Black Hawk Down

Scott is like a chameleon, give him a genre, and he'll make you an unforgettable cinematic gem. He's done it with Alien and with Gladiator, and now with the story of an elite military unit in the middle of the Somali inferno. This is no intellectual epic or hidden metaphor, it's simply two and a half hours of the best, most realistic and best filmed action imaginable. (01/31/2013)

A very well made borefest. There are moments when Black Hawk Down is a very intense portrayal of the hell of war, but as the minutes went by, the constant shooting (together with the alternating heroic or terrified speeches) began to bore me and by the end I was watching it with only one eye. It was too descriptive for my taste, I prefer more narrative movies. (06/04/2010)

After a bit of a boring beginning comes the director's exhibition. Bloody, raw, gritty carnage, filmed so impressively that you have to wonder how the hell does Scott do that. Too bad about the missed Oscar nomination, Scott really deserved it. It should also be appreciated that this film does not expose the viewer the same hyper-patriotic horror as at the ending of Saving Private Ryan. After the formally perfect, but plot-wise stupid Gladiator, Ridley again fixed his reputation with me. (07/19/2002)

About 15 American soldiers and give or take a bajillion Somalis die in the film, with the focus on the dying Americans occupying over twenty minutes of the film in total and the shots of the dying Somalis about 40 seconds. I didn't care about any of the characters (okay, except Sizemore, but I knew nothing would happen to him), and I didn't care about the heroes throwing grenades in exactly the same shot as the athletes throwing the javelin in Triumph of the Will. Of course, I don't give a shit, and I pretty much welcome recruitment films, because then there'll be enough material for more movies about botched military actions that can be handled by someone like Ridley Scott and I’ll be able to sit there for two and a half hours, snorting loudly with delight and thanking God that there are so many Somalis that the movie will still take over an hour. There were certain passages where I seriously considered sending my fellow viewer home, user Marla Singer, because I was jealous of the fact that she was watching the film in Blu-ray quality with me. The incredible gradation of some of the scenes, the perfectionist work with the shot, the well-used filters, the surprisingly slower editing, the believable brutality. War is beautiful. (05/12/2023)

Like a gritty war-themed action movie... why not... It has all the attributes of good action – swing, tension, drama and naturalistic directness. Similar to that which adorned Saving Private Ryan. Fortunately, unlike that film, it lacks the strong agitation spirit, although from a thought point of view the film is also quite schematic and pathetic. However, given the amazingly absorbing atmosphere of hot Mogadishu, good acting performances (especially Eric Bana and Ewan McGregor), this is a classic must-see for fans of American films. To all this must be added the excellent soundtrack by Hans Zimmer, the great camera and Ridley Scott, who knows how to do action scenes like few others. Only the aforementioned thought-awkwardness and occasional confusion can be criticized... but as a gritty war-themed action movie... why not... That's all I'd look for. (04/16/2005)