Black Hawk Down is a 2001 war film directed and produced by Ridley Scott, and co-produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, from a screenplay by Ken Nolan. It is based on the 1999 non-fiction book of the same name by journalist Mark Bowden, about the U.S. military's 1993 raid in Mogadishu and a Black Hawk helicopter that went down in enemy territory. The film features a large ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Sam Shepard, Jeremy Piven, Ioan Gruffudd, Ewen Bremner, Hugh Dancy, and Tom Hardy in his first film role. Orlando Bloom, Ty Burrell, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also have minor roles.
Black Hawk Down had a limited release on December 28, 2001, and went into the public on January 18, 2002. The film received positive reviews from film critics, although it was criticized for inaccuracies. The film performed modestly well at the box office, grossing $172 million worldwide against a production budget of $92 million. Black Hawk Down won two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound at the 74th Academy Awards. In 2006, an extended cut of the film was released on DVD. The cut contains an additional eight minutes of footage, increasing the running time to 152 minutes. This extended cut was released on Blu-ray and in 4K on May 7, 2019.
Plot[]
In 1992, during the Somali Civil War and the dissolution of the central government, the United Nations Security Council authorizes a military operation with a peacekeeping mandate. However, conflict ensues between the UN and the Mogadishu-based militia loyal to Mohamed Farrah Aidid. In response, U.S. President Clinton deploys Task Force Ranger – consisting of 3rd Battalion/75th Ranger Regiment, Delta Force operators, and flight crew of the 160th SOAR – to Mogadishu to capture Aidid, who has proclaimed himself president and steals Red Cross food shipments.
Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force capture Osman Ali Atto, a faction leader selling arms to Aidid's militia. The US plans a mission to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid's top advisers.
Prior to the mission, Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann receives his first command, of Ranger Chalk Four, after his lieutenant has a seizure. Members of his chalk include fresh 18-year-old Private First Class Todd Blackburn and Specialist John Grimes, a former desk clerk.
The operation begins, and Delta Force operators capture Aidid's advisers inside the target building while the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground convoy take heavy fire from the rallying militia. Blackburn is severely injured when he falls from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, so three Humvees led by Staff Sergeant Jeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the UN-held Mogadishu Airport. Grimes is separated from the rest of Eversmann's chalk after surviving an RPG explosion.
Just after Struecker's column departs, Black Hawk Super Six-One, piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Clifton "Elvis" Wolcott, is shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. Wolcott and his co-pilot are killed, two crew chiefs are wounded, and two Delta Force snipers on board escape in an MH-6 Little Bird helicopter though one dies later from his wounds.
The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site. The militia erects roadblocks, preventing Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight's Humvee column from reaching the area and forcing them to sustain heavy casualties. Meanwhile, two Ranger chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach the crash site and set up a defensive perimeter. However, another helicopter, Super Six-Four piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant, is also shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashes several blocks away.
With the primary Ranger forces led by Captain Mike Steele pinned down and sustaining his heavy casualties, no ground forces can reach Super Six-Four or reinforce the Rangers defending Super Six-One. Two Delta Force snipers, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, are inserted by helicopter to secure Super Six-Fours crash site, where they find Durant still alive. Despite their heroic actions, the site is eventually overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured.
McKnight's column relinquishes their attempt to reach Six-One's crash site, and returns to base with their prisoners and the casualties. The men prepare to go back to extract the Rangers and the fallen pilots and Major General Garrison asks for reinforcements from the 10th Mountain Division, including Malaysian and Pakistani armored units from the UN coalition.
As night falls, Aidid's militia launches a sustained assault on the trapped Americans at Super Six-One's crash site. The militants are held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships until the 10th Mountain Division's relief column is able to reach the American soldiers. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, but a few Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are forced to run on foot from the crash site to reach the Safe Zone at the soccer stadium.
- End titles
The end titles recount the immediate aftermath of the mission and the end of US military operations in Somalia: Michael Durant was released after 11 days of captivity, after which President Bill Clinton withdrew all US forces from Somalia. During the raid, 19 American soldiers and more than 1,000 Somalis died. The names of the 19 soldiers who died are listed by name, including Gordon and Shughart, the first soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor posthumously since the Vietnam War. Mohamed Farah Aidid was killed in 1996; General Garrison retired the following day.
Cast[]
- 75th Ranger Regiment
- Josh Hartnett as SSG Matt Eversmann
- Ewan McGregor as SPC John "Grimesey" Grimes (based on SPC John Stebbins)
- Tom Sizemore as LTC Danny McKnight
- Ewen Bremner as SPC Shawn Nelson
- Gabriel Casseus as SPC Mike Kurth
- Hugh Dancy as SFC Kurt "Doc" Schmid
- Ioan Gruffudd as LT John Beales
- Tom Guiry as SGT Ed Yurek
- Charlie Hofheimer as CPL Jamie Smith
- Danny Hoch as SGT Dominick Pilla
- Jason Isaacs as CPT Mike Steele
- Brendan Sexton III as PVT Richard "Alphabet" Kowalewski
- Brian Van Holt as SSG Jeff Struecker
- Ian Virgo as PFC John Waddell
- Tom Hardy as SPC Lance Twombly
- Gregory Sporleder as SGT Scott Galentine
- Carmine Giovinazzo as SGT Mike Goodale
- Chris Beetem as SGT Casey Joyce
- Tac Fitzgerald as SPC Brad Thomas
- Matthew Marsden as SPC Dale Sizemore
- Orlando Bloom as PFC Todd Blackburn
- Enrique Murciano as SGT Lorenzo Ruiz
- Michael Roof as PVT John Maddox
- Kent Linville as PFC Clay Othic
- Norman Campbell Rees as LT Tom DiTomasso
- Corey Johnson as US Army medic in Pakistan stadium
- Delta Force
- Sam Shepard as MG William F. Garrison
- Eric Bana as SFC Norm "Hoot" Gibson (based on SFC John Macejunas, SFC Norm Hooten, USMC Cpl Thanh Nguyen, and SFC Matthew Rierson)
- William Fichtner as SFC Jeff Sanderson (based on SFC Paul R. Howe)
- Kim Coates as MSG Chris Wex (based on MSG Tim "Griz" Martin)
- Steven Ford as LTC Joe Cribbs (based on LTC Lee Van Arsdale)
- Željko Ivanek as LTC Gary L. Harrell
- Johnny Strong as SFC Randy Shughart
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as MSG Gary Gordon
- Richard Tyson as SSG Daniel Busch
- 160th SOAR (Night Stalkers)
- Ron Eldard as CW4 Michael Durant, pilot of Super 64
- Glenn Morshower as COL Thomas Matthews, commander of 1st Battalion, 160th SOAR
- Jeremy Piven as CW4 Clifton Wolcott, pilot of Super 61
- Boyd Kestner as CW3 Mike Goffena, pilot of Super 62
- Pavel Vokoun as CW3 Bull Briley, co-pilot of Super 61
- Jason Hildebrandt as CW3 Dan Jollota, pilot of Super 68
- Keith Jones as himself, co-pilot of Star 41
- Miscellaneous
- George Harris as Osman Atto
- Razaaq Adoti as Yousuf Dahir Mo'alim, the main commander of Aidid's militia in the film
- Treva Etienne as Firimbi, propaganda minister for Aidid and Durant's caretaker
- Ty Burrell as United States Air Force Pararescue TSgt Timothy A. Wilkinson
- Dan Woods as United States Air Force Pararescue MSgt Scott C. Fales
- Giannina Facio as Stephanie Shughart