| Black Hawk Down | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ridley Scott |
| Screenplay by | Ken Nolan |
| Based on | Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War byMark Bowden |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Sławomir Idziak |
| Edited by | Pietro Scalia |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Releasing |
Release dates |
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Running time | 144 minutes[1] |
| Countries | United States United Kingdom[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $92 million |
| Box office | $172.9 million[3] |
Black Hawk Down is a 2001war film directed and produced byRidley Scott, and co-produced byJerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay byKen Nolan. It is based on the1999 eponymous non-fiction book by journalistMark Bowden, about the crew of aBlack Hawk helicopter that was shot down during theBattle of Mogadishu. The film features a largeensemble cast, includingJosh Hartnett,Ewan McGregor,Eric Bana,Tom Sizemore,William Fichtner,Jason Isaacs,Sam Shepard,Jeremy Piven,Ioan Gruffudd,Ewen Bremner,Hugh Dancy, andTom Hardy in his first film role.Orlando Bloom,Ty Burrell, andNikolaj Coster-Waldau also have minor roles.
Black Hawk Down was produced byColumbia Pictures,Revolution Studios,Jerry Bruckheimer Films andScott Free Productions and distributed bySony Pictures Releasing, and had a limited release on December 28, 2001, and went into the public on January 18, 2002. The film received positive reviews from film critics, although it was criticized for inaccuracies. It performed modestly well at the box office, grossing $172 million worldwide against a production budget of $92 million.Black Hawk Down won twoAcademy Awards forBest Film Editing andBest Sound at the74th Academy Awards.[4]
In 1992 afamine in southern Somalia induced by thecivil war leads the United Nations Security Council to authorize a military operation with a peacekeeping mandate. Conflict ensues betweenUNOSOM II and theMogadishu-based militia loyal toMohamed Farrah Aidid. In response, U.S. PresidentClinton deploysTask Force Ranger—consisting of3rd Battalion/75th Ranger Regiment,Delta Force operators, and flight crew of the160th SOAR—to Mogadishu to capture Aidid, who has proclaimed himself president. Aidid's militia attacks aRed Cross food distribution shipment and steals the aid, but the Rangers are unable to respond due to the rules of engagement.
Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force captureOsman Ali Atto, a faction leader selling arms to Aidid's militia. The U.S. plans a mission to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid's top advisers.
Prior to the mission,Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann receives his first command of RangerChalk Four after his lieutenant has a seizure. Members of his chalk include fresh 18-year-oldPrivate First Class Todd Blackburn andSpecialist John Grimes, a former desk clerk.
Delta Force operators capture Aidid's advisers inside the target building while the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground convoy take heavy fire from the rallying militia. Blackburn is severely injured when he falls from one of theBlack Hawkhelicopters, so three Humvees led byStaff SergeantJeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the UN-heldMogadishu Airport. Grimes is separated from Eversmann's chalk after surviving an RPG explosion.
Just after Struecker's column departs, Black HawkSuper Six-One, piloted byChief Warrant Officer Clifton "Elvis" Wolcott, is shot down by arocket-propelled grenade. Wolcott and his co-pilot are killed, two crew chiefs are wounded, and two Delta Force snipers on board escape in anMH-6 Little Bird helicopter.
The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site. The militia erects roadblocks preventingLieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight's Humvee column from reaching the area, and inflicts heavy casualties. Meanwhile, two Ranger chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach the crash site and set up a defensive perimeter, while another helicopter,Super Six-Four piloted byChief Warrant OfficerMichael Durant, is also shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashes several blocks away.
With the primary Ranger forces led byCaptainMike Steele pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties, no ground forces can reachSuper Six-Four or reinforce the Rangers defendingSuper Six-One. Two Delta Force snipers,Sergeant First ClassRandy Shughart andMaster SergeantGary Gordon, volunteer to be inserted by helicopter to secureSuper Six-Four's crash site, where they find Durant still alive. Despite their heroic actions the site is overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured.
McKnight's column relinquishes their attempt to reachSix-One's crash site and returns to base with the prisoners and their casualties. The men prepare to go back to extract the Rangers and fallen pilots, and Major General Garrison asks for reinforcements from the10th Mountain Division, includingMalaysian troops andPakistani armored units from the U.N. coalition.
As night falls, Aidid's militia launches a sustained assault on the trapped Americans atSuper Six-One's crash site. The militants are held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks fromAH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships until the 10th Mountain Division's relief column is able to reach the American soldiers. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, but a few Rangers and Delta Force soldiers areforced to run on foot from the crash site to reach the Safe Zone atMogadishu Stadium.
A textual epilogue reveals Durant was released following 11 days of captivity; Gordon and Shugart became the first soldiers to receivethe Medal of Honor posthumously since theVietnam War, and General Garrison took full responsibility for the mission's outcome, retiring the day after Aidid was killed in August 1996.
AdaptingBlack Hawk Down: a Story of Modern War (1999) byMark Bowden was the idea of directorSimon West, who suggested toJerry Bruckheimer that he should buy the film rights and let West direct. West felt too tired after working onLara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), so he decided to drop out (West later said that he regretted the decision).[6]Ridley Scott was hired to direct the film after he decided to not work onTerminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003).[7]
Ken Nolan was credited as screenwriter, and others contributed uncredited:Mark Bowden wrote an adaptation of his own book,[8]Stephen Gaghan was hired to do a rewrite,[9]Steven Zaillian[10] and Ezna Sands[11] rewrote the majority of Gaghan and Nolan's work, actorSam Shepard (MGen. Garrison) rewrote some of his own dialogue, andEric Roth wrote Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana's concluding speeches.[10] Ken Nolan was on set for four months rewriting his script and the previous work by Gaghan, Zaillian, and Bowden.[12] He was given sole screenwriting credit by aWGA committee.[13]
The book relied on a dramatization of participant accounts, which were the basis of the movie. SPC John Stebbins was renamed as fictional "John Grimes." Stebbins had been convicted by court martial in 1999 for the rape and forcible sodomy of his six-year-old daughter.[14] Mark Bowden said the Pentagon, ever sensitive about public image, decided to alter factual history by requesting the change.[15] Bowden wrote early screenplay drafts, before Bruckheimer gave it to screenwriter Nolan.[9] ThePOW-captor conversation, between pilot Mike Durant and militiaman Firimbi, is from a Bowden script draft.
To keep the film at a manageable length, 100 key figures in the book were condensed to 39. The movie also does not feature anySomali actors.[16] Additionally, no Somali consultants were hired for accuracy, according to writer Bowden.[17][18]
For military verisimilitude, the Ranger actors took a one-week Ranger familiarization course atFort Benning, the Delta Force actors took a two-week commando course from the 1st Special Warfare Training Group atFort Bragg, and Ron Eldard and the actors playing 160th SOAR helicopter pilots were lectured by captured aviatorMichael Durant atFort Campbell.[19]
The U.S. Army supplied themateriel and the helicopters from the160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. Most pilots (e.g., Keith Jones, who speaks some dialogue) had participated in the historic battle on October 3–4, 1993.[20]
On the last day of their week-long Army Ranger orientation at Fort Benning, the actors who portrayed the Rangers received letters slipped under their doors. It thanked them for their hard work, and asked them to "tell our story true", signed with the names of the men who died in the Mogadishu firefight.[20] A platoon of Rangers from B-3/75 did thefast-roping scenes and appeared as extras; John Collette, a Ranger Specialist during the battle, served as a stunt performer.[21]
Many of the actors bonded with the soldiers who trained them for their roles. Actor Tom Sizemore said, "What really got me at training camp was theRanger Creed. I don't think most of us can understand that kind of mutual devotion. It's like having 200 best friends and every single one of them would die for you".[20]
The film was originally set up atDisney'sTouchstone Pictures label, but Disney bossPeter Schneider placed the film into turnaround, citing its subject matter, and sold the project toRevolution Studios.[22]
Filming began in March 2001 inKénitra,Morocco, and concluded in late June.[19]
Although the filmmakers considered filming inJordan, they found the city ofAmman too built up and landlocked. Scott and production designerArthur Max subsequently turned toMorocco, where they had previously worked onGladiator. Scott preferred that urban setting for authenticity.[20] Most of the film was photographed in the cities ofRabat andSalé; the Task Force Ranger base sequences were filmed atKénitra[23] andMehdya.
Themusical score forBlack Hawk Down was composed byHans Zimmer, who previously collaborated with director Scott on several films includingThelma & Louise (1991) andGladiator (2000). Zimmer developed the score through a collaboration with a variety of musicians that blended "east African rhythms and sounds with a more conventional synthesizer approach."[24] In doing so, Zimmer avoided a more traditional composition in favor of an experimental approach that would match the tone of the film. "I wanted to do it like the way the movie was," said Zimmer. "So I got myself a band together and we just went into my studio [...] and we'd just be flailing away at the picture, I mean, you know with great energy."[25] A soundtrack album was released on January 15, 2002, byDecca Records.[26]
Black Hawk Down had a very limited release in four theaters on December 28, 2001, in order to be eligible for the 2001 Oscars,[27] staying at that number for its first two weeks.[28] The film's release expanded on January 11, 2002, to 16 theaters for its third week; over its first three weeks, running on fewer than 20 screens throughout that period. Awide release commenced on January 18. The film's Washington, D.C. premiere at theUptown Theater was attended by Vice PresidentDick Cheney, Secretary of StateDonald Rumsfeld, and several military personnel and veterans.[29]
In 2006, an extended cut of the film was released on DVD. The cut contains an additional eight minutes of footage, increasing the running time to 152 minutes. This extended cut was released onBlu-ray and in 4K on May 7, 2019.[30]
Black Hawk Down collected $179,823 from its limited release on December 28, 2001. The film later earned $748,459 from its expanded release on January 11, 2002. It grossed a total of $28.6 million at 3,101 theaters in its first wide-release weekend, placing itNo. 1 at the box office. The film finished No. 1 at the box office during its first three weeks of wide release, part of a consecutive five weeks in the Top 10.[28]Black Hawk Down went on to gross $108.6 million domestically and $64.3 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $172.9 million, against a $92 million budget.[3]
On thereview aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, 76% of 174 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.0/10. The website's consensus reads: "Though it's light on character development and cultural empathy,Black Hawk Down is a visceral, pulse-pounding portrait of war, elevated by Ridley Scott's superb technical skill."[31]Metacritic, which uses aweighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[32] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[33]
Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, saying that films like this "help audiences understand and sympathize with the actual experiences of combat troops, instead of trivializing them into entertainments."[34]Empire magazine said that, though "ambitious, sumptuously framed, and frenetic,Black Hawk Down is nonetheless a rare find of a war movie which dares to turn genre convention on its head".[35] Mike Clark ofUSA Today wrote that the film "extols the sheer professionalism of America's elite Delta Force—even in the unforeseen disaster that was 1993's Battle of Mogadishu," and praised Scott's direction: "in relating the conflict, in which 18 Americans died and 70-plus were injured, the standard getting-to-know-you war-film characterizations are downplayed. While some may regard this as a shortcoming, it is, in fact, a virtue".[36]
The film has had a small cultural legacy, which has been studied academically by media analysts dissecting how media reflects American perceptions of war.Newsweek writer Evan Thomas considered the movie one of the most culturally significant films of theGeorge W. Bush presidency. He suggested that, although the film was presented as being anti-war, it was at its core pro-war: "though it depicted a shameful defeat, the soldiers were heroes willing to die for their brothers in arms ... The movie showed brutal scenes of killing, but also courage, stoicism and honor ... The overall effect was stirring, if slightly pornographic, and it seemed to enhance the desire of Americans for a thumping war to avenge9/11."[37]
Stephen A. Klien, writing inCritical Studies in Media Communication, argued that the film's sensational rendering of war encouraged audiences to empathize with the film's pro-soldier leitmotif, to "conflate personal support of American soldiers with support of American military policy," and to discourage "critical public discourse concerning justification for and execution of military interventionist policy."[38]
In a review featured inThe New York Times, film criticElvis Mitchell expressed dissatisfaction with the film's "lack of characterization" and opined that the film "reeks of glumly staged racism".[39]Owen Gleiberman and Sean Burns, the film critics forEntertainment Weekly and the alternative newspaperPhiladelphia Weekly, respectively, echoed the sentiment that the depiction was racist.[40][41] American film criticWheeler Winston Dixon also found the film's "absence of motivation and characterization" disturbing, and wrote that while American audiences might find the film to be a "paean to patriotism", other audiences might find it to be a "deliberately hostile enterprise"; nevertheless, Dixon lauded the film's "spectacular display of pyrotechnics coupled with equally adroit editing."[42]Jerry Bruckheimer, the film's producer, rejected these criticisms onThe O'Reilly Factor, putting them down to political correctness in part due toHollywood's liberal leanings.[41][43]
Black Hawk Down received fourAcademy Award nominations: for Best Director (lost toA Beautiful Mind), Best Cinematography (lost toThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring), and won two Oscars for Best Sound and Best Film Editing. It received threeBAFTA Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Sound and Best Editing.
