Audio Video News

Somalia, 1993. A country in name only, with hundreds of thousands starved and starving while competing warlords wrestle for power. This is the background of the brutal but compelling war drama Black Hawk Down, one of last year's best films.

One could write a book about the events leading up to the incident depicted in the film. In fact, many have (the film is based on Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mark Bowden). When Somali dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 after 20 years in power, civil war broke out between competing warlords. They used starvation as a major weapon against their opponents, and by the end of 1992 about 350,000 Somalis had died, with much of the remaining population at risk. US and UN peacekeeping and disaster-relief efforts were launched. These operations, initially successful, continued into 1993 with about 25,000 UN troops, including 4500 Americans. By mid-1993, the goals of the relief mission had expanded and blurred. In June of that year, an attack on Pakistani peacekeepers resulted in a bounty on the head of the most powerful warlord, Mohammed Farah Aidid. On October 3, a force of about 100 US Rangers and Delta Force personnel was dispatched to round up members of Aidid's inner circle, reported to be meeting in Mogadishu, Somalia's capitol.

Black Hawk Down is the story of that raid. While the mission was nominally a success (it resulted in the capture of many of Aidid's lieutenants), it went horribly wrong. Events spiraled out of control, starting with the loss of a Black Hawk helicopter and culminating with 18 Americans killed and 75 wounded. Estimates of Somali deaths range to well above 1000, and while this number is certainly from a faction with every reason to inflate the figure, there is little doubt that the toll was well into the hundreds. An operation that was supposed to take under an hour ended up an overnight, 18-hour nightmare.

The film has been criticized for failing to provide much background for the events depicted. True, but to do that would have required a TV mini-series, not a movie that's already long at two hours and 24 minutes. It has also been taken to task for depicting the Somalis as a faceless mob being mowed down like ducks in a shooting gallery. Also true, but unfair; to the US troops, they were a mob—a heavily armed mob whipped into a frenzy by their leaders and high on a popular local drug that reportedly makes users hyperaggressive. The mob was determined to wipe out the US forces attempting to capture those responsible for the genocidal starvation of their own people.

One detail not explained in the film is why our ground forces used unarmored Humvees instead of armored personnel carriers (APCs) and tanks. It's because Washington did not provide them with this heavy equipment until after the battle. The UN forces had APCs (they show up late in the film), but we did not. The outcome of the battle might well have been radically different had the troops been properly equipped for the job they were ordered to do.

Despite the ambiguous outcome of this hellish situation, the filmmakers have managed to brilliantly show the soldiers' heroism under fire. They have also succeeded in showing just why they fought with such determination. The twin incentives not to let down the men beside you and to "leave no man behind" are powerful recurring themes here, and keep Black Hawk Down from being the downer it might otherwise have turned into. Recent, post-9/11 events also give the film a resonance it might not have otherwise had.

At nearly 2½ hours, Black Hawk Down is virtually nonstop action after an opening 30 minutes of exposition. It's also brutally, graphically violent; this movie is not for kids.

The DVD video transfer is good, though in many places it's contrasty and grainy. The latter, together with the muted color palette, were likely intentional. The edge enhancement visible in places, however—mostly early in the film—clearly was not intentional, or shouldn't have been. But the sound is exceptional, from the whirring of helicopters and whizzing of bullets to the recording of Hans Zimmer's brilliant, note-perfect score.

If the extras on this DVD—essentially limited to an "On the Set" featurette and trailers for The One and Spider-Man—seem skimpy, that's because a special edition is due on DVD later this year. Hopefully, the added features on that release will answer some of the criticisms of the movie, and provide some historical context for the events depicted.

So if you want it all, wait for the two-disc release. If you can't wait, get this version. You won't be disappointed. Black Hawk Down is a truly exceptional film.