Blackhawk Down

The year was 1993 Somalia was the place; this film is about struggles within various countries that failed to grow both ethically and financially. I remember my first viewing of this film; I had roughly one year left on my last enlistment in the Air Force. This film brought memories back of being stationed in places like, Omar, Jeddah, and UAE. This film shows the emotional struggles that a service person deals with while in a combat zone. A scene early on shows the UN’s attempt to feed the hungry; the warlords used weapons to gun down the civilians trying to gather some food while the servicemen requested permission to engage. Ridley Scott the director use of camera placement seemed to enhance your feeling as if you were actually “on scene.”

Marines had entered the building; the view from the camera was as if from a small child, the spindles passed rapidly just as if a child were running opposite the Marines advancement. My emotional involvement grew as various scenes pulled you into the plot. The words from Gen. Garrison played by Sam Shepard, “we leave no one behind” are the early indication that this plot would be about the struggles not only to release the prisoners but that of rescue attempts. Scott’s attempt to show how the unorganized militia has little effect on their efforts to advance a military objective is depicted when a solder walk through a home as a mother cowers with her children. Then as he waves to a small child, he exits the building only to be fired upon by another youth. The youth misses the Marine and by my summation kills his father. The lack of value placed upon human life is also displayed as they initially entered the city with the young Somalia on a cell phone altering the warlords.

Cinematography was excellent; various camera placements show from high above through the eyes of intelligence and/or helicopters. Direct facial shots showed the anguish felt by the actors, this played an important role of emotional involvement from the audience.

Dan Heller’s review;  http://www.danheller.com/Movies/black-hawk.html “Discussion of the problems with the film get complex and difficult, since it's not entirely clear what story or message the film wanted to tell. From a filmmaker's perspective, this is a risky approach, and in so doing, has already alienated many people who feel that the film leaves out too much context, or that the film should take a position on whether we were doing the right thing by being there. Then again, when you're in battle, it's easy to forget, let alone think about, the political or humanitarian reasons for your presence, and the movie makes that abundantly clear.”

I totally agree with Heller’s comments; “Then again, when you're in battle, it's easy to forget, let alone think about, the political or humanitarian reasons for your presence, and the movie makes that abundantly clear.” Service men follow orders with little regards to the ramifications. Two thumbs up.