Black Hawk Down ★★★½ 2001 (R)

Producer Bruckheimer and director Scott faithfully and superbly re-create the Battle of Mogadishu of October, 1993. U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force units are sent to apprehend Somali warlord Mu hammad Farah Aidid's top staff in an Ai didcontrolled section of the city. When two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, the focus of the mission changes to rescue and defense. The usual introduction of the troops is dispensed with fairly quickly, in favor of background on the Somalian situation, and details of the impending operation. No-frills setup works perfectly with the following action, which is fierce, intense, and non-stop. Once the fighting begins, Scott's brilliance with visuals really kicks in, but nothing that happens, no matter how gruesome, seems forced or exploitative. Fine ensemble cast is nominally led by Hartnett, but no one disappoints. Based on the book by Mark Bowden. 143m/C VHS, DVD, Bluray Disc, UMD . US Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Sam Shepard, Gabriel Casseus, Kim Coates, Hugh Dancy, Ron Eldard, Ioan Gruffudd, Tom Guiry, Charlie Hofheimer, Danny Hoch, Jason Isaacs, Zeljko Ivanek, Glenn Morshower, Jeremy Piven, Brendan Sexton III, Johnny Strong, Richard Tyson, Brian Van Holt, Steven Ford, Gregory Sporleder, Carmine D. Giovinazzo, Chris Beetem, George Harris, Ewen Bremner, Boyd Kestner, Nikolaj CosterWaldau, Ian Virgo, Thomas (Tom) Hardy, Tac Fitzgerald, Matthew Marsden, Orlando Bloom, Kent Linville, Enrique Murciano, Michael Roof, Treva Etienne, Ty Burrell; D: Ridley Scott; W: Ken Nolan; C: Slawomir Idziak; M: Hans Zimmer. Oscars '01: Film Editing, Sound.