and incredible story of a 1993 mission by the US Army Rangers and other forces in Somalia. Hands down, this is one of the best books I have ever read. The portrait of each of the main characters is solidly drawn, and you really care about what happens to each of these men. Unlike many books about war or battles, this one gives a real sense of the terrors of close combat and guerilla warfare, and the courage of the soldiers who were faced with battling under extreme circumstances. It's...more
A remarkable book. The way the story is told, the detail, the vividness, and emotion.
Utterly fascinating. If there ever was a way to capture the soldier's experience with words, Bowden has done it. His portrayal reads like a movie, seamlessly incorporating background information along with the minute-by-minute description of the mission, narrating the action as if you were there yourself, hearing the bullets zip by your ear, while really diving into the warrior's mentality: their thoughts on their lack of action, finally gearing up, beginning the fight, suffering through an ambu...more
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Mark Robert Bowden (born July 17, 1951) is an American writer who is currently a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, and a 1973 graduate of Loyola College in Maryland, Bowden was a staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer from 1979-2003, and has won numerous awards. He has written for Men's Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, Sports Illustrated, and Rolling Stone over the...more
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“No one gets left behind, you know that.” — 17 likes
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Black Hawk Down
Directed byRidley Scott
Produced byJerry Bruckheimer
Ridley Scott
Screenplay byKen Nolan
Based onBlack Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War
by Mark Bowden
StarringJosh Hartnett
Ewan McGregor
Tom Sizemore
Eric Bana
William Fichtner
Ewen Bremner
Sam Shepard
Music byHans Zimmer
CinematographySławomir Idziak
Edited byPietro Scalia
Production
company
Revolution Studios
Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Scott Free Productions
Distributed byColumbia Pictures
  • December 28, 2001 (United States)
144 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
United Kingdom[2]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$92 million[3]
Box office$173 million[4]

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 war film produced and directed by Ridley Scott from a screenplay by Ken Nolan. It is based on the 1999 non-fictionbook of the same name by journalist Mark Bowden about the 1993 raid in Mogadishu by the U.S. military, aimed at capturing faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid. The ensuing firefight became known as the Battle of Mogadishu. The film features a large ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, and Sam Shepard.

Black Hawk Down won two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing at the 74th Academy Awards.[5] In 2009, an extended cut of the film was released on DVD. The cut contained an additional eight minutes of footage increasing the running time to 152 minutes. This extended cut was released on Blu-ray and in 4K on May 7, 2019.

  • 2Cast
  • 3Production
  • 4Reception
  • 5Controversies and inaccuracies

Plot[edit]

Following the ousting of the central government in 1993 amid the civil war in Somalia, the United Nations Security Council authorizes a military operation with a peacekeeping mandate. After the bulk of the peacekeepers were withdrawn, the Mogadishu-based militia loyal to Mohamed Farrah Aidid declared war on the remaining UN personnel. In response, the U.S. Army deploys three of its special operations forces – 75th Rangers, Delta Force counter-terrorist operators, and 160th SOAR - Night Stalkers aviators – to Mogadishu to capture Aidid, who has proclaimed himself president.

To consolidate his power and subdue the population in the south, Aidid and his militia seize Red Cross food shipments, while the UN forces are powerless to intervene directly. Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force capture Osman Ali Atto, a faction leader selling arms to Aidid's militia. The US then plans a mission to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid's top advisers.

The U.S. forces include experienced men as well as new recruits, including 18-year-old Private First Class Todd Blackburn and Specialist John Grimes, a desk clerk. Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann receives his first command, of Ranger Chalk Four, after his lieutenant suffers a seizure. Eversmann responds to mocking remarks about Somalis from fellow soldiers by saying he respects the Somalis and has compassion for the terrible conditions of civil war for the Somali people, saying there are two things we can do, 'We can help, or we can sit back and watch a country destroy itself on CNN.'

