I will be going to see it tonight (release night) but that's only because my partner is a huge Marvel fan but I'm not sure if I would go to see it otherwise. . . . . . . How about you? Will you go to see it and what's your reasons either way?
I'll wait for it to come out on DVD, the DVD release is going to be 70 minutes longer than the cinema version, an hour and 10 minutes of unseen footage! Keep an eye out for a couple of cameos :P
Unlike most of the war movies of our time, Black Hawk Down sticks to the facts about what happened in Mogadishu and doesn't romanticize the story. To support this observation, the viewer will notice that there is not really one main character. This shows that the film focuses more on what happened in Somalia instead of on the characters personality and/or struggles. Another important aspect of the film that makes it so great is the cinematography. Not only was the setting of the film accurate to the real thing, but the way that the movie was filmed is great because it seems like someone is running along the battle scene getting everything on tape. In addition, the film contains small aspects that one may not notice that are important to the situation in Mogadishu. For instance, the bullet shells that fell from the firing helicopter fell into one of the soldiers' vests, and he scrambled to get it out because of how hot it was. This small detail makes the movie that much more realistic. To conclude, Black Hawk Down is a great movie that is both an eye opener that sticks to the facts as well as a quality film. I recommend this movie to any war-film fan, as well as anyone that likes watching movies in general.
Damn, this movie goes fast. One minute the soilders are having a meeting the next there getting there brains painted on car windows. Thats not really a good thing. This movie tries to be like Saving Private Ryan alittle bit. It tries to be exciting,greedy,shocking,emotional. But it's really not. There are some great,fantastic moments in this movie. But they are few and far between. Everything else is either boring, stupid, or just plain ridiculous. There are some scenes that try to be sad or emotional but turn out funny. Like the scene where one of the soilders has a seizure while watching T.V. or when another soilder dies because when he went to jump out of the helicopter he missed the rope(HOW THE HELL DO YOU MISS THE ROPE?). Another problem is you don't really get to know the soilders. So when they die, you feel sad. But not that sad. Plus the fact that every other word is f*ck. Then after those stupid scenes, there will be long periods of the soilders just running around and yelling at each other. And they make the natives look like zombies on crack. Overall, this movie has some respectable moments, but it burns and crashes very quickly.
I really enjoyed this film, despite having read classics at uni. Sure it's not entirely accurate to Homer's Epic, but it's not called the Iliad is it? For a Hollywood blockbuster, I think it's not a bad version at all. You can't really talk about historical accuracy to a story which is half myth anyway.
All in all, lots of great battles, some well-drawn characters (Hector is great) and plenty of pretty people running around trying to look good. Just what it says on the tin. I've never understood why people go to see big films and come out complaining about the lack of depth - stop expecting any. Turn off your critical assessment and enjoy the ride!
