MOVIE SCENE
'Black Hawk Down'is this century's 'Saving Private Ryan'

By Jack Garner
Gannett News Service

BLACK HAWK DOWN (Rated R for profanity and intense violence) Four Stars (Excellent) A powerful, lean, mean war film, based on the real-life action in Somalia in 1993 that left 18 Americans dead and many more wounded. Sam Shepard, Tom Sizemore, Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor co-star for director Ridley Scott. Columbia, 143 mins.

But it also is refreshingly free of any bogus subplots, ersatz emotion or heavy-handed moral judgments.

It's a true-life war movie without a Hollywood context. It is what it is. Or rather, what it was, on Oct. 3, 1993.

That's the day some 75 elite U.S. Rangers were dispatched in four Black Hawk helicopters into Mogadishu, Somalia, to provide cover for 40 Delta Force soldiers attempting to capture two lieutenants of a brutal Somali warlord.

Under the warlord's brutal regime, mass starvation and other deprivation was rampant, and some 300,000 people already had died.

The U.S. incursion — under United Nations sanction — was supposed to last only minutes. Some soldiers didn't even pack canteens or night-vision goggles.

But it all went wrong. Two of the Black Hawks were shot down, and well-armed civilians and warlord fighters trapped the U.S. soldiers in a horrific hornet's nest in the dense and dusty Mogadishu streets.

Pockets of stranded soldiers had to hold out, until others could help them, and it was understood that none would be left behind, dead or alive.

Instead of lasting 45 minutes, the action went on for 15 violent hours, with 18 Americans killed and 73 wounded, along with many casualties among the Somalis who fought because they perceived the Yanks as invaders.

"Black Hawk Down" is based on Mark Bowden's highly regarded book, and adheres to the minutely detailed structure of the text. Like the book, the film has much to say about the complex, confusing nature of modern warfare, especially in the Middle East and the Third World, where the enemy is often not a nation-state, but rather a rogue tribe or terrorist organization.

The script by Ken Nolan adds only a brief prologue to Bowden's journalism, providing more historic context, as well as brief introductions to some of the key participants.

They include Maj. Gen. William Garrison (Sam Shepard), who commands the operation, Staff Sgt. Matt Eversman (Josh Hartnett), an idealistic young soldier who is unexpectedly thrown into a leadership role; Spc. John Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk clerk who is shocked to find himself in combat; Sgt. 1st Class "Hoot" Gibson, a Delta soldier of legendary status (Eric Bana) and Sgt. Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), whose calm professionalism helps save the day.

As you'd expect with direction by Ridley Scott (of "Gladiator," "Blade Runner," and "Alien"), "Black Hawk Down" is visually stunning, with some of the most visceral military action since the first minutes of "Saving Private Ryan."

Some filmgoers might miss the structured drama and emotional character development of more traditional war movies. But others will be grudgingly grateful for "Black Hawk Down's" fly-on-the-wall, you-are-there perspective, and its non-judgmental insight into the nature of modern warriors and warfare.

Rated R, for profanity and intense violence.