The operation begins and Delta Force operators capture Aidid's advisers inside the target building, while the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground-extraction convoy take heavy fire. Blackburn is severely injured when he falls from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, so three Humvees led by Staff SergeantJeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the UN-held Mogadishu Airport.

Sergeant Dominick Pilla is shot and killed just as Struecker's column departs, and shortly thereafter Black Hawk Super Six-One, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Clifton 'Elvis' Wolcott is shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. Both pilots are killed, the two crew chiefs are wounded, and one Delta Force sniper on board, Busch, escapes in an MH-6 Little Bird helicopter but dies later from his wounds.

The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site. The Somali militia erects roadblocks, and Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight's Humvee column is unable to reach the crash area while sustaining heavy casualties. Meanwhile, two Ranger Chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach Super-Six One's crash site and set up a defensive perimeter to await evacuation with the two wounded men and the fallen pilots. In the interim, Super Six-Four, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant, is also shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashes several blocks away.

With CaptainMike Steele's Rangers pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties, no ground forces can reach Super Six-Four's crash site nor reinforce the Rangers defending Super Six-One. Two Delta Force snipers, Sergeant First ClassRandy Shughart and Master SergeantGary Gordon, are inserted by helicopter to Super Six-Four's crash site, where they find Durant still alive. The site is eventually overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured by Aidid's militia.

McKnight's column relinquish their attempt to reach Six-One's crash site and return to base with their prisoners and the casualties. The men prepare to go back to extract the Rangers and the fallen pilots, and Major General Garrison sends Lieutenant Colonel Joe Cribbs to ask for reinforcements from the 10th Mountain Division, including Malaysian and Pakistani armored units from the UN coalition.

As night falls, Aidid's militia launch a sustained assault on the trapped Americans at Super Six-One's crash site. The militants are held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships, until the 10th Mountain Division's relief column is able to reach the American soldiers. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, but a few of Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are forced to run on foot from the crash site to reach the Safe Zone at the stadium.

The end titles recount the immediate aftermath of the mission and end of US military operations in Somalia: Michael Durant was released after 11 days of captivity, after which PresidentBill Clinton withdrew all US forces from Somalia. During the raid over 1000 Somalis died and 19 American soldiers lost their lives (the names of the 19 soldiers who died, including Delta Sgts. Gordon and Shughart, who were the first soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor posthumously since the Vietnam War, were listed by name). Mohamed Farah Aidid was killed in 1996. The following day, General Garrison retired.

Cast[edit]

75th Rangers[edit]

  • Josh Hartnett as SSG Matt Eversmann
  • Ewan McGregor as SPC John 'Grimesey' Grimes
  • Tom Sizemore as LTC Danny McKnight
  • Ewen Bremner as SPC Shawn Nelson
  • Gabriel Casseus as SPC Mike Kurth
  • Hugh Dancy as SFC Kurt 'Doc' Schmid
  • Ioan Gruffudd as LT John Beales
  • Tom Guiry as SSG Ed Yurek
  • Charlie Hofheimer as CPL Jamie Smith
  • Danny Hoch as SGT Dominick Pilla
  • Jason Isaacs as CPTMike Steele
  • Brendan Sexton III as PVT Richard 'Alphabet' Kowalewski
  • Brian Van Holt as SSG Jeff Struecker
  • Ian Virgo as PVT John Waddell
  • Tom Hardy as SPC Lance Twombly (in his film debut)
  • Gregory Sporleder as SGT Scott Galentine
  • Carmine Giovinazzo as SGT Mike Goodale
  • Chris Beetem as SGT Casey Joyce
  • Matthew Marsden as SPC Dale Sizemore
  • Orlando Bloom as PFC Todd Blackburn
  • Enrique Murciano as SGT Lorenzo Ruiz
  • Michael Roof as PVT John Maddox

Delta Force[edit]

