Black Hawk Down (2001)
Directed by Ridley Scott
When U.S. Rangers and an elite Delta Force team attempt to kidnap two underlings of a Somali warlord, their Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, and the Americans suffer heavy casualties, facing intense fighting from the militia on the ground.
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What critics say influenced Black Hawk Down
These parts of Black Hawk Down, which form the majority of the film, are reminiscent of the city fighting in Full Metal Jacket, while the earlier sections (featuring a lot of helicopters flying over shorelines) recall Apocalypse Now.
While not expecting a depth of character development matching that of Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) in Apocalypse Now, I was hoping to learn more about individual heroes who risked their lives to save their buddies.
There’s also a cheeky nod to Apocalypse Now, with shots of the helicopters flying in formation, accompanied by Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile on the soundtrack.
Francis Ford Coppola made war surreal in “Apocalypse Now”, Terrence Malick made it introspective in “The Thin Red Line”, Stanley Kubrick made it cold and clinical in “Full Metal Jacket”, Steven Spielberg made it sentimental in “Saving Private Ryan”… Scott?
"Black Hawk Down" flaunts the best helicopter montage since "Apocalypse Now," as the sleek choppers fly in multiple formations with the Indian Ocean as a backdrop.
And if every generation gets the ''Apocalypse Now'' -- and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' -- it needs, then the generation defined by 9/11/01 is seeing a very different Black Hawk Down from the one it might have seen on 9/10/01.
If that's the case, this effort from director Ridley Scott ("Gladiator," "Alien") will certainly be something of a loud and violent reminder/wake-up call.
To make this kind of a film, to persuasively re-create other worlds, has been Scott's strength as a director from his 1978 "The Duelists" debut through "Alien," "Blade Runner" and last year's Oscar-winning "Gladiator."
Never a huge Ridley Scott fan, his two most critically acclaimed films—Alien and Blade Runner—are good (but not great) films, and Academy Award winning Gladiator exaggerates Scott's greatest weakness as a filmmaker: his inability to connect emotionally with his characters and develop them.
He's the man who made "Alien," "Blade Runner," "Black Rain" "Thelma & Louise" and, of course, "Gladiator."
Scott, too, has finally directed a movie as memorable as the ones that established his reputation: Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise.
The Oscar-winning director of Alien, Thelma And Louise, and last year's Gladiator (which I don't consider one of his best), Scott and his cinematographer, Slavomir Idziak, take an already incredible true story and imbue it with a global view and an aesthetic sense that even the soldiers who were there didn't enjoy.
Francis Ford Coppola made war surreal in “Apocalypse Now”, Terrence Malick made it introspective in “The Thin Red Line”, Stanley Kubrick made it cold and clinical in “Full Metal Jacket”, Steven Spielberg made it sentimental in “Saving Private Ryan”… Scott?
Needless to say, there is a big difference between Full Metal Jacket (an example of a good one) and Pearl Harbor (not so good).
Shades of The Red Badge of Courage creep in with one young gung-ho Army Ranger arriving in Somalia to "kick some ass"—of course, Sgt.
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Although I�m certain that many critics will compare Black Hawk Down to Spielberg�s equally visceral Saving Private Ryan, the film that it evoked most for me was Verhoeven�s underrated Starship Troopers.
The tag lines may be gratuitous (“It’s what you do right now that makes a difference”) but Black Hawk Down is about as awesome a video game war epic can get sans philosophical discussions (see Sam Fuller’s Steel Helmet or The Big Red One for that).
And if every generation gets the ''Apocalypse Now'' -- and ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' -- it needs, then the generation defined by 9/11/01 is seeing a very different Black Hawk Down from the one it might have seen on 9/10/01.
A far cry from such tame war movies as A Bridge Too Far and yes, in comparison, even Saving Private Ryan, this controversial film dramatizes a failed 1993 U. N. peacekeeping operation undertaken by U.S. forces in Somalia.
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But the problem is, this is no "Ocean's Eleven" or "The Dirty Dozen" which pulls off this character caring with classic proficiency and which should be the model for multi-hero adventure yarns.
His credits include " Alien ," " Legend ," the inexplicable " 1492: Conquest Of Paradise ," " Gladiator ," " Black Hawk Down " and the brilliant " Matchstick Men ," and his " American Gangster " opened Friday in theaters.
To make this kind of a film, to persuasively re-create other worlds, has been Scott's strength as a director from his 1978 "The Duelists" debut through "Alien," "Blade Runner" and last year's Oscar-winning "Gladiator."
Never a huge Ridley Scott fan, his two most critically acclaimed films—Alien and Blade Runner—are good (but not great) films, and Academy Award winning Gladiator exaggerates Scott's greatest weakness as a filmmaker: his inability to connect emotionally with his characters and develop them.
He's the man who made "Alien," "Blade Runner," "Black Rain" "Thelma & Louise" and, of course, "Gladiator."
Scott, too, has finally directed a movie as memorable as the ones that established his reputation: Alien, Blade Runner and Thelma & Louise.
This time, he and co-producer-director Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner" through "Gladiator" to "Hannibal") have come through with something that still hits at gut level but far transcends exploitation.