Great effects do not a great movie make (Black Hawk Down (2 DVDs))

Member Name: hugon

Product:	Black Hawk Down (2 DVDs)
Date:	16/03/02 (134 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well paced, Easy to watch, Amazing effects

Disadvantages: Lack of empathy with soldiers, Lack of undertsanding of situation

I may as well say it at the start and get it out of the way - this film is nowhere near as good as Saving Private Ryan. Black Hawk Down is a decent film, but it is much more disposable than Saving Private Ryan, and didn't impact me in the same way.

If you want a thrill a minute action flick, this is the film for you. The film has little in the way of a build up - the first thirty or so minutes are spent laying the foundations for the action sequence to follow. The film recreates a day's battle in the Somalian City of Mogadishu on October 3rd, 1993 to capture two Somalian dictator's assistants. During this, two of the US Army's 'Black Hawk' helicopters are shot down, leaving 19 American soldiers dead, 73 wounded and hundreds of Somalians dead. (data from IMDB.com).

The build-up is very fast, too fast for my liking. The first half hour is mostly spent in the US base, as we try to get to know the soldiers. Here lies the first problem - they all look the same, with their US Army crew cut, I got a few of them confused. I recognised Ewan McGregor and Matthew Marsden (one time Coronation Street actor and failed pop star), aside from that, nothing. You don't get to know any names, you don't get any insight to their personalities, they are essentially a bunch of anonymous US Soldiers. Add to that a few clichés - the 18 year old who has just been drafted, the clown who impersonates the commander, only for the commander to sneak up behind him, the back-slapping and camaraderie, you could make a list of war movie clichés and tick off a fair few in the first 30 minutes.

The problem I have with not creating any sense of bond with the soldiers is that when the action starts and the bullets start flying, it stirs little emotion in you when they get injured or killed. Compared with Saving Private Ryan (I'll try to stop doing that), where you had a tight group of soldiers who you got to know very well, here when someone i
s shot, you won't even know their name, rank or what their favourite drink is. I'd liken it to the bad guys being killed willy-nilly in a Bond Movie - they seem like a piece of meat. As this film is based on true events, this is even sadder as I feel the fallen should have been afforded more than just another stiff in a war movie.

After the initial half hour, the remaining hour and a half is more or less one huge action sequence with little chance for a breathe. It is completely captivating, edge of the seat stuff. The visual effects and soundtrack are fantastic; it's one of those films that needs to be seen in a cinema to get the full effect - bullets flying from all sides and the huge roar of helicopters flying overhead. The DVD will be one to show off your home cinema system when it comes out.

I remember seeing an interview with Ridley Scott on the night of the London Premiere of the film, and he said one of the problems shooting the film was that so much had to be done in one take because of the huge scale of the scenes - exploding buildings, crashing helicopters, etc. I'm not sure to what extent the action is created on computers, but no matter how much or how little is computer generated, the seems are impossible to spot. It is a visual and audio extravaganza, there is always plenty going on to enjoy, helicopters swooping, explosions, the sheer scale of everything is amazing. A cast of thousands is used to give a sense of proportion to exactly how outnumbered the Americans where - the Somalians just keep popping up, at times there are hundreds running towards the camera, wave after wave after wave, and it is quite intimidating, and I found myself incredibly thankful that it wasn't me out there.

The trailer warned about the gore content of the film, and I was fairly apprehensive about going to see this film because of that, I can be quite weak stomached at times, but I found this film was quite bearable in that res
pect. It IS gory - people are blown glean apart, in half and limbs are loss, blood splatters the camera. Perhaps if this was a horror film, I wouldn't have been able to stomach it, but for some strange reason I was able to accept it in this context. To make the Private Ryan comparison again, I found this to be less gory and graphic, which is surprising as they both have 15 certificates.

I can't mention much about individual performances because as I said earlier the soldiers seem to blend into one another. On a whole the cast do make a good job of portraying a sense of optimism which quickly descends into fear, desperation and confusion as the mission starts to come off the rails. Although in saying that, the characters could have been lifted out of most war films ever made and inserted into this with no real obvious difference. The lack of connection and empathy with the soldiers can't be attributed to them though; it's the fault of the writers for not giving them any real background.

The other main gripe I have with the film is that it is quite confusing - I know the action scenes are meant to do that, to convey the chaos the mission descended into, and that's fine, but there is nowhere near enough background information - a few pieces of text at the start give a little background information, but we have no real indication why the US Army is there, why they are fighting the Somalis, why the Somalis hate the Americans so much.

It did leave me feeling quite sad on the whole, how pointless war is how many lives where completely wiped out on that day, and wondering what kind of cause is worth risking your life for. There's a very moving scene where an American soldier shoots a Somalian soldier and the Somalian's son witnesses this, and it's terrible to think what he must have been going through. It paints a totally horrific picture of war, as the American literally mow down rows of Somalians, and you wonder a
bout the impact this has on their families, and how anyone can put themselves through that.

The criticisms aside, it is a very enjoyable film to watch, the first half hour was quite slow and maybe a little dull, but once the action starts it is riveting. It is a little forgettable once you've seen it, but while you are watching it, it's fast paced and enjoying, and the two hours plus goes by very quickly. I'd recommend seeing it in the cinema before it stops showing, as I doubt it would have as much impact on most home television screens.



http://us.imdb.com/Title?0265086

Summary: