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Black Hawk Down bonus disc
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer is, financially speaking, probably the most successful moviemaker in Hollywood. His credits include 'Armageddon', 'Pearl Harbor', 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'King Arthur'. His philosophy might be summed up this way: more is more. That certainly goes for 'Black Hawk Down', Ridley Scott's 2001 film about the battle of Mogadishu, which tries to out-gun 'Saving Private Ryan'. And the 'behind-the-scenes' documentaries which make up this bonus disc certainly don't stint. There are interviews with multiple personnel (including Scott and Bruckheimer, writers Mark Bowden and Ken Nolan, all the principal cast and many of the crew, plus many of the US Rangers whose actually fought in the battle) tracing their activities throughout every stage of the production. 
By luck more than design, the story of 'Black Hawk Down' became more relevent than ever in the wake of September 11, and the US military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The film tries not to be political. It wants to put you in the combat boots of the young men in Somalia and to experience something of the terror - and I guess, the exhilaration - of actual combat. The 'making of' stuff has a similar objective. It tries not to be political, but puts you in the boots of the young actors re-enacting the battle. It wants you to experience the exhilaration - and I guess, the fear - of recreating life-and-death situations on screen. The material runs to feature length, and unless you're absolutely hooked on the ins and outs of warfare and moviemaking, you'll probably find it needlessly repetitive. One actor's take on the responsibility of playing a real soldier sounds very much like another's - and this is a movie with dozens of characters. Still, Bowden and Nolan are interesting on the difficulties of giving the material some shape, and there is no doubting the commitment of everyone involved. It's amusing to see Josh Hartnett alongside the geeky character, Eversmann, whose name he takes in the movie. The real Eversmann looks more like character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (you may remember him as the insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in 'Groundhog Day'). Realism has its limits after all. 
What this material lacks is someone asking tough questions - about why Scott decided not to include the notorious TV images of American servicemen being dragged through the streets, for example. At one stage he comments that he thinks every war film is an anti-war film. Really? What about all those WWII John Wayne propaganda movies? In 'The Stunt Man', Peter O'Toole's character Eli Cross says exactly the opposite: even anti-war films serve to promote recruitment. And when I interviewed Mark Bowden for Time Out he told me that his book was popular with the military - in fact his own teenage son joined the Marines shortly after it was published. Even so, there are thoughtful comments here - notably from Ewan McGregor, who admits to his surprise (naïve perhaps) at the violence instilled in the Marines: the way they are taught to shock civilians into submission. It may be an effective tactic in the short term, but as we have seen in Iraq, it's not necessarily a good way of policing a defeated nation. Eric Bana, too, has interesting things to say about how he came from a simplistic anti-war mindframe towards a more pragmatic understanding of the inevitability of wars and the job of soldiering. Tom Charity 
More information about Black Hawk Down bonus disc » Critics' Reviews
Radio Times
Following on swiftly from the release of Behind Enemy Lines, here's another noisy, gung-ho modern war movie. However, the fact that this film is based on the disastrous 1993 “Battle of Mogadishu” in Somalia does not temper its flag-waving, pro-American militarism.The film's poster tagline “Leave no man behind” disguises what was a strategic American mess as chest-beating melodrama — in reality, 18 Americans were killed, as were hundreds of Somalis during a 15-hour firefight. That it should come from a British director is the surprise, though to his credit Ridley Scott has cast many non-Americans in prominent roles — an underused Ewan McGregor, an impressive Jason Isaacs, comic turn Ewen Bremner and charismatic Eric Bana. It's sensitive, cool-headed and intelligent for a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, but for all of Scott's incredible technical skill — you really do feel as if you are there — the battle scenes lack identifiable characters and there is scant insight into the Somalian conflict. In a post-11-September world, its call for “heroes” makes it little more than a recruitment film.
A success in re-creating the experience of battle in all its violence and immediacy, this fails in any wider aim: there is no attempt to explain what the US mission hoped to achieve, or why they met with such resistance from the Somalis. 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..." Members' ReviewsReviews Voted Most HelpfulMost Recent Reviews |
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