Black Hawk Down

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses of Blackhawk/Black Hawk, see Black Hawk.
Black Hawk Down

Movie Poster from Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down
Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Ridley Scott
Written by Mark Bowden
Ken Nolan
Starring Josh Hartnett
Ewan McGregor
Tom Sizemore
William Fichtner
Eric Bana
Sam Shepard
Orlando Bloom
Music by Hans Zimmer, Denez Prigent
Cinematography Slawomir Idziak
Editing by Pietro Scalia
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) January 18, 2002
Running time 144 min.
Language English
Budget $92 million
IMDb profile

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 film by Ridley Scott, based on the book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War 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

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Based on the best-selling book 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 and four US Army Special Forces operators under the command of Gen. William Garrison and Col. Lee Van Arsdale were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two senior lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The raid by the Delta operators 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 Staff Sgt. Eversmann who commanded Ranger Chalk Four. Other parts of the movie focus on Lt. Col. McKnight and his rescue convoy that gets ambushed throughout the hostile city. The story also chronicles the efforts of Cpt. Steele, who was in command of the four Ranger 'chalks' and the fictional character of SFC. Jeff Sanderson (a Delta operator), and the sole survivor of the second crash Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant, as well as the courageous defense made by Delta operators Gary Gordon and Randy Shugart to protect Durant's crash site. The comrades of Durant that flew above him also tried valiantly to save Durant. A RPG hit Goffena's MH-60 and he made a forced landing, although he landed in safe territory. The soldiers were able to hold off the militia at the first crash site until dawn, when a convoy consisting of the 10th Mountain Division, Pakistani and Malaysian UN troops reached them and they were able to successfully exit the hostile area of the city to a Pakistani-occupied soccer stadium. During the battle, 19 American soldiers were killed, while it is estimated that over a thousand Somali civilians and militia lost their lives. The 19th casualty, a Delta operator named Matt Rierson was killed by a mortar shell two days after the battle. Mohammed Farah Aidid was killed in 1996 during a battle with a rival clan.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] 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.[1] 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.[2] 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."[3] 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.[4] 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."[5] 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."[6]

Larry King dubbed it: "One of the best war movies."

[edit] Controversies and inaccuracies

Some critics view the film as blatant propaganda on behalf of the US, or favoring military intervention in general (although the film and book clearly depict the intervention as basically humanitarian and military intervention without sufficient force as a disaster in the making). 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 and the military hierarchy and political decision-making process are not portrayed in a positive light. There is a small controversy in 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 daughter.[7] Some believe that the Pentagon requested this change, but to date no supporting information has been produced.[8]

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 civilian casualties of the Battle of Mogadishu, nor the use of non-combatants as human shields by the Somali militia.

The film also portrays the delays in the rescue mobilization of UN forces as stemming at least in part from spite on the part of those forces at not being informed about the mission, suggesting they were willing to let US soldiers die for petty politics. Bowden's book can be interpreted as arguing 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",[9] which argues among other things that the Somalis who engaged the American soldiers that day may have believed themselves to be acting justly in response to what they perceived as disproportionate and unjust American and international military tactics used against them. The Somalis allegedly were outraged by two retaliatory UN attacks shortly before the Ranger raid, in which women, children and clan elders [i.e. political leaders] meeting with Somali warlords were killed.[10]

The Malaysian government criticized the movie for not giving recognition to the Malaysian soldiers involved in the rescue mission even though a Malaysian soldier died during the rescue attempt (although a request for help by MG Garrison from the Malays is presented in the movie). It should be noted, however, that although the Malaysian APC drivers were ordered to stay close to the remaining troops on foot and use their armor to protect them, many sped off on their own forcing them to run for their lives to the stadium. An American soldier wrote in a letter that he was grateful for the bravery and courage of the Malaysian soldiers, who helped prevent the deaths of 200 of his compatriots.[11]

[edit] 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 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001).[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. Author Mark Bowden wrote early drafts of the screenplay, before Jerry Bruckheimer turned it over. The scene between Mike Durant and Firimbi is a portion from one of Bowden's early drafts.

