Ridley Scott's near-faithful rendition of Mark Bowden's book about the 1993 battle in Mogadishu which left 18 Americans dead, almost 100 wounded, and between 750 and 1500 Somali militia and civilians killed is a mixed bag.
What Scott does well, he does very well. The battle sequences are extraordinary, and his juxtaposition of the beauty of the land with the squalor of the impoverished city is affecting. America hovers above the mess that is the world, pristine, gleaming, powerful, and clueless about the byzantine factions and home-grown anger that awaits.
He also captures the military ethos, the young centurions in a strange land, trained to kill, there to enforce some wort of peace, but repressing what might be an insensitive desire to practice their craft.
Scott is also expert in communicating a very convoluted battle scenario with precision and clarity. And the performances, largely given amongst screaming, yelling and explosions, are well delivered, with special nods to the craggy, character-filled faces of William Fichtner and Tom Sizemore.
On the downside, Scott attempts context with a short explanation of the volatile political situation, but soon, his action picture credentials come to the fore. This makes for exciting viewing, but the pleasure is somewhat guilty, because you'd been led to believe this was something more. Worse, Scott loses confidence in his message and the picture becomes didactic, at one lapsing into a conversation between Sergeant Eversman (Josh Hartnett) and a Delta soldier that rivals an ad for Mennen Speed Stick (because, "it's about the man next to you"). The exchange is one that even if uttered should have been excised.
It is also a shame, because for the most part, Black Hawk Down avoids some of the pat excess of Saving private Ryan.
The Somalis, like so many foreign foes portrayed in American film, are given the short-shrift of the mystical "Do not come here, white man, this is not your war." This is a cheap out, not only because it is hackneyed, but because the bitterness on the ground in Mogadishu was borne of factors critical to the story.
Lastly, Scott departs from the book in a few ways that are unfortunate. For example, at the beginning of the raid, a Ranger fell from a helicopter, breaking his back. Having to ferry the Ranger back had an impact on the mission, and by all accounts, he just missed the rope. Scott chose to have his helicopter veering away from an RPG. Thus, the Ranger fell, but not by his own error. A small point, but indicative of Scott preferring less warts than Bowden.
Along the same line, Bowden reported that after a time, the embattled soldiers were becoming less discriminate about killing civilians.
Interestingly, Scott only trains in on Somali civilians geting killed in three instances
at the outset, when Aideed's men murder those clamoring for U.N. food shipments; during the battle, when a Somali boy tries to shoot a Ranger, but instead shoots his own father; and at the end, when a Ranger begs a Somali woman not to pick up a weapon. She does, and she is killed by another Ranger.
All of which may have happened. But what also happened, with greater frequency, was that the soldiers, besieged from all sides, let loose on anything that moved. It is not a moral judgment to depict this aspect of the carnage.
Still, a visually impressive, relatively tight war picture. Grade: B.
