Thursday, January 14, 2010

January 13, 2010

Black Hawk Down (2001)
#15 on my Top 100 List
I've seen this movie many times, I've read the book, and I even vaguely remember when this actually happened - I still don't understand how things could go so wrong so fast. It's a confusing, frightening melee where everyone in the city is hostile and deadly and the night feels like it will last forever. But even through all that, the film never loses sight of the characters, juggling different groups (the humvee column, the Rangers, Delta Force, the pilots, and those back at command) without any confusion. The cast is varied and all are phenomenal - besides Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana, there's Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Tom Sizemore, Ewan Bremner, Ioan Gruffudd, Sam Shephard, Hugh Dancy and Zeljko Ivanek. Oh look, William Fichtner's there again too! Also, if you look closely, there are bit parts by Orlando Bloom and Jeremy Piven. The sound effects are particularly good throughout the whole film. The two scenes that stand out the most are the opening sequence that shows the bodies of Somalis who have died in the famine while titles explain how the warlords have been hoarding the food supply and the surgery scene that rivals the amputation scene in Gone With the Wind for being disturbing.
My Netflix rating: 5 stars

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