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Black Hawk Down, The movie

TrinityScrimshawTrinityScrimshaw Member Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭
edited January 2002 in General Discussion
I went and saw this movie last night, and I must reccomend it to all who are interested in these types of events. The action is just down right extream. The intense fire fight just scratches the surfice of what it must have really been like. A good freind and hunting partner of mine lost is brother (CW4 Cliff Wolcot) in the Super 61 that was the first bird to be shot down. CPT Steele the Ranger commander is a COL where I work now, and is nothing like what he is portrayed like in the movie. The 10th Mountian Div's rescue is not giving much play, but besides all that the movie is OK. A must see for all who have ever taken up arms in defense of their country.Trinity+++
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Comments

  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Well TrinityScrimshaw, I must take issue with you on your opinion of the movie. The last part of the movie showed U.S. soldiers running from the enemy. This is not what our country needs to see in a time like this. Hollywood used this movie to show the military defeated and beaten down. How many people left the theater and decided to enlist? It's not exactly the "Top Gun" for the military recuiting effort.
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  • RembrandtRembrandt Member Posts: 4,486 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    One of the guys killed there once worked where I do...Sgt Matt Ryerson, really was tough on everyone and the family. Tough thing to see when you know someone that was involved.....don't know if want to see it.My son went to see it, said the realism was similar to "Saving Private Ryan"...he thinks it could rank right up there as a best picture nomination...
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  • TrinityScrimshawTrinityScrimshaw Member Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    idsman75, I take issue with you point of view. It was not meant as a recruitment aid. It is a part of history. It is a fact of what happened. Our Government left those forces out there to hang alone. They did there job, they caught the bad guys they were after. They didn't leave anyone behind, and that is what the message is here. The Mogadishue Mile at the end is what any prudent person would have done if they were put into the same situation. They were almost out of ammuntion, they were all shot up, they were under the stress of the longest sustained fire-fight engaged buy US forces since Nam, and they did GOOD! It wasn't the Alamo, they didn't need to stay and die to the last man. The insult here was that the resuce convoy didn't have room for them to ride in a vehicle when they got to them, so they had to run back on foot all the way to the UN compound. What the movie didn't show very well was that they also had to shoot their way back. Think about it, they could have escaped and evaded during the cover of darkness, but were waiting for the proper equipment to extract the body of the crew on Wolcotts Black Hawk that had been shot down. Believe me when I say, that the familes of thsoe who were brought back dead were thankful to those who were dedicated enough to stick it out and accomplish the task.Climb to the Top.Trinity+++
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  • Evil ATFEvil ATF Member Posts: 1,195 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I would say that if the movie showed what REALLY happened, then they did a good job. I'm sick of war flicks where everything gets "Hollyweirded".
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  • ndbillyndbilly Member Posts: 1,573 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    One nit to pick. About halfway through the movie there is a shot of a guy on a drum fed 5.56 and the ammo is obviously blanks. Other than that and the occasional endless magazine it was good flick from a technical point of view. No 100 yard snap shots with handguns, etc.
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  • WittumWittum Member Posts: 553 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    This movie was awesome, recomend it to everyone!!!!
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  • idsman75idsman75 Member Posts: 13,398 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I know that it wasn't meant as a recruitment ad. However, I still believe that Hollywood was thinking about it's pocketbook as usual. Hollywood pulled a couple of movies at the wake of Sept 11 because they included buildings being blown up and terrorists practicing mayhem. However, Hollywood had no concern about releasing a movie that depicted a very embarassing event in military history during a time when we should be supporting our troops. Yeah, it was a real tear-jerker and it made me want to go and wave my flag but I still have mixed opinions on the timing of the release.ndbilly--I was wondering how many people noticed the drum full of blanks.[This message has been edited by idsman75 (edited 01-20-2002).]