  • Sam Shepard as MGWilliam F. Garrison
  • Eric Bana as SFC Norm 'Hoot' Gibson
  • William Fichtner as SFC Jeff Sanderson
  • Kim Coates as MSG Tim “Griz” Martin
  • Steven Ford as LTC Joe Cribbs
  • Željko Ivanek as LTC Gary L. Harrell
  • Johnny Strong as SFC Randy Shughart
  • Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as MSG Gary Gordon
  • Richard Tyson as SSG Daniel Busch

160th SOAR (Night Stalkers)[edit]

  • Ron Eldard as CW4Michael Durant
  • Glenn Morshower as LTC Tom Matthews
  • Jeremy Piven as CWO Clifton Wolcott
  • Boyd Kestner as CW3 Mike Goffena
  • Pavel Vokoun as CWO Bull Briley

Miscellaneous[edit]

  • George Harris as Osman Atto
  • Razaaq Adoti as Yousuf Dahir Mo'alim, the main commander of Aidid's militia in the film
  • Treva Etienne as Firimbi, propaganda minister for Aidid and Durant's caretaker
  • Ty Burrell as United States Air Force Pararescue Timothy A Wilkinson

Production[edit]

Adapting Black Hawk Down: a Story of Modern War by Mark Bowden was the idea of director Simon West, who suggested to Jerry Bruckheimer that he should buy the film rights and let West direct. West moved on to direct Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) instead.[6]

Ken Nolan was credited as screenwriter, and others contributed uncredited: Mark Bowden wrote an adaptation of his own book, Stephen Gaghan was hired to do a rewrite, Steven Zaillian and Ezna Sands rewrote the majority of Gaghan and Nolan's work, actor Sam Shepard (MGen. Garrison) rewrote some of his own dialogue, and Eric Roth wrote Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana's concluding speeches. Ken Nolan was on set for four months rewriting his script and the previous work by Gaghan, Zaillian, and Bowden. He was given sole screenwriting credit by a WGA committee.

The book relied on a dramatization of participant accounts, which were the basis of the movie. SPC John Stebbins was renamed as fictional 'John Grimes.' Stebbins had been convicted by court martial in 1999 for the rape and forcible sodomy of his six-year old daughter.[7] Mark Bowden said the Pentagon, ever sensitive about public image decided to alter factual history by requesting the change.[8] Bowden wrote early screenplay drafts, before Bruckheimer gave it to screenwriter Nolan. The POW-captor conversation, between pilot Mike Durant and militiaman Firimbi, is from a Bowden script draft.

To keep the film at a manageable length, 100 key figures in the book were condensed to 39. The movie also does not feature any Somali actors.[9] Additionally, no Somali consultants were hired for accuracy, according to writer Bowden.[10]

For military verisimilitude, the Ranger actors took a one-week Ranger familiarization course at Fort Benning, the Delta Force actors took a two-week commando course from the 1st Special Warfare Training Group at Fort Bragg, and Ron Eldard and the actors playing 160th SOAR helicopter pilots were lectured by captured aviator Michael Durant at Fort Campbell.

The U.S. Army supplied the materiel and the helicopters from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Most pilots (e.g., Keith Jones, who speaks some dialogue) had participated in the historic battle on October 3–4, 1993.[11]

On the last day of their week-long Army Ranger orientation at Fort Benning, the actors who portrayed the Rangers received letters slipped under their doors. It thanked them for their hard work, and asked them to 'tell our story true', signed with the names of the men who died in the Mogadishu firefight.[11] A platoon of Rangers from B-3/75 did the fast-roping scenes and appeared as extras; John Collette, a Ranger Specialist during the battle, served as a stunt performer.[12]

Many of the actors bonded with the soldiers who trained them for their roles. Actor Tom Sizemore said, 'What really got me at training camp was the Ranger Creed. I don't think most of us can understand that kind of mutual devotion. It's like having 200 best friends and every single one of them would die for you'.[11]

Filming began in March 2001 in Salé, Morocco, and concluded in late June.[13]

