Black Hawk Down (2001)
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76% of critics liked it
(170 reviews) -
85% of users liked it
(435,535 ratings)
A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers… More A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ridley Scott
- Written By
- Ken Nolan
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure
- In Theaters
- Dec 28, 2001 Wide
- On DVD
- Jun 11, 2002
- Studio
- Sony Pictures
Critic Reviews
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Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader
I also don't know how well this 2001 drama represents the events of October 3 and 4, 1993, though I can see that it represents them in a realist vein, referring to other war movies without becoming frivolous.
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Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine
Black Hawk Down makes that point without preachment, in precise and pitiless imagery. And for that reason alone it takes its place on the very short list of the unforgettable movies about war and its ineradicable and immeasurable costs.
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Todd McCarthy, Variety
A relentless immersion in combat strikingly realized but none too pleasurable to sit through.
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, Time Out
[Scott] does a reasonable job sketching the complicated and contradictory political context, but attempts to bring in the odd Somali perspective are grossly inadequate.
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Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
A first-rate war movie that presents its subject so horrifyingly well that it doesn't need to probe or preach.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Josh Hartnett
as Ranger Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann
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Ewan McGregor
as Ranger spec. Grimes
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Jason Isaacs
as Steele
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Tom Sizemore
as Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight
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Eric Bana
as Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson
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William Fichtner
as Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson
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Ewen Bremner
as Spec. Sgt. Shawn Nelson
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Sam Shepard
as Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison
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Kim Coates
as Wex
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Hugh Dancy
as Ranger Sgt. First Class Kurt Schmid
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Ron Eldard
as Chief Warrant Officer Mike Durant
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Ioan Gruffudd
as Beales
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Tom Guiry
as Yurek
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Charlie Hofheimer
as Smith
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Danny Hoch
as Pilla
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Zeljko Ivanek
as Harrell
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Glenn Morshower
as Matthews
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Gabriel Casseus
as Ranger Spec. Mike Kurth
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Jeremy Piven
as Walcott
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Brendan Sexton III
as Kowalewski
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Johnny Strong
as Shughart
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Richard Tyson
as Busch
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Brian Van Holt
as Struecker
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
as Gordon
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Steven Ford
as Cribbs
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Ian Virgo
as Waddell
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Tom Hardy
as Twombly
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Carmine Giovinazzo
as Goodale
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Chris Beetem
as Joyce
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Tac Fitzgerald
as Thomas
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Matthew Marsden
as Sizemore
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Orlando Bloom
as Blackburn
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Kent Linville
as Othic
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Enrique Murciano Jr.
as Ruiz
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Michael Roof
as Maddox
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George Harris
as Atto
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Razaaq Adoti
as Mo'alim
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Treva Etienne
as Firimbi
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Ty Burrell
as Wilkinson
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Boyd Kestner
as Goffena
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Jason Hildabrant
as Jollata
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Gregory Sporleder
as Galentine
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Johann Myers
as Somali Father
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Dana Woods
as Fales
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Abdibashir Mohamed Hersi
as Somali Spy
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Pavel Vokoun
as Briley
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Kofi Amankwah
as Somali Kid
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Joshua Quarcoo
as Somali Kid
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Lee Geohagen
as Somali son with gun








