Blackhawk Down

release year: 2001
genre: war
viewing setting: home DVD, 1/19/03

synopsis: Based on the true story of a disastrous U.S. raid in Somalia.

impressions: This is a very good anti-war war movie. It reminds me why I never joined the military: you can end up dying in some faraway land where there aren't any friendly people, due to someone else's bad planning and completely random circumstances. Very depressing. Other notes: this movie is full of military violence, gore, bad planning, random bad luck, and so on. It did occur to me that some military situations just might call for total destruction of the target city, civilians be damned - that's why they call it WAR. You can't secure peace for millions without spilling some blood.

acting: I'm sorry to say that except for Josh Hartnett and William Fichtner (both of whom I recognized from other movies) all the other actors in this movie looked the same to me. This is due to the fact that for most of the movie, they were wearing helmets and their faces were covered in dirt and blood. How can one tell such people apart? Anyhow, they all did outstanding jobs portraying the realism of being in a battle situation.

final word: A must-see, whether you're pro-war or anti-war.

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