Netflix boasts what film buffs are calling one of the ‘greatest war films ever made’, featuring a stellar cast and boasting an almost impeccable Rotten Tomatoes score.
The 2001 blockbuster Black Hawk Down marked Tom Hardy’s first significant on-screen appearance, joining a glittering lineup including Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, William Fichtner, and Josh Hartnett in the lead role. The film delves into the Battle of Mogadishu, which a viewer described as “one of the most notorious battles in U.S. military history.”
This cinematic masterpiece recounts the harrowing tale from the 1999 non-fiction book about the crew of a downed Black Hawk helicopter. The fierce conflict occurred in October 1993, pitting US forces against Somali National Alliance fighters, resulting in the loss of 18 American soldiers.
Josh Hartnett, a sought-after actor in the late ’90s and early 2000s, chose to step back from the spotlight. He pursued indie projects and confessed that his decision was to maintain his “sanity”.
In a revealing conversation with Julia Stiles, he shared: “I never really lived in LA. Even when we were making ‘O’, I was in Minnesota, New York, nowhere, because I was living from set to set. I drove my car down from Minnesota to shoot ‘O’ and then drove back after that.
“But the choice to step back from the industry had more to do with just plain sanity.” Josh Hartnett recently returned to the spotlight with an impressive performance as Ernest Lawrence in the critically acclaimed Oscar winner, Oppenheimer.
He’s known for his role in Black Hawk Down where he played war hero Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann, dispatched to Somalia with 160 elite US soldiers on a UN peacekeeping mission. The film depicts their harrowing journey to apprehend two top Somali officials, facing overwhelming enemy forces.
Directed by Ridley Scott, the formidable force behind cinematic giants like Alien, Gladiator, The Martian, and Blade Runner, the “intense” motion picture snagged two Oscars for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Despite its acclaim, it missed out on major Oscars, notably to Lord of the Rings.
Rotten Tomatoes showcases heaps of praise for Black Hawk Down, now available on Netflix, with one fan declaring it “one of the greatest films/war films of all time”. Another exclaims it’s their “favourite movie of all time”.
A critic encapsulates, ” “Black Hawk Down” is an intense, visceral experience. It’s gritty action one minute and deeply moving the next. But it never loses sight of its main focus – the soldiers.”
One avid fan of hailed it as “one of the greatest and one of my favourite military war films of all time,” further praising that “I know a lot of it is action, but that’s the whole point – the battle scenes were astonishing, visually stunning and jaw-dropping, and it also has the best green screen effects I’ve seen.
In contrast, despite glowing praise and star-studded contributions, some critics aren’t convinced. A Rotten Tomatoes reviewer expressed disappointment, stating: “Not nearly as potent as one might expect from this particular director, especially with a sizable budget and resources at his disposal, and governing this impressive cast.”
Another viewer suggested that the movie failed to accurately portray the book or the actual events it draws from. However, another summed up their experience succinctly: “This film made me sick. I mean that as the highest compliment.”