DVD Review: Black Hawk Down (B)

Black Hawk Down (2001)
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Josh Hartnett
MPAA: R
Grade: B

Review by Scott Standish

The great Ridley Scott teams up with action king Jerry Bruckheimer to craft a no-frills, action packed war movie that delivers on its promises. Black Hawk Down is not on par with some of Mr. Scott's best work (let's face it, Blade Runner and Alien are two films that are hard to top), but this movie is certainly entertaining all the way through.

Running a bit long at 144 minutes, Black Hawk Down tells the true story of the US raid into Somolia to capture the cruel warlord Muhammed Addid. Addid's factions are bunkered in throughout the toughest areas of the capital, and are armed to the teeth.

The US military team in Somolia is overly confident going into the tactical strike. The young crew flies into the capital to capture the warlord only to encounter extreme resistence. The battle scenes for Black Hawk Down are intense. People are getting blown away in a manner similar to the great battle sequence in Saving Private Ryan. The combat scenes are ugly, and the raid - well I won't give too much away, but let's just say things did not go as smoothly on the ground as the generals had planned back in their offices.

Black Hawk Down is a well paced war flick that has the patented Ridley Scott atmospheric touches, and a little pumped up war bravado, definitely ala Bruckheimer. It doesn't go overboard on the patriotism factor, wisely knowing just how far to push. The acting is decent, but its an ensemble piece and no one actor ever steps above the prominence of Scott himself as director. The movie looks great, has lots of explosions, a touch of good old patriotism, and the based in fact story line keeps the whole thing grounded.

Black Hawk Down is probably not for everyone, but let's face it, war movies, especially ones with lots of blood and guts, either work for you or they don't. For those that like bullets flying and stuff blowing up, then Black Hawk Down is a sure thing.

Coming on the heels of the testosterone injected Gladiator, it's clear that Ridley Scott is mastering the action film genre, just as he did with science fiction. Who knows what direction Scott will go next, but it will certainly be interesting to watch.

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