I went to see Black Hawk Down last night in New York City. While, the movie is only being shown in L.A. and New York at the moment, has anyone else seen this movie? When this movie does come out everywhere else, I strongly recommend seeing it. I have to say this is by far one of the best War movies up to date. BHD even rivals "Saving Private Ryan" with its graphic details of casualties. Just wanted to hear other people's thoughts.
I have to say that I just came home from seeing it here in NY, and I was almost completely unaffected by it. I think there were a lot of things contributing to that, though. Honestly, I didn't really know who to cheer for. In the end, I simply didn't cheer for anyone. I watched as a passive observer. I recognize that the movie was trying to get me to cheer for the American forces, but it really didn't have that effect on me. I found them to be cocky, spoiled, and ignorant for the most part. Maybe that was the effect it was supposed to have. If that's the case, bully for them. I don't think that was the case, though. Especially when they rolled the names of the nineteen American casualties at the end of the film. This, after casually mentioning the fact that over a thousand Somalis died that day. Come on.... I'm not spoiling anything, by the way, by saying that. It's a matter of public record, guys. I didn't look, but did Scott use the same composer that he did for Gladiator ? The soundtrack sounded very similar. I'm sorry if this isn't the kind of response you were looking for, Rich, it's just my (one person's) thoughts on the film. Most people here in the U.S. will probably love it. The critics seem to really like it a lot. I just missed the senitimentality of the piece. I felt as if they were using some worn out methods to invoke a real "rah, rah" response and I wasn't able to give it to them. Go see it, though, if you haven't. I'd be very interested to know what everyone thinks. It opens everywhere else in about a week.
btw good post Gascon,...these war movies appeal to me, but I haven't heard too many local marketing here in Houston for the show. Hopefully it will come to fruition. I'll see it more than likely.
I'm probably going to wait for the DVD. I'd rather go see something like The Royal Tenenbaums or LOTR before BHD. rH
I'm just anxiously awaiting my Brotherhood of the Wolf screening passes to come in. Only three more weeks.
I had a friend hyping the crap out of this movie, I finally saw a preview and then watched the trailer on www.quicktime.com. Looks pretty sweet. BHD is on my must see list. Also, what about Blade 2 ??? I think another good war movie will be We Were Soldiers with Mel Gibson. It is about Vietnam and the preview is pretty good.
I saw Lord of the Rings and Black Hawk Down in the same weekend. Of course there is no comparison. LOTR is the better movie. However, Black Hawk Down VISUALLY I thought was pretty good if not the best for a war movie. As for the storyline and character development, the director could've done better or made it closer to the book. I think they had to make some comprimises due to time. I don't think this movie was intended to make people proud to be American. In fact, I think its quite the opposite. The movie and book shows American Arrogance and how more importantly...THERE ARE NO TRUE WINNERS OF WAR. I remember seeing a graphic/quote at the beginning of the movie "The only winners of war are dead people" or something to that affect. I forget. Sorry. My opinion of this movie... I enjoyed the battle segments (which is basically the entire movie), could've used more character development, and their should have been more minorities in the film. C'mon...One Black U.S. Ranger Soldier, no Hispanics, Asians, all White Rangers and Delta Force? This isn't PEARL HARBOR! Oh wait, they used some Pearl Harbor Actors! Oops! Let's be a little more diverse and 90s.. even for a movie. Is this an Oscar Performance? No. Is it worth full price? Yes. Is it worth the DVD. MOST DEF! Will you be wasting your time? No. Well thats my opinion. Enjoy!
Amen, brother. As to the movie......I don't know. I saw it after an afternoon of reading Homer's Iliad . I guess the brutality of any conflict pales in comparison to that. Ethnic diversity....just curious....were any of the actual people the story is based on ethnic? I wonder....it'd be hard to imagine that there weren't...but who knows? Hollywood seems to be getting more concious about that sort of thing, but....... I don't know. I'm tired and can't think about it right now. Happy New Year, everyone.
