| Posted by: JollyG87 at November 27, 2003, 1:26 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | What happens when you have continuous shooting for 90 minutes? You get Black Hawk Down. The movie basically has minimal character development in the beginning, apparently they thought it was enough, and then they send them into battle where the rest of the movie takes place somewhere in Africa where it's just shooting, shooting, shooting. The actors are good, but they don't have any opportunity to show off their skills, the only skills they show off is how to shoot a gun. I know Ridley Scott was trying to be different from all the other war movies, but there's some things that just don't work, no matter how different they are. Black Hawk Down- 3/10 | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Cyclonus at July 20, 2002, 12:22 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Black Hawk Down is an overall good film, well made in every respect. However, it doesn't acheive the impact of Saving Private Ryan. Why? Because we don't get to know the characters too well. In fact, I sometimes had a hard time telling who was who. However, the battle scenes are terrific, and there are moments that are nothing short of riveting. Worth at least one viewing. 7/10. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: El Bracamonti at June 15, 2002, 8:13 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | well, i have to say that after seeing black hawk down for the first time, it is a very well done film. The action sequences were awesome, the special effects were incredible, and the reactions from the soldiers to there environment was beyond what i was looking for.
unfortunately, it just isn't what i was looking for in a solid movie. one of the the main thing that i look for when i watch a movie, is the way that i get to know the characters. unfortunately for me, i could not care for most of the characters in this movie, because i didn't get a chance to know their personalities, or anything else about them. The only character that you could possibly care about, was seargent grimes played by ewan mcgregor. he is practically the only character that you get even the slightest backround information about. so, with saying that, i must conclude. this was a solid movie with a lot to contribute. the directing was the best that a war movie could have, and the action sequences and the special effects were eerythi... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: The1TrueFrog at March 7, 2002, 11:53 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Black Hawk Down - 5/10. I am still wondering whether the events of Sept. 11 are the cause of the current string of war movies (Behind Enemy Lines, Hart's War, We Were Soldiers....) or if coincidentally, these movies were just released all at once. Hmmm... personally, I'm not a war-movie fan, AT ALL, so it's hard for me to get something out of a movie like this, though I'm sure some will! Actually, I went into the theater having not a clue what this movie was about (I thought it would be about a chopper landing in enemy territory & hostage negotiations ensue, or something like that). But it didn't take long for me to realize that Jerry Bruckheimer had just taken another war angle and put it on the big screen. I'm not very familiar with the actual events that took place in October 1993, but just watching this movie as a member of the audience, I didn't get into it. It just seemed so overdone, not to mention too long, seemingly pointless, poor dialogue, lack of story, lack of character development (all the ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: A Canadian ThereWolf at March 5, 2002, 2:52 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | Black Hawk Down Directed by: Ridley Scott
Genre: War
Tagline: Leave No Man Behind. Critique: ***** A gritty, violent, and powerful motion picture! Masterfully directed by Ridley Scott.
This is quite simply one of the best military movies ever made, it's stirring, harsh, brutal, raw, and absolutley unforgettable!
Ridley Scott is not shy about showing us that "War is Hell!", as the intense battle sequences hardly let up for nearly two hours.
One of the best of 2001, and it ranks right up there with great war films like Saving Private Ryan & Platoon [This message has been edited by A Canadian ThereWolf (edited 03-05-2002).] | | Static Link |
| Posted by: James Logan at February 22, 2002, 7:35 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | A great movie. Chilling, sometimes disgusting, but honest and showing war as it is -- as hell. It's intense all along, with great directing, great editing, great music and great acting (Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana especially). 9.5/10 | | Static Link |
| Posted by: CuddlyNick at February 13, 2002, 1:46 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | When I watch a film like this, I am caught between two main emotions –
1 Excitement at the violence & the display of US military hardware, which is awesome. 2 Horror & disgust at watching human beings screaming in pain or being blown to pieces. Despite feeling like I'd been through hell & back, & breathing a sigh of relief when the film finally ended, I really did enjoy it. I might even want to put myself through it all again just to (voyeuristically) experience the hell of war again – just like I would a computer game. The problem is I feel GUILTY for enjoying the violence because I know this film depicts a real event in which around 1019 people were senselessly slaughtered & this movie makes virtually no effort to give a moral message. I even laughed at few comical moments in the film, as people were gunned down & then immediately felt guilty afterwards. Maybe the directors wanted me to feel like that, or maybe they just knew violence sells? I don’t know. If it was a fictional m... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: herculeez at February 1, 2002, 5:01 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | This is a classic movie that is in favour with a majority of the public. It proves to be a stomch churning, seat edging, routing for-ing, acion packed movie which provided you with an accurate portrayal of American History.
