Black Hawk Down (2001)

"Ridley Scott's uncompromising vision is awesome.  David Ansen, Newsweek
"A four star knockout.  Mike Clark, USA Today

Editor's Note On October 3, 1993, Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force participated in a covert operation in Mogadishu, Somalia that went horribly wrong. Sent to abduct two lieutenants of a vicious Somali warlord, the soldiers found themselves surrounded by hostile militia. Two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and many men lost their lives. Mark Bowden of the Philadelphia Inquirer told the story of the battle in his exhaustively researched, critically acclaimed book, BLACK HAWK DOWN, and filmmaker Ridley Scott (GLADIATOR) and screenwriter Ken Nolan have done an amazing job of bringing the dramatic story to the screen. Like Bowden's book, the film does not thoroughly examine the context of the conflict, but gives a detailed and intense blow-by-blow account of the fighting. The outstanding ensemble cast includes Josh Hartnett as a competent but nervous Ranger sergeant leading his first mission, Ewan McGregor as a "desk jockey" who excels when sent into combat, Eric Bana (THE INCREDIBLE HULK) as a cocky and enigmatic Delta, and Ron Eldard as a downed Black Hawk pilot. The violence of the film is brutal and nearly constant. Scott unflinchingly captures the chaos and mayhem of battle with tremendous visual finesse.

	Ewan McGregor
	Josh Hartnett
	Sam Shepard
	Tom Sizemore
	Arthur Max - Production Designer
	Hans Zimmer, et al. - Musical Score
	Jerry Bruckheimer, et al. - Producer
	Ken Nolan - Screenplay
	Mark Bowden - Based On Book By
	Pietro Scalia - Editor
	Ridley Scott - Director
	Slavomir Idziak - Director of Photography

New York Times
"...There may be no working director more accomplished at wringing texture out of the color blue than the prodigious and now prolific Mr. Scott..." 12/28/2001 p.E1

USA Today
"...BLACK HAWK's knockout photography, editing and sound are all state of the art..." 12/28/2001 p.9D

Rolling Stone
"...A personal best for producer Jerry Bruckheimer, a triumph for Scott and a war film of prodigious power. You will be shaken..." 01/31/2001 p.57-8

Variety
"...[The] images have a raw, vital quality that heightens the urgent, you-are-there quality of the action, and all the equipment, effects and military-related details are superb..." 12/10/2001 p.31-5

Sight and Sound
"...[Made] with immense technical skill and spectacular photography..." 02/01/2002 p.41

Box Office
"...Well-made..." 03/01/2002 p.61

Chicago Sun-Times
"...Gripping, incisive....An attempt to record as accurately as possible what it was like to be under fire on that mission..." 03/31/2002 p.5

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he aerial photography of Black Hawks sweeping across the coastline is stunning....Technically the film is excellent..." 07/01/2007 p.19