| Award | Category | Nominee | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Director | Ridley Scott | Nominated | [44] |
| Best Cinematography | Sławomir Idziak | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Editing | Pietro Scalia | Won | ||
| Best Sound | Michael Minkler Myron Nettinga Chris Munro | Won | ||
| BAFTA Award | Best Cinematography | Slawomir Idziak | Nominated | [45] |
| Best Editing | Pietro Scalia | Nominated | ||
| Best Sound | Chris Munro Per Hallberg Michael Minkler Myron Nettinga Karen Baker Landers | Nominated | ||
| AFI Award | Cinematographer of the Year | Slawomir Idziak | Nominated | [46] |
| Director of the Year | Ridley Scott | Nominated | ||
| Editor of the Year | Pietro Scalia | Nominated | ||
| Movie of the Year | Jerry Bruckheimer Ridley Scott | Nominated | ||
| Production Designer of the Year | Arthur Max | Nominated | ||
| NBR Award | Top Ten Films | Won | [47] | |
| Saturn Award | Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film | Nominated | [48] | |
| Best DVD Special Edition Release | Nominated | [49] | ||
| Eddie Award | Best Edited Feature Film – Dramatic | Pietro Scalia | Won | [50] |
| ADG Excellence in Production Design Award | Contemporary Film | Keith Pain Marco Trentini Gianni Giovagnoni Cliff Robinson Pier Luigi Basile Ivo Husnjak Arthur Max | Nominated | [51] |
| Harry Award | Won | [52] | ||
| Golden Reel Award | Best Sound Editing – Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film | Per Hallberg Karen Baker Landers Chris Jargo Mark L. Mangino Chris Hogan | Won | [53] |
| Best Sound Editing – Effects & Foley, Domestic Feature Film | Per Hallberg Karen Baker Landers Craig S. Jaeger Jon Title Christopher Assells Dino Dimuro Dan Hegeman Michael A. Reagan Gregory Hainer Perry Robertson Peter Staubli Bruce Tanis Michael Hertlein Solange S. Schwalbe | Won | ||
| Plus Camerimage | Golden Frog | Slawomir Idziak | Nominated | [54] |
| Cinema Audio Society Award | Outstanding Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures | Michael Minkler Myron Nettinga Chris Munro | Nominated | [55] |
| Directors Guild of America Award | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Ridley Scott | Nominated | [56] |
| Golden Trailer Award | Best Drama | Trailer Park, Inc. | Nominated | [57] |
| MTV Movie Award | Best Movie | Nominated | [58] | |
| Best Action Sequence | First helicopter crash | Nominated | ||
| Phoenix Film Critics Society Award | Best Acting Ensemble | Eric Bana Ewen Bremner William Fichtner Josh Hartnett Jason Isaacs Ewan McGregor Sam Shepard Tom Sizemore | Nominated | [59] |
| Best Cinematography | Slawomir Idziak | Nominated | ||
| Best Film Editing | Pietro Scalia | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actor: Action/Drama | Josh Hartnett | Nominated | [60] |
| Choice Movie: Action/Drama | Nominated | |||
| World Soundtrack Award | Best Original Soundtrack of the Year | Hans Zimmer | Nominated | [61] |
| Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Nominated | |||
| Writers Guild of America Award | Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published | Ken Nolan | Nominated | [62] |
| ASCAP Award | Top Box Office Films | Hans Zimmer(also forThe Ring) | Won | [63] |
| DVD Exclusive Award | Best Overall DVD, New Movie (Including All Extra Features) | Charles de Lauzirika(Deluxe Edition) | Nominated | [64] |
In a radio interview,Brendan Sexton, who portrayed Ranger Richard "Alphabet" Kowalewski, said that the version that made it onto theater screens significantly differed from the one recounted in the original script. According to him, many scenes asking hard questions of the US regarding the violent realities of war and the true purpose of their mission in Somalia were cut.[65]
The film begins with the quote "Only the dead have seen the end of war.", which ismisattributed toPlato. This line first appeared in the works ofGeorge Santayana.[66][67][68]
Soon afterBlack Hawk Down's release, the Somali Justice Advocacy Center (SJAC) in California denounced what they felt was its brutal and dehumanizing depiction of Somalis and called for its boycott.[18] The SJAC in Minnesota called for a boycott of the film for its portrayal of Somalis as "savage beasts shooting each other."[69] No Somali actors were used in the movie.[16] Somalis attending a screening of a pirated copy of the film at a theater in Mogadishu said the film ignored the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of civilian adults and children caused by the Americans.[69][70]