Although the filmmakers considered filming in Jordan, they found the city of Amman too built up and landlocked. Scott and production designer Arthur Max subsequently turned to Morocco, where they had previously worked on Gladiator. Scott preferred that urban setting for authenticity.[11] Most of the film was photographed in the cities of Rabat and Salé; the Task Force Ranger base sequences were filmed at Kénitra.[14]

The film features soldiers wearing helmets with their last names on them. Although this was not accurate, director Ridley Scott used this device to help the audience distinguish among the characters because 'they all look the same once the uniforms are on'.[15][self-published source]

Music[edit]

The musical score for Black Hawk Down was composed by Hans Zimmer, who previously collaborated with director Scott on several films including Thelma & Louise (1991) and Gladiator (2000). Zimmer developed the score through a collaboration with a variety of musicians that blended 'east African rhythms and sounds with a more conventional synthesizer approach.'[16] In doing so, Zimmer avoided a more traditional composition in favor of an experimental approach that would match the tone of the film. 'I wanted to do it like the way the movie was,' said Zimmer. 'So I got myself a band together and we just went into my studio [...] and we'd just be flailing away at the picture, I mean, you know with great energy.'[17] A soundtrack album was released on January 15, 2002 by Decca Records.[18]

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

Black Hawk Down had a limited release in four theaters on December 28, 2001, in order to be eligible for the 2001 Oscars. It earned $179,823 in its first weekend, averaging $44,956 per theater. On January 11, 2002, the release expanded to 16 theaters and continued to do well with a weekly gross of $1,118,003 and an average daily per theater gross of $9,982. On January 18, 2002, the film had its wide release, opening at 3,101 theaters and earning $28,611,736 in its first wide-release weekend to finish first at the box office for the weekend. Opening on the Martin Luther King holiday, the film grossed $5,014,475 on the holiday of Monday, January 21, 2002, for a 4-day weekend total of $33,628,211. Only Titanic had previously grossed more money over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. Black Hawk Down finished first at the box office during its first three weeks of wide release. When the film was pulled from theatres on April 14, 2002, after its 15th week, it had grossed $108,638,746 domestically and $64,350,906 overseas for a worldwide total of $172,989,651.[4]

Critical response[edit]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a approval rating of 76% based on 171 reviews, with an average rating of 6.85/10. The website's critical consensus reads, 'Though it's light on character development and cultural empathy, Black Hawk Down is a visceral, pulse-pounding portrait of war, elevated by Ridley Scott's superb technical skill.'[19] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating 'generally favorable reviews'.[20]

Empire magazine gave it a verdict of 'ambitious, sumptuously framed, and frenetic, Black Hawk Down is nonetheless a rare find of a war movie which dares to turn genre convention on its head'.[21] Film critic Mike Clark of USA Today wrote that the film 'extols the sheer professionalism of America's elite Delta Force—even in the unforeseen disaster that was 1993's Battle of Mogadishu,' and praised Scott's direction: 'in relating the conflict, in which 18 Americans died and 70-plus were injured, the standard getting-to-know-you war-film characterizations are downplayed. While some may regard this as a shortcoming, it is, in fact, a virtue'.[22]

The film has had a small cultural legacy, which has been studied academically by media analysts dissecting how media reflects American perceptions of war. Newsweek writer Evan Thomas considered the movie one of the most culturally significant films of the George W. Bush presidency. He suggested that although the film was presented as being anti-war, it was at its core pro-war. He further wrote that 'though it depicted a shameful defeat, the soldiers were heroes willing to die for their brothers in arms[…] The movie showed brutal scenes of killing, but also courage, stoicism and honor[…] The overall effect was stirring, if slightly pornographic, and it seemed to enhance the desire of Americans for a thumping war to avenge 9/11.'[23]

