Black Hawk Down (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Black Hawk Down
Movie Poster from 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 Hardy 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)	December 28, 2001
Running time	144 min.
Language	English, Somali
Budget	$92 million
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Black Hawk Down is a 2001 war 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 an ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, Ewen Bremner, William Fichtner, Sam Shepherd and Orlando Bloom. Several of the main cast members had previously worked together with producer Jerry Bruckheimer in Pearl Harbor.^[1] The film won two Academy Awards, for Film Editing and Sound in 2001.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Background and production 3 Cast 4 Reception 4.1 Box office performance 4.2 Awards 4.3 Controversy 5 Soundtrack 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The film follows a mixed assault force of Delta operators, Army Rangers and Special Operations Aviation Regiment as they attempt to capture two of Mohammed Farrah Aidid's senior lieutenants from deep in Mogadishu's notorious Bakaara Market. The mission was led by Maj Gen William Garrison, and was supposed to take no more than 1 hour. The extraction by the Delta team is successful, but the Somali militia, armed with RPGs, shot down two Black Hawk helicopters, and the resulting rescue extends the mission to over 15 hours.

The film follows many characters through build-up, the assault and rescue. It shows how Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann was placed in charge of Ranger Chalk Four, before portraying the raid and successful extraction of the wanted persons, and shows the first injury, as PFC Todd Blackburn falls from a helicopter as it maneuvers to avoid an RPG. This is the beginning of the indication that the troops are overwhelmed by the volume of enemy militia, and builds up to the two helicopter crashes: Super Six-One piloted by Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott, and Super Six-Four piloted by Mike Durant. Durant is taken prisoner after the two Delta snipers who requested to be inserted near the crash site of Super Six-Four are killed while defending him.

The film also follows two Chalk Four machine gunners who are supposed to return with the extraction team, but miss the humvees as they leave, and get lost. One of them is deafened by machine-gun fire, but they eventually make their way back to Eversmann. Cpl Jamie Smith attempts to rescue one of them, whose backpack full of ammo has been shot and exploded, but Smith gets shot too, and would eventually bleed to death.

The film begins to reach its conclusion as the U.S. forces regain control with strafing runs by Little Bird helicopters, and a convoy of troops from the 10th Mountain Division arrive to extract the wounded. Back at the base, Norman "Hoot" Hooten begins to restock on ammunition, preparing to go back out on the next mission, and Eversmann tells a dead Jamie Smith that he will fulfill his dying wish.

The film ends with text informing the viewer that 19 Americans and approximately 1000 Somalis died in the conflict, Mike Durant's release, and about the death of Mohammed Farrah Aidid in 1996.

[edit] Background and production

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2007)

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).

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. Although built largely from the accounts of the soldiers who participated in the operation, Spc. John Stebbins was replaced by the fictional character John Grimes, as Stebbins was convicted by court martial in 1999 for sexually assaulting his daughter.^[2] Bowden himself claimed that the Pentagon requested this change.^[3] 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 forty of the actors who were portraying Rangers were sent to Fort Benning to attend a two week crash course in becoming Rangers, four 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, Kentucky and were given a lecture by Michael Durant, pilot of Super Six Four and portrayed by Ron Eldard 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 the twin cities Rabat and Salé, Morocco because the film-makers had decided that filming in Somalia would have been too dangerous. Moreover, none of the actors featured in the movie were Somalis. Scenes taking place at the Task Force Ranger base were filmed at Kénitra.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role	Notes
Josh Hartnett	Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann	U.S. Army Ranger, leader of Chalk 4. Compilation of both Eversmann's actual experience in the operation, as well as of U.S. Army Rangers Tom DiTomasso and Larry Perino's experiences during the operation. [4], [5]
Ewan McGregor	Specialist John Grimes	U.S. Army Ranger (based on John Stebbins)
Tom Sizemore	Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight	Commander of the 3rd Ranger Battalion
Eric Bana	Sergeant First Class Norm "Hoot" Gibson	Delta Force operator (based on Norm 'Hoot' Hooten)
William Fichtner	Sergeant First Class Jeff Sanderson	Delta Force operator (based on Paul Howe)
Ewen Bremner	Specialist Shawn Nelson	U.S. Army Ranger
Sam Shepard	Major General William F. Garrison	Commander of Task Force Ranger
Gabriel Casseus	Specialist Mike Kurth	U.S. Army Ranger
Kim Coates	Master Sergeant Tim 'Griz' Martin	Delta Force operator
Hugh Dancy	Sergeant First Class Kurt Schmid	Delta Force medic in real life, portrayed as a Ranger medic in the film
Ron Eldard	Chief Warrant Officer 3 Michael Durant	160th SOAR pilot
Ioan Gruffudd	Lieutenant John Beales	U.S. Army Ranger
Tom Guiry	Staff Sergeant Ed Yurek	U.S. Army Ranger
Charlie Hofheimer	Corporal James 'Jamie' Smith	U.S. Army Ranger
Danny Hoch	Sergeant Dominick Pilla	U.S. Army Ranger
Jason Isaacs	Captain Mike Steele	Commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Ranger Battalion
Zeljko Ivanek	Lieutenant Colonel Gary Harrell	Commander of Delta Force component
Glenn Morshower	Lieutenant Colonel Tom Matthews	Commander of 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR
Jeremy Piven	Chief Warrant Officer Cliff 'Elvis' Wolcott	160th SOAR pilot
Brendan Sexton III	Private First Class Richard 'Alphabet' Kowalewski	U.S. Army Ranger
Johnny Strong	Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart	Delta Force sniper
Nikolaj Coster Waldau	Master Sergeant Gary Gordon	Delta Force sniper
Richard Tyson	Staff Sergeant Daniel Busch	Delta Force operator
Brian Van Holt	Staff Sergeant Jeff Struecker	U.S. Army Ranger
Steven Ford	Lieutenant Colonel Joe Cribbs	160th SOAR pilot
Ian Virgo	Private John Wadell	U.S. Army Ranger
Tom Hardy	Specialist Lance Twombly	U.S. Army Ranger
Gregory Sporleder	Sergeant Scott Galentine	U.S. Army Ranger
Carmine Giovinazzo	Sergeant Mike Goodale	U.S. Army Ranger
Chris Beetem	Sergeant James 'Casey' Joyce	U.S. Army Ranger
Tac Fitzgerald	Sergeant Keni Thomas	U.S. Army Ranger
Matthew Marsden	Specialist Dale Sizemore	U.S. Army Ranger
Orlando Bloom	Private First Class Todd Blackburn	U.S. Army Ranger

