2001 - BLACK HAWK DOWN, spinning victory from the jaws of defeat

 If there is one thing they are good at in the movie business, it's taking a true story and twisting it around.  In this case it's the Clinton Administration's plan to send the Delta Force and the Rangers into the midst of the Somali Civil War to capture the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid.  The mission was basically a disaster, 18 American soldiers died and several Black Hawk helicopters were lost.  

However leave it to Hollywood to somehow spin this into a quasi victory.  The director Ridley Scott stages a lot of for lack of a better term excellent and intense battle scenes.  It's amazing the Delta Force mission failed since in the film it looks like they wiped out most of Aidid's army.

 

What can you say about this film?  If you like war movies Black Hawk Down gets the job done I guess.  The film doesn't shy away from the blood and guts of a modern war but the whole film seems to just a little to "gung ho, rah rah"  for my taste.  It's the kind of movie John Wayne would have been proud to be a part of. 

 

The film was written by Ken Nolan and the running time on the Blu Ray disc is 144 minutes.