About 40 of the actors who were portraying Rangers were sent to Fort Benning to attend a two week crash course in becoming Rangers, 3 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 and the several of the actors who portrayed the pilots of the 160th SOAR went to Fort Campbell and were given a lecture by Michael Durant (whom Ron Eldard 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 (such as Keith Jones who delivers a small amount of dialogue during the movie) 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 from Bravo Company, 3/75 Ranger Regiment (the same company that was involved in the events of the movie) were employed to do the fast-roping scenes and act as extras.

Much of the film was shot in Salé and Rabat, Morocco.

[edit] Cast

[edit] 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)

[edit] Other production information

This section does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since September 2006.
  • 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.
  • The wife of Randy Shughart is played by Ridley Scott's girlfriend Giannina Facio who also appeared in Gladiator as Maximus' wife.
  • 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.
  • Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan Bremner, William Fichtner and Kim Coates all previously worked together in another war film Pearl Harbor (2001).
  • Some of the scenes on the monitors behind Major General Garrison are actual images that were taken from the Orion spy plane that was orbiting over Mogadishu during the battle.
  • The Ranger that runs after SSG Strueker's HMMWV to join the rescue convoy is a real Ranger, named John Bamford. He was hastily given membership in the Screen Actor's Guild for him to perform the role.
  • 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 the helicopter follows the informant's car was an error as the helicopter on the screen in front of General Garrison is a Huey, but when the image cuts away, the chopper from the screen becomes a Blawk Hawk.
  • 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.
  • The scene in which Captain Steele and Sergeant Sanderson argue about "Hoot's" behavior at the cafeteria is biased towards Captain 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, as many of his young soldiers had begun to question his "robot-Ranger" protocols which Delta Force and later they viewed as procedures for procedure's sake. The incident did in fact occur in the cafeteria in which a Delta Operator, Norm Hotten, had walked into the cafeteria with his safety off. When Steele approached him, the operator pointed at his finger and said, "This is my safety." The real-life version of Sanderson, Paul Howe, 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" (really Sgt. Norman Hooten) himself is barely mentioned in the book. Although he was an important figure in the battle, much of the information concerning him came from his buddy Sgt. Paul Howe.
  • 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 a wounded Ranger named Carlos Rodriguez holed up near the first crash site. For his bravery, he was awarded the Air Force Cross, a medal second only to the Medal of Honor. Many of his fellow PJ buddies (formerly Parajumpers but now "Pararescuemen") joked that he had run too slowly and thrown off all the Somalian's aim.
  • 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 Dan Ditomasso and 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. In reality, Evermann's was exfilled with the Lost Convoy earlier in the battle and never made it to the first crash site.
  • 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 suffer a severe wound to his abdomen and died on a transport on the way to Germany.
  • 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. Years later, with the publishing of Bowden's book, Schmid took leave from his post in Japan to talk with the father of Jamie Smith, the Ranger he had fought so desperately to save.
  • "Doc" Schmid is first seen with an M16/M203 rifle-genade launcher combination, but a couple of seconds later has a Colt M733 Commando, and even later has an M16A2 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 Sanderson was seen using a colt M1911 after he ran out of ammo, but later is seen holding a beretta M92FS. (This does not appear in the Revolution Studios demonstration Copy)

Mark Bowden's cousin, David Keane, produced and directed a documentary for The History Channel titled, The True Story of Black Hawk Down. The documentary was released in 2002.

[edit] References

  • Scott, Ridley (2001). Black Hawk Down. Sony Pictures Entertainment. Culver City, California (USA).
  1. ^ Black Hawk Down (2001). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  2. ^ Black Hawk Down (2001). rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  3. ^ Berardinelli, James. Black Hawk Down. REELVIEWS. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  4. ^ 'Black Hawk' turns nightmare into great cinema. USA TODAY. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  5. ^ Carr, Jay. Black Hawk Down. BOSTON GLOBE. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  6. ^ Pratt, Doug. Black Hawk Down. HollywoodReporter.com. Retrieved on 19 May 2006.
  7. ^ Text of the decision from USCourts.gov
  8. ^ Turner, Megan (2001-12-18). War-Film `Hero' Is A Rapist. New York Post. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  9. ^ What Black Hawk Down Left Out
  10. ^ Sites, Kevin (2006-09-26). Black Hawk Ground. Yahoo! News. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
  11. ^ Manning, Scott (2002-01-25). Movie Review: Black Hawk Down. Digital Survivors. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/l/a/Black_Hawk_Down_7c7c.html"