[edit] Reception

[edit] Box office performance

When Black Hawk Down was first released on December 28, 2001, it had a limited release, opening at only 4 theatres. As a result, it earned only $179,823 in its first weekend. However, on January 18, 2002, the film had its wide release, opening at 3,101 theatres and earning $28,611,736 in its first wide release weekend to finish first at the box office. As it opened on the Martin Lurther King holiday, the film earned an additional $5,014,475 from the extra day of the long weekend. Black Hawk Down would go on to finish first at the box office for the next two weekends. When the film was pulled from theatres on April 14, 2002, it had grossed $108,638,745 domestically and $64,350,906 internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $172,989,651.^[6]

[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] Controversy

Soon after Black Hawk Down's release, several organizations, including The Somalian Justice Advocacy Center in California, called for its boycott and denounced what they felt was its brutal and dehumanizing depiction of Somalis.^[7]

In a radio interview, Brendan Sexton, an actor in the movie, testified that the version of the film which made it onto theater screens was significantly different from the one recounted in the original script. According to him, many scenes asking hard questions of the U.S. troops with regard to the violent realities of war, the true purpose of their mission in Somalia, etc. were cut out.^[8]

Sexton wrote an article in 2002 where he maintained that Black Hawk Down failed to explain the reasons behind the Somali population's opposition to the U.S. military presence in their country:

The Somalis are portrayed as if they don't know what's going on, as if they're trying to kill the Americans because they--like all other "evildoers"--will do anything to bite the hand that feeds them. But the Somalis aren't a stupid people. In fact, many were upset because the U.S. military presence propped up people tied to the old, corrupt Barre regime.^[9]

In a review featured in The New York Times, film critic Elvis Mitchell also expressed dissatisfaction at the film's "lack of characterization".^[10]

Malaysian military officials whose troops were also involved in the fighting have raised complaints regarding Black Hawk Down's accuracy. Retired Brigadier-General Abdul Latif-Ahmed, who at the time commanded Malaysian forces in Mogadishu, wished to set the record straight in an interview with the AFP news agency:

Malaysian movie-goers will be under the wrong impression that the real battle was fought by the Americans alone, while we were mere bus drivers to ferry them out.^[11]

Critics also charge that the African American actors chosen to play the Somalis in the film do not in the least bit resemble the racially unique peoples of the Horn of Africa nor does the language they communicate in sound like the Afro-Asiatic tongue spoken by the Somali people.^[12][13] The abrasive manner in which lines are delivered and the film's inauthentic vision of Somali culture, they add, also fails to capture the tone, mannerisms and spirit of actual life in Somalia.^[14]

[edit] Soundtrack

Main article: Black Hawk Down (soundtrack)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Black Hawk Down at the Internet Movie Database
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• Warlord thumbs down for Somalia film, BBC News 29 January 2002
• Medal of Honor Recipients on Film

v • d • e Works directed by Ridley Scott Boy and Bicycle (short film) (1962) · The Duellists (1977) · Alien (1979) · Blade Runner (1982) · 1984 (television commercial) (1984) · Legend (1986) · Someone to Watch Over Me (1987) · Black Rain (1989) · Thelma & Louise (1991) · 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) · White Squall (1995) · G.I. Jane (1997) · Gladiator (2000) · Hannibal (2001) · Black Hawk Down (2001) · Matchstick Men (2003) · Kingdom of Heaven (2005)  · All the Invisible Children (anthology) (2005)  · A Good Year (2006)  · American Gangster (2007) · Body of Lies (2008)