The movie goes on the journey of the soldiers out in Somalia, as two black hawks go down, it turns from a standard operation to a rescue mission to those who are still alive and to return those who are dead.
It was a battle of the odds with thousands of Somalians against a few dozen American soldiers.
The film portrays the Americans as the superb heroes in a very subtle manner (of course) and the Somalians as pure bruts who are killing machines, whilst the film also creates a hero (hartnett, mcgregor, bana) for the public to relate to and also a specific bad guy aswell.
A very well made movie, proving once again how good a director Ridley Scott is and turns this into a patriotic movie, which could be seen as a social boost for the country, but most of all a very good war m... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: CouchPotato420 at January 30, 2002, 9:09 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | 10/10 Starring: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremmer, & Sam Shepard. This movie is one of the only movies that i left feeling patriotic. However I also left depressed. In the first half hour I found the Rangers really likeable, and later on when they were being fired upon I was really joping that they would all make it back. But knowing that 19 men were killed I knew they all wouldnt be coming back. I really liked the cast. There were actors in this movie that i really enjoy watching (Jeremy Piven, Ron Eldard, Gabriel Cassius, Mcgreggar, Sizemore, Fichtner) which made it even harder seeing them in this kind of realistic danger. It was also really hard watching the two snipers (including Jonny Strong)try to save Eldard only to be overcome by the unfair odds. The only problem I had was Bremmer's character. He kind of got on my nerves with the whole deaf thing. This was suppoed to be funny and was'nt, and it also was out of place. Overall i really loved this ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: LmpBzktSgrCarter at January 29, 2002, 9:36 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | I went to see this movie, I was very excited at the time. The opening seemed great with the introduction of how the Somali war lords had starved 300,000 people, but then the FIGHTING began... it was so hard to tell everyone apart. I didn't like how the media made a big deal about how Josh Hartnett was the star of this movie, personally I thought his role was a bit to over-played, it kind of seemed fake. I thought the action was great though.. it was a little long and a little boring at times, sometimes you didn't even know what the hell was going on! Other than Hartnett's role, I think the other characters had pretty good parts, and they worked for them; such as Ewan Mcgregor's love for coffee making... ha sorry I just needed to add this in there. Ok to make a long review short- this movie was good at times and bad at others... I give this movie a 7/10 | | Static Link |
| Posted by: psudoazn at January 29, 2002, 7:50 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | **mild plot spoilers; no scene spoilers** Quote: Originally Posted by TheRock: The characters and dialog were not given the attention that the action was, typical of every Bruckheimer film. I never felt attached to any of the characters and it was very confusing as to who was who. The action did get repetitive and was good overall. The film is terrific visually also. Overall, it was a disappointment.</font> I do not think that the dialogue was a problem. When watching, you have to keep in mind that they are eighteen year olds who recruited simply to "kick some ass". Yes, the dialogue may have been straight and to the point, but since when do front line army recruits discuss Plato and Aristotle? I saw the movie two days ago and thought that it was incredible. Despite popular sentiment, I do not think that this movie has anything to do with patriotism, kicking ass, or killing bad guys. That seems like a whole different movie to me. What I saw was a movie that compared politics vs the reality of... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Salvitore Leone at January 27, 2002, 10:18 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | Title: Black Hawk Down
Director: Ridely Scott
Running Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
Genre: War
Rating: R (For Intense Realistic Graphic War Violence & Language) Black Hawk Down is one of the greatest war movies I have ever seen. It was amazing how the actions and events from October, 1993 were captured so prefectly on the silver screen. When two Black Hawk helicopters from the Delta Force team are shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu in an effort to find two right-hand men of a Somalian warlord, 100 American soldiers are forced to endure the longest sustained ground battle since the Vietnam War, and are left to defend themselves against over 5,000 members of the militia. As I stated before, Black Hawk Down is a great war flick. I have to admit, some of the characters in this film are a bit on the boring side, but overall, the acting was pretty good. But, I didn't see this movie because the acting seemed great. I saw it because I was told it was non-stop action. And that part is true. The ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: MovieMan75 at January 26, 2002, 9:09 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Wow, what a great movie. Not the best war movie I've ever seen, but still very cool. I think this portrays war quite well. All the battle scenes (which was pretty much the whole movie) were gruesemly realistic, and you really get a feel for what this kind of experience would really be like. That whole part where the Somalis surrounded the first black hawk, and were parading around with the bodies made me sick. And I started feeling horrible with the guy looking at his family in the picture, and the guy who had the leg injury. It's hard to believe that this stuff really happened. And though there really wasn't much story, I did think the characters were well-developed, and I really started caring about these guys. All of them did a top-notch job acting (though sometimes it got hard to tell them apart, since they were all dirty, white, bald guys), except for the guy who played Garrison (don't know his name). He really didn't seem to contribute much to the film. And though I know this is based on fact, I'm stil... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: moviechic at January 26, 2002, 12:17 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Well, I just came from the theatre a few hours ago from watching Black Hawk Down, and I must say I really enjoyed this movie. It gave me a new sense of respect for our men in combat and our peacekeepers abroad. Admittedly at times there are so many characters in this movie that you begin to lose track of who's who and exactly where everybody is, but I think that just heightens the sense of confusion these men must have been feeling at this time. And while Josh Hartnett seems to be the man the trailers and commercials are holding up as the star of the movie, it's such an ensemble cast, I don't really think his part was any greater than a dozen others. Saving Private Ryan set the bar high a few years back for realistic depiction of war, and is now the standard for what we expect in this genre, and I must say Black Hawk Down is one of the very few movies to be released in the wake that actually measures up. Not for the weak of heart (or stomach) but definelty a must see. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Puck Bond at January 22, 2002, 9:27 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | Black Hawk Down 10/10... Black Hawk Down is a stark, intense riveting war movie that doesn't hold back and doesn't pull any punches. I was completelyfascinated and satisfied by this awesome film, from Ridley Scott about a US military operation that goes horribly wrong in somalia in 1993.
The quick introduction to the host of characters is just set up for some of the most amazing battle footage I have evr seen. The battle lasts for what seems like 2 hours out of a 21/2 hour film. it never relents never lets up...and is so detailed in its locations, happenings and the men involved. Itr seemed so clear to me what was going on in the streets of Somalia. The battle was intense, unflinching tragic and heroic all at the same time. Some of the standouts from the cast to me were, Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore. Sam Shepard, Ewan McGregor, Ewan Bremner and Eric Bana. There were countless others I've missed I'm sure. This is a truly awesome and unforgettable film and is one of the best of 2001. | | Static Link |
| Posted by: brandon918 at January 22, 2002, 4:14 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | I know this is the second time i have wrote about this movie but it's that good. I just saw it again and it was still amazing and it didn't get boring even though i knew what was going to happen.I forget to mention the fact that ridley scott is an great director.He had the oscar last year with GLADIATOR and he deserves another one.The acting was good but none of them were the star so they wounldn't get the nomanation they deserved.Ridley scott should stick with making war movies and epics like Gladiator. 9\10 [This message has been edited by brandon918 (edited 03-03-2002).] | | Static Link |
| Posted by: daddiefatsacks at January 22, 2002, 3:03 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | If I could sum up this movie in one word I would choose “Intense”, if I could sum up this movie in two words, I would use “Really Intense”, and if I was put on the spot to sum this movie up in 6 words I would use “This movie is really fucking intense”. Yeah, so you can pretty much guess how I felt about the movie. I mean, we all know war is hell, no one in the world likes war, but you know its just something that will always be there, and there’s nothing anyone can really do about it – someone is always fighting for their nation. This movie gives us an explicit first hand look at how insane war is. Never has a war movie made me feel like I’m up close in the action, never has a war movie had my palms sweaty for 90 minutes straight. If you ever wanted to sign up and join the army, please do not go see this movie, for you will change your mind in half a second. This movie truly gives us insight on how brave these American men (half of them boys!) were on the day that was October 3rd, 1993. I mean, put yourself ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: SubMethod at January 22, 2002, 12:50 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Well I just got back from seeing this at movie night and here's my little review... Black Hawk Down accomplishes what I think it set out to do. It tells us about that horrific battle that the American Army Rangers had with 1000's of Somalis. I don't think it had any intent to make us care about the characters because there was absolutely no character development. I couldn't even figure out who was who half the time. But, it still got its point across. There was great cinematography through the whole thing and great directing on Ridley Scott's part. The dialogue wasn't cheesy at all either, but wasn't the best. One thing I didn't like was the comic relief with the deaf soldier. I wasn't laughing at this but other people in the theatre were. I felt this was a little out of place in this film. Also, the whole thing was a little one sided towards Americans. If you had no idea what happened in the real battle before seeing this you would come out hating all Somalis. Given that the Somalis who did this were savage... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Fishmonkey at January 20, 2002, 10:29 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | My expectations were high for this movie. I had seen countless reviews spouting good things about it. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed, and even slightly angered when I watched it yesterday. First off, the characters were uninteresting. I only got into McGreggor, and those 2 delta forces guy(that grizzled dashing one and the one played by the played by the dude who was in Armageddon and First Contact). The rest of the cast were nondescript and generic. The only reason the movie seems to expect us to root for the Rangers was because they were americans. Sure, some of the action sequences were engaging, but most of is uninteresting and generic also. God, I hate using that word, but if you cut one scene from the movie and spliced it with another scene thirty minutes later, I'm sure you probably wouldn't notice the difference. Minor spoiler: Another thing that bothered me was when those 3 generic rangers who were stranded in a machine gun pit tried to return to the main body of troops. The scene where ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: Mike at January 19, 2002, 2:39 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | I don't really like war movies but the previews to Black Hawk Down looked great. I just had to see it. So I went last night with a buddy of mine. I must say I was disappointed with the movie and I didn't really care about any of the characters. It definitely needed more character development. I often found myself spacing out and thinking about stuff and then I'd have to force myself to pay attention. And then it would happen again. Plus there's so much stuff going on in the movie at once that it gets confusing. I remember turning to my buddy at one point during the movie and going "Did Ewan McGregor die?" because I absolutely couldn't remember the last time I saw him on screen. For quite a while during the movie I remember thinking to myself, I'm going to give this movie a 6/10. But when it got dark out in the movie I think it got quite a bit better and it wasn't as confusing. The movie was very violent and made me cringe a few times, one scene in particular. But I must say I liked the violence, it... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: brandon918 at January 19, 2002, 1:22 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | One best movie ever made about war and one the best movie i have ever seen.It was so intense and violant. I liked the fact that nobody stood out as the star and everyone had a chance to look brave.
All the actors did there job well but never really had a chance to act, they just shot a lot of bullets. I give this a 9\10 [This message has been edited by brandon918 (edited 03-03-2002).] | | Static Link |
| Posted by: BigHoosfan at January 19, 2002, 9:39 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | I enjoyed this movie! The first half hour or so doesn't really set up the characters that well. Plus to be honest I was just waiting for the fighting to begin. The battle scenes are as intense as advertised. Seeing the copters go down are incredible scenes. Scott definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for best director. Just a great job! | | Static Link |
| Posted by: Strider at January 16, 2002, 2:57 am | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | | Black Hawk Down Rated R for Intense, Realistic, Graphic War Violence, & Language Director:Ridley Scott Starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremmer, & Sam Shepard. The film's plot is based on the 1993 U.S. relief mission to Somalia that turned unexpectedly bloody. 19 Americans & over 1,000 Somalians were killed during the ensuing battle. First off, I have never seen a war film that is so Intense & realistic. Every amazing battle sequence just grabs you by the throat, and takes you inside the war itself. And all this is due to the brilliant direction of one of the greatest directors around, Ridley Scott. Scott's direction portrays all the chaos, pain, carnage, & bloodshed perfectly. Scott truly is a great director, and hopefully, his latest effort will be rewarded by the academy. As for the acting, it was great. Every actor delivered solid performances. The best of the best however, was Josh Hartnett. His performance should definitely be a ... | | Read Entire Entry |
| Posted by: JoBlo at January 9, 2002, 10:22 pm | | Topic: Reviews: Black Hawk Down Forum: JoBlo | JoBlo's 7/10 review of BLACK HAWK DOWN can be found here: http://www.joblo.com/blackhawkdown.htm And what did you think of the movie? Add your comments below. GUIDELINES: CONSTRUCTIVE REVIEWS ONLY! 1) If you haven't seen the movie, don't post here, because it will be deleted.
2) If you add two-bit comments like "it rocked" or "it sucked the big one" or just a grade, it will be deleted.
3) If you insult anyone from the board in your post, it will be deleted and you will receive a warning from the board. A second warning and you will be banned altogether. You can disagree with others all you want but no putdowns are necessary to make your points. In order for others to know whether or not you would recommend the movie, please click on the desired icon of your choice when posting: Recommended = Not recommended = In the middle = | | Static Link |
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