Stephen A. Klien, writing in Critical Studies in Media Communication, argued that the film's sensational rendering of war had the effect of encouraging audiences to empathize with the film's pro-soldier leitmotif and 'conflate personal support of American soldiers with support of American military policy' and discourage 'critical public discourse concerning justification for and execution of military interventionist policy.'[24]

Accolades[edit]

AwardCategoryNomineeResultRef(s)
Academy AwardsBest DirectorRidley ScottNominated
Best CinematographySlawomir IdziakNominated
Best Film EditingPietro ScaliaWon
Best Sound MixingMichael Minkler
Myron Nettinga
Chris Munro
Won
BAFTA AwardBest CinematographySlawomir IdziakNominated
Best EditingPietro ScaliaNominated
Best SoundChris Munro
Per Hallberg
Michael Minkler
Myron Nettinga
Karen Baker Landers
Nominated
AFI AwardCinematographer of the YearSlawomir IdziakNominated
Director of the YearRidley ScottNominated
Editor of the YearPietro ScaliaNominated
Movie of the YearJerry Bruckheimer
Ridley Scott
Nominated
Production Designer of the YearArthur MaxNominated
NBR AwardTop Ten FilmsWon
Saturn AwardBest Action/Adventure/Thriller FilmNominated
Eddie AwardBest Edited Feature Film – DramaticPietro ScaliaWon
ADG Excellence in Production
Design Award
Contemporary FilmKeith Pain
Marco Trentini
Gianni Giovagnoni
Cliff Robinson
Pier Luigi Basile
Ivo Husnjak
Arthur Max
Nominated
Harry AwardWon
Golden Reel AwardBest Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR
in a Feature Film
Per Hallberg
Karen Baker Landers
Chris Jargo
Mark L. Mangino
Chris Hogan
Won
Best Sound Editing – Effects & Foley,
Domestic Feature Film
Per Hallberg
Karen Baker Landers
Craig S. Jaeger
Jon Title
Christopher Assells
Dino Dimuro
Dan Hegeman
Michael A. Reagan
Gregory Hainer
Perry Robertson
Peter Staubli
Bruce Tanis
Michael Hertlein
Solange S. Schwalbe
Won
Plus CamerimageGolden FrogSlawomir IdziakNominated
Cinema Audio Society AwardOutstanding Sound Mixing
for Motion Pictures
Michael Minkler
Myron Nettinga
Chris Munro
Nominated
Directors Guild of America AwardOutstanding Directorial Achievement
in Motion Pictures
Ridley ScottNominated
Golden Trailer AwardBest DramaTrailer Park, Inc.Nominated
MTV Movie AwardBest MovieNominated
Best Action SequenceFirst helicopter crashNominated
PFCS AwardBest Acting EnsembleEric Bana
Ewen Bremner
William Fichtner
Josh Hartnett
Jason Isaacs
Ewan McGregor
Sam Shepard
Tom Sizemore
Nominated
Best CinematographySlawomir IdziakNominated
Best Film EditingPietro ScaliaNominated
Teen Choice AwardChoice Movie Actor: Action/DramaJosh HartnettNominated
Choice Movie: Action/DramaNominated
World Soundtrack AwardBest Original Soundtrack of the YearHans ZimmerNominated
Soundtrack Composer of the YearNominated
Writers Guild of America AwardBest Screenplay Based on Material
Previously Produced or Published
Ken NolanNominated
ASCAP AwardTop Box Office FilmsHans Zimmer (also for The Ring)Won
DVD Exclusive AwardBest Overall DVD, New Movie
(Including All Extra Features)
Charles de Lauzirika(Deluxe Edition)Nominated
Saturn AwardBest DVD Special Edition ReleaseNominated

Controversies and inaccuracies[edit]

Soon after Black Hawk Down's release, the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in California denounced what they felt was its brutal and dehumanizing depiction of Somalis and called for its boycott.[25]