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  • navariannavarian Member Posts: 33 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    the movie is a reminder of the stupidity of KLINTON and the acts of cowardice that he performed over and over again...soldiers can only do the job with the equipment and knowledge and leadership, they have available..and obviously, with klinton in charge..well...you figure it out
    cocked,locked and ready to rock with a glock..!!!!!!!!!stand tall, stand proud GOD BLESS THE USA
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  • TrinityScrimshawTrinityScrimshaw Member Posts: 9,350 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    idsman75,I do not see the conection. This movie was made before the Sept 11 incidents, and was first going to be released in October. Due to it being so close to 9-11, it was held back, but released on Dec 28 to make the cut off for the 2002 academy awards. Your logic seems to be the same that is being used to change the the statue of the fireman. Should we forget history, and how things went down? I don't see the emabrassing situation you speak of. They kicked butt, and did their job. In combat there is a high chance someone is going to die, and 18 of our fine soldiers did just that. I hold them in high regards for their actions. We shouldn't be emberassed because we got tagged by a low blow. We got back up, and finished the fight, just like we are doing now since 9-11.Trinity+++
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  • SXSMANSXSMAN Member Posts: 2,616 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Wife and I went and saw it tonight.I believe they achieved their goal of depicting a hellish situation and walked away with an even deeper respect of people in service of our country.It provoked thought,sorrow,and some anger.It's worth seeing.
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I was in Mogadishu. I went in on Day One amid the lights of the press corps and spent months on the ground living at Green Beach near the Airport. Thought the Embassey Compound was for the birds. Pakistanis had much better security. I left shortly before the Rangers did their number attempting to take down Adheed. For many years now the people who participated in the action haven't received the recognition they should have. I have seen the classified videos of the action which remain classified and I've taken every opportunity I can over the years to remind people that during this action which resulted in 18 Americans being KIAed we killed in excess of 800 bad guys and wounded a whole lot more. I've seen some of the helicopter videos used to justify the Medal of Honor for the two Delta troopers and their conduct was inspirational. They waded into the enemy and took enemy weapons when their own own weapons were empty. The fact that at the end of the shootout the Americans did the "Mogadishu Mile" should not be taken out of context. Anytime you blow away or wound(some of whom must have died later due to primative medical care) 1300-1400 bad guys and lose only 18 that's called a smashing victory. And you guys have to remember that outside of Mogadishu we were considered heros by many many Somalis. Only really in Mogadishu were we considered a problem. I haven't considered going to the movie yet. I know two of the SEALs from Delta who received Silver Stars for their part during the fire fight in attempting to get back to the Compound to bring assistance. They haven't gone either. Even the leaders on television for the film have brought back a host of bad memories for me. Those TV leaders showing the Mogadishu mobs seemed pretty damn realistic to me. They seemed to have captured the near psychotic nature of the Somali male after he had been chewing his "Quaht" for awhile. My wife does want to see the movie...maybe to understand my feelings about Somalia. I'm sure the movie has a little bit of Hollywood in it but perhaps it is a legitimate attempt at telling what actually happened. Beach
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  • beachmaster73beachmaster73 Member Posts: 3,011 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    idsman.....you can not possibly imagine how cheap human life is in Somalia. It has no sanctity to them. They are a people unlike any whom I have ever encountered and they truly hate each other. That they showed so little regard for the dead Americans is to be expected. They kill each other without a second thought. They are a primative, by African standards, society who practice tribal warfare on a daily basis. Our ideas of civilization have no meaning to them. To best an enemy is a cause for public acclaim. They would have done that to one of their own whom they had just killed. I watched three Somalis hack another Somali to death in front of me simply because he had looked at them angrily. Pray to God the United States Military will never have to go back there. They exhibit the same tribal hatred that has existed in Africa for centuries. It hasn't changed in three hundred years....only the weapons have changed. They have no concept of civilization. But they do understand the concept of vendetta. They can chant their lineage back at least 20-25 generations. And if someone in your family wronged their family 200 years ago then the fight is on between the two of you. I'm sure those in Mogadishu have not forgotten that so many of their family members were killed by Americans and will want to even the score if we go back there. Beach
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