2 stars (out of 5)
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Black Hawk Down
This story of a squadron of Delta Force and Rangers in Mogadishu, Sudan in the mid 90's is in a similar vein as Hurt Locker and Restrepo. Based on true events, the filmmakers aim to offer a look at the side of war that is not glamorous and heroic. However, they still seem to find the glamor and heroism to portray since that is what makes movies enjoyable. The story here follows soldiers who are tasked with extracting some important enemies from the center of enemy territory. During the raid, one of the helicopters is shot down and the rest of the film follows the chain of events to get all American soldiers back to base. This is worth seeing if only for the fact that it clearly demonstrates the grotesque nature of war. With over 1000 Sudanese killed in this event alone and the only resulting message that the place is so messed up that there is no way to help (as if the military solution was sure to help). Even so, the cowboy/soldier shows up and becomes the face that Americans will remember - the rugged individualist. I don't think this did well at the theaters when it was released a few years ago. I wonder if that is because people saw through?
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2 comments:
Our friends who just returned from some time near Somalia mentioned that the creators of the film didn't even work to get the Somali dialect into the film, whereas the recent South Park episode in which Cartman becomes a Somali pirate is SPOT ON.
Weird, but interesting to note. Maybe next time the filmmaker will concentrate on the people the country is based in, rather than the soldier heroics.
It is strange what details filmmakers choose to pay attention to. I am thinking that any film that truly concentrates on what war is like is probably unwatchable. Hurt Locker and Restrepo get to parts of it, but I am reminded of The Killing Fields. Maybe I have to go re-watch that one to see if the film matches my memory.
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