In a radio interview, Brendan Sexton, an actor who briefly appeared in the movie, said the version of the film which made it onto theater screens significantly differed from the one recounted in the original script. According to him, many scenes asking hard questions of the US regarding the violent realities of war and the true purpose of their mission in Somalia were cut.[26]

In a review featured in The New York Times, film critic Elvis Mitchell expressed dissatisfaction with the film's 'lack of characterization' and opined that the film 'reeks of glumly staged racism'.[27]Owen Gleiberman and Sean Burns, the film critics for the mainstream magazine Entertainment Weekly and the alternative newspaper Philadelphia Weekly, respectively, echoed the sentiment that the depiction was racist.[28]

American film critic Wheeler Winston Dixon also found the film's 'absence of motivation and characterization' disturbing, and wrote that while American audiences might find the film to be a 'paean to patriotism', other audiences might find it to be a 'deliberately hostile enterprise'; nevertheless, Dixon lauded the film's 'spectacular display of pyrotechnics coupled with equally adroit editing.'[29]

Jerry Bruckheimer, the film's producer, rejected such claims on The O'Reilly Factor, putting them down to political correctness in part due to Hollywood's liberal leanings.'Down the Tubes'. Philadelphia Weekly.[30]

Somali nationals charge that the African actors chosen to play the Somalis in the film do not resemble the culturally unique features of the Horn of Africa, nor does the language they communicate in sound like the Afro-Asiatic tongue spoken by the Somali people. They also claim the abrasive way lines are delivered and lack of authenticity regarding Somali culture fails to capture the tone, mannerisms, and spirit of actual life in Somalia. No Somali actors were used in the movie.[9]

In an interview with the BBC, the faction leader Osman Ali Atto said that many aspects of the film are factually incorrect. Taking exception with the ostentatious character chosen to portray him Ali Atto claimed he neither looks like the actor who portrayed him, nor smokes cigars or wears earrings,[31] all later confirmed by SEAL Team Six sniper Howard E. Wasdin in his 2012 memoirs. Wasdin also indicated that while the character in the movie ridiculed his captors, in reality, Atto seemed concerned that Wasdin and his men had been sent to kill rather than apprehend him.[32] Atto additionally stated that he had not been consulted about the project nor approached for permission, and that the film sequence re-enacting his arrest contained several inaccuracies:[31]

First of all when I was caught on 21 September, I was only travelling with one Fiat 124, not three vehicles as it shows in the film[…] And when the helicopter attacked, people were hurt, people were killed[...] The car we were travelling in, (and) I have got proof, it was hit at least 50 times. And my colleague Ahmed Ali was injured on both legs[…] I think it was not right, the way they portrayed both the individual and the action. It was not right.[31]

Navy SEAL Wasdin similarly remarked that while olive green military rigger's tape was used to mark the roof of the car in question in the movie, his team in actuality managed to track down Atto's whereabouts using a much more sophisticated technique involving the implantation of a homing device. (This was hidden in a cane presented to Atto as a gift from a contact who routinely met with him, which eventually led the team directly to the faction leader.[32])

Malaysian military officials whose own troops were involved in the fighting have likewise raised complaints regarding the film's accuracy. Retired Brigadier-General Abdul Latif Ahmad, who at the time commanded Malaysian forces in Mogadishu, told the AFP news agency that Malaysian moviegoers would be under the wrong impression that the real battle was fought by the Americans alone with Malaysian troops relegated to 'mere bus drivers to ferry them out'.[33]

General Pervez Musharraf, who later became President of Pakistan after a coup, similarly accused the filmmakers of not crediting the work done by the Pakistani soldiers. In his autobiography In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, Musharraf wrote:

The outstanding performance of the Pakistani troops under adverse conditions is very well known at the UN. Regrettably, the film Black Hawk Down ignores the role of Malaysia and Pakistan in Somalia. When U.S. troops were trapped in the thickly populated Madina Bazaar area of Mogadishu, it was the Seventh Frontier Force Regiment of the Pakistan Army that reached out and extricated them. The bravery of the U.S. troops notwithstanding, we deserved equal, if not more, credit; but the filmmakers depicted the incident as involving only Americans.[34]

