On B List of Movie Reviews
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Black Hawk Down (2001)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
2/25
2/25:
Black Hawk Down is without context and therefore is a pointless violent war picture.
It leaves out an inconvenient fact: American soldiers killed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent Somali
civilians, including women and children, during their time there. The events, namely the Battle of Mogadishu,
happened on October 3 to 4, 1993, but the conflict started way, way before that when the Americans killed
73 people including innocents and elder members of Mohammed Farah Aidid's Habr Gidr clan during a peace meeting on
July 12. This mass murder changed the tide, causing the United States and the United Nations to be the enemy
in the eyes of the Somali National Alliance (SNA). Not only that, but there were also other incidents as
according to Wikipedia:
"Human rights abuses and killings by peacekeepers, U.S. military airstrikes in heavily populated neighborhoods
resulting in civilian casualties, forced evictions for U.N. compound expansions and the difficulty of receiving
legal recourse for wrongs committed by United Nations forces all inflamed the growing animosity of the civilian
population of Mogadishu."
Ann Talbot wrote the following in her article entitled "Black Hawk Down: Naked Propaganda Masquerading
as Entertainment":
"In the weeks leading up to October 3, the Rangers had earned themselves the enmity of the civilian population
of Mogadishu. Three times a day Black Hawks would harass the city's residents flying along the streets below
roof level before soaring back up to hundreds of feet in the air. This activity was popular with the Rangers
who told [author Mark] Bowden it was like riding a roller coaster. Sometimes they would hover low over flimsy shacks blowing
them apart, or over a crowded market place tearing people's clothes from their bodies or even ripping babies
out of their mothers' arms, in a practice the pilots called 'rotor washing.'"
1,000 dead Somalis? Nope. It was around 200 to 300, resulting in 18 dead Americans which is the highest
body count since the Vietnam War. The biggest question is: what was the United States doing there in the
first place? What business did it have in the middle of the Somali Civil War? That's exactly what I was thinking
while watching Black Hawk Down. Before the incident occurred, the Americans bombed a dense neighborhood,
killing a family of 8 and injuring 34, which made the U.S.-Somalia relations much worse. The Battle of Mogadishu
was a major fuck-up perpetuated by the United States.
These idiot soldiers, who had to be illiterate, were truly brainwashed and died for nothing. All they wanted to
do was kill? They weren't Americans but mass murderers. No wonder why every Somali, even the friendly,
was enraged, having decided to fight and aid alongside the SNA on October 3 and 4. But the movie depicts them as
lunatic black barbarians when they were in fact organized. After the whole thing was over, President Bill Clinton
decided no more and had his troops pulled out. That's because the United States' involvement in the Somali Civil
War was a fucking mistake from the get-go with absolutely nothing to gain.
Pietro Scalia won the Oscar for Best Editing? It's so bad that I had been left drained at the end because it was too
long and pointless. There's no message or story...just a lot of senseless killing for the sake of showing
beautiful carnage on screen. I would've given the Oscar to Slawomir Idziak for Best Cinematography because it's unique.
Making matters worse, all of the soldiers' faces are totally indistinguishable with none of their names worth
remembering. As a result, during the fighting, it felt like they were in three or four places at once. The only
reason I was able to connect with some of them is that they starred in
Pearl Harbor.
Oh, yeah...Eric Bana's and Josh Hartnett's brief speeches at the end? Simply the worst. Ewan McGregor plays a
character whose name was changed because the real guy raped his six-year-old daughter repeatedly. That's the U.S.
military for ya along with its high rates of alcohol/drug abuse and suicide. Hooah...fucking idiots. No Somali
was ever hired to act or provide technical advice which is to say...their perspective doesn't matter! The
Americans didn't fight alone during these two days; they were greatly aided by Pakistani and Malaysian troops.
All in all, what happened for real that led to the Battle of Mogadishu is a monumental embarrassment in
United States history, and Hollywood had no business in turning it into a cash cow, that is, Black Hawk Down.