In an interview with theBBC, the faction leaderOsman Ali Atto said that many aspects of the film are factually incorrect. Taking exception to the ostentatious depiction of his character, Ali Atto claimed he looks nothing like the actor who portrayed him, nor that he smoked cigars or wore earrings.[71] These details were later confirmed by SEAL Team Six sniperHoward E. Wasdin in his 2012 memoirs. Wasdin also indicated that while the character in the movie ridiculed his captors, in reality, Atto seemed concerned that Wasdin and his men had been sent to kill rather than apprehend him.[72] Atto additionally stated that he had not been consulted about the project, nor was he approached for permission to use his likeness, and that the film sequence re-enacting his arrest contained several inaccuracies:[71]
First of all when I was caught on 21 September, I was only travelling with oneFiat 124, not three vehicles as it shows in the film[...] And when the helicopter attacked, people were hurt, people were killed[...] The car we were travelling in, (and) I have got proof, it was hit at least 50 times. And my colleague Ahmed Ali was injured on both legs[...] I think it was not right, the way they portrayed both the individual and the action. It was not right.[71]
Wasdin also remarked that while olive green military rigger's tape was used to mark the roof of the car in question in the movie, his team in actuality managed to track down Atto's whereabouts using a much more sophisticated technique involving the implantation of a homing device. This was hidden in a cane presented to Atto as a gift from a contact who routinely met with him, which eventually led the team directly to the faction leader.[72]
RetiredMalaysian Army Brigadier-General Abdul Latif Ahmad, who at the time commandedMalaysian forces in Mogadishu, told theAFP news agency that Malaysian moviegoers would be under the erroneous impression that the real battle was fought by the Americans alone, with Malaysian troops (includingCplMat Aznan Awang, recipient of theGrand Knight of Valour, Malaysia's highest award, killed when his was one of fourMalaysian APCs destroyed during the battle)[73] relegated to serving as "mere bus drivers to ferry them out".[74]
General Pervez Musharraf, who later became President ofPakistan after a coup, similarly accused the filmmakers of not crediting the work done by the Pakistani soldiers. In his autobiographyIn the Line of Fire: A Memoir, Musharraf wrote:
The outstanding performance of the Pakistani troops under adverse conditions is very well known at theUN. Regrettably, the filmBlack Hawk Down ignores the role of Malaysia and Pakistan in Somalia. When U.S. troops were trapped in the thickly populated Madina Bazaar area of Mogadishu, it was the SeventhFrontier Force Regiment of thePakistan Army that reached out and extricated them. The bravery of the U.S. troops notwithstanding, we deserved equal, if not more, credit; but the filmmakers depicted the incident as involving only Americans.[75]
It is often believed that the soldiers involved in theMogadishu Mile had to run all the way to theMogadiscio Stadium, as shown in the film. However, in that scene the filmmakers took artistic license and dramatized the event, departing from the book. In the film, the Mogadishu Mile ends with about a dozen soldiers entering the Mogadiscio Stadium having run all the way through the city. In the book, it ends with soldiers reaching a rendezvous point on National Street (in the opposite direction from the stadium):
"As he [75th Rangers SGT Randy Ramaglia][76][77] approached the intersection of Hawlwadig Road and National Street, about five blocks south of the Olympic Hotel, he saw a tank and the line of APCs and Humvees and a mass of men in desert battle dress. He ran until he collapsed, with joy"[78]
"These APCs were headed back about 800 meters to a strongpoint where reserve element has stayed behind with the tanks, and the plan was to move the wounded via the vehicles and the healthy by foot back to the strongpoint. That's exactly what happened. That, in all its non-dramatic form, is the so-called "Mogadishu mile"..."[79]
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