Mogadishu Mile[edit]

It is often believed that the soldiers involved in the Mogadishu Mile had to run all the way to the Mogadiscio Stadium, as shown in the film. However, in that scene the filmmakers took artistic license and dramatized the event, departing from the book. In the film, the Mogadishu Mile ends with about a dozen soldiers entering the Mogadiscio Stadium having run all the way through the city. In the book, it ends with soldiers reaching a rendezvous point on National Street (in the opposite direction from the stadium):

'As he approached the intersection of Hawlwadig Road and National Street, about five blocks south of the Olympic Hotel, he saw a tank and the line of APCs and Humvees and a mass of men in desert battle dress. He ran until he collapsed, with joy'[35]

It was not only the Rangers and Delta Force soldiers who made the Mogadishu Mile, but soldiers from the U.S. 10th Mountain Division as well:

'We didn't ride off the crash site. We didn't run out. We walked expediently in a tactical formation for about a mile to get to an awaiting convoy.'[36]

On the whole, the film version where the convoy leaves the soldiers running through the city alone does not correspond to the real event:

'No one ran out of the city. The Mog mile was to a rally point where the Pakistani tanks and the vehicles from 10th Mountain were, waiting to take the men of TFR out to the Pakistani stadium.'[37]

'These APCs were headed back about 800 meters to a strongpoint where reserve element has stayed behind with the tanks, and the plan was to move the wounded via the vehicles and the healthy by foot back to the strongpoint. That's exactly what happened. That, in all its non-dramatic form, is the so-called 'Mogadishu mile'...'[38]

Download

'Only the dead have seen the end of war.'[edit]

The movie begins with the quote, 'Only the dead have seen the end of war,' misattributed to Plato. Research shows this quote first appeared in the works of George Santayana.[39][40][41]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^'BLACK HAWK DOWN'. British Board of Film Classification. January 9, 2002. Retrieved January 24, 2019.
  2. ^'Black Hawk Down (2002)'. British Film Institute. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  3. ^Lang, Brent (September 1, 2011). ''Inside the Revolution Library: Where Joe Roth Went Wrong'. TheWrap.com. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  4. ^ ab'Black Hawk Down (2001)'. Box Office Mojo. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  5. ^'The 74th Academy Awards (2002) Nominees and Winners'. Oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
  6. ^'Black Hawk Down'. The Hollywood Reporter. 401. 2007. p. 94.
  7. ^'Text of the decision from USCourts.gov'. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  8. ^Turner, Megan (2001-11-18). 'War-Film 'Hero' Is A Rapist'. New York Post. Retrieved 2006-12-10.
  9. ^ ab'Somalis flock to bootleg 'Black Hawk''. ljworld. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  10. ^'Institute for Social and Cultural Communications'. Z Magazine. 15 (1–6): 6. 2002.
  11. ^ abcdRubin, Steven Jay (2011). 'Black Hawk Down'. Combat Films: American Realism, 1945-2010 (2 ed.). McFarland. pp. 257–262. ISBN978-0-7864-5892-9.
  12. ^Laurence, John Shelton; McGarrahan, John G. (2008). 'Operation Restore Honor in Black Hawk Down'. In Peter C. Rollins, John E. O'Connor (eds.). Why we fought: America's wars in film and history. University Press of Kentucky. p. 431. ISBN978-0-8131-9191-1.CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link)
  13. ^Production Notes.
  14. ^Raw, Laurence (2009). The Ridley Scott Encyclopedia. Scarecrow Press. Lanham, Maryland. p. 209. ISBN978-0-8108-6951-6.
  15. ^Montalbano, Dave (2010). The Adventures of Cinema Dave in the Florida Motion Picture World. Xlibris Corporation. California. p. 541. ISBN978-1-4500-2396-2.
  16. ^Clarke, James (2002). Ridley Scott. London: Virgin Books. ISBN0753507315.
  17. ^Appelo, Tim (November 3, 2014). 'Composer Hans Zimmer Talks 'Interstellar' Origin, Punk Influence on 'Dark Knight' (Exclusive Video)'. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  18. ^'Black Hawk Down Soundtrack'. Soundtrack.Net. Autotelics, LLC. Retrieved May 29, 2018.
  19. ^'Black Hawk Down'. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  20. ^'Black Hawk Down'. Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  21. ^Dinning, Mark. 'Empire's Black Hawk Down Movie Review'. EmpireOnline.com. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
  22. ^Clark, Mike (2001-12-28). 'Black Hawk' turns nightmare into great cinema'. USA Today. Retrieved 2011-11-14.
  23. ^(2008-12-12). 'Black Hawk Down': Arts and culture in the Bush era'. TheDailyBeast.com, Newsweek. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  24. ^(2010-12-21). 'Black Hawk Down, Down, Down: Three Perspectives on the Film'Archived March 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. UncurledFist.com. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  25. ^'Black Hawk Rising'. ZMag.org. Retrieved 2014-09-15.
  26. ^'As 'Black Hawk Down' Director Ridley Scott Is Nominated for An Oscar, An Actor in the Film Speaks Out Against Its Pro-War Message'. DemocracyNow.org. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  27. ^Mitchell, Elvis (2001-12-28). 'Mission Of Mercy Goes Bad In Africa'. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  28. ^'Sean Burns: 'Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer's latest is racist crap''. PhiladelphiaWeekly. Retrieved 2011-02-21.|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  29. ^Dixon, Wheeler, Winston (2003). Visions of the Apocalypse: Spectacles of Destruction in American Cinema (Paperback ed.). London and New York: Wallflower Press. ISBN1-903364-74-4.CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)ISBN1-903364-38-8 (hardcover), see page 76, lines 11-15
  30. ^'Defending Black Hawk Down'. FoxNews. January 15, 2002. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  31. ^ abc'Warlord thumbs down for Somalia film'. BBC News. January 29, 2002. Retrieved February 3, 2012.
  32. ^ abWasdin, Howard (2011). SEAL Team Six – Memoirs of a US Navy Sniper. pp. 225–226.
  33. ^'Jingoism jibe over Black Hawk Down'. BBC News. January 21, 2002. Retrieved 2010-01-01.
  34. ^Musharraf, Pervez (2006). In the Line of Fire: A Memoir. Free Press. p. 76.
  35. ^Bowden, Mark (2001). Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Signet. p. 350.
  36. ^'The Mogadishu Mile'Archived 2011-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. Black Hawk Down 93 discussion forumArchived 2011-02-07 at the Wayback Machine (registration required)
  37. ^'Question for Belman or anyone else who ran out of the City'Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine. Black Hawk Down 93 discussion forumArchived 2011-02-07 at the Wayback Machine (registration required)
  38. ^Col. Lee A. Van Arsdale. 'Audio Commentary by Task Force Rangers'. Black Hawk Down 3-Disk Deluxe Edition
  39. ^SUZANNE, Bernard F. 'Plato FAQ: Did plato write :'Only the dead have seen the end of war'?'. plato-dialogues.org. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  40. ^'Who Really Said That?'. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 2013-09-16. Retrieved 2018-04-29.
  41. ^''Only the dead have seen the end of war.' Who said that?'. Millard Fillmore's Bathtub. 2011-02-25. Retrieved 2018-04-29.

External links[edit]

  • Black Hawk Down on IMDb
  • Black Hawk Down at the TCM Movie Database
  • Black Hawk Down at AllMovie
  • Black Hawk Down at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Black Hawk Down at Metacritic
  • Black Hawk Down at Box Office Mojo
  • Black Hawk Down at the Internet Movie Firearms Database
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