summercomfort (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
summercomfort) wrote2002-01-20 09:56 pm
summercomfort) wrote2002-01-20 09:56 pm
Black Hawk Down
I went to watch BHD after Chinese School today b/c we're trying to leave for LA earlier and skip 2nd. (Sorry, Conejita, I don't think I'll manage to visit SD. We're barely covering LA and Pomona in half a day! But I'm going to take the written test again so that we might be able to come down in Feb or something)
But anyway, it is very chaotic and confusing, and the pacing is horrible. All the dramatic moments are sort of skipped over (like when the General basically begged the Pakistanis to deploy rescue convoys, or the desperation of the soldiers, the change from "We won't be using that in this half-hour thing" to "oh dear god..."). A lot of the storytelling was skipped and there was too much focus on the shooting and the soldiers running helter-skelter. Of course, if they're going from that angle, it didn't work either, because we hardly knew any of the soldiers' names. I was hoping for more "big picture" stuff. For example, they never really explained why Aidid is against the US, how many different factions there are at Mogadishu, UN vs US tensions, Rangers vs. Delta. They made a half-hearted attempt to present the Somali/Aidid side of the story, but that just makes it even more disjointed and confusing. Plus it didn't really help when the rest of the time you see them shooting at Americans and then getting plowed down by the Black Hawks shooting from the air.
Well, if it is one thing they got right, it is the whole chaotic-ness of the whole thing. These guys have been loafing around Somalia, doing these relatively easy and successful missions, usually those in and out, boom boom boom with the high tech weapons and special Delta troops. This was supposed to be another one of these missions, and was not to exceed half an hour. They go in, they nab the high officials, throw them onto humvees (sp?), and then ... boom, the world flipped upside down. A Black Hawk chopper was shot and crashed. So they deploy ground troops to protect the downed chopper and do the whole "We don't leave anyone behind" thing. People get confused and left behind. Many people get shot. Everyone ends up holed up and waiting for rescue convoys and choppers. Another chopper got shot down. This one didn't have such good luck, and was soon overran by a mob of angry Somalis. A pilot was taken hostage, blah blah blah. They didn't really explain why these bunch of Somalis were so angry at the Americans. (Maybe because so many had already died b/c of the General Aidid hunt? hmm...) And then near the end, there were "happy safe sane" Somalis who were cheering the American soldiers in the "safe zone". That wasn't really explained either.
I think the movie's main problem is that it is trying to do a blend of "Saving Private Ryan" deep comraderie type thing, but at the same time, tell the whole story from the strategic point of view. Didn't work.
And I suppose I should end with one of my favorite scenes: The humvees were trying to reach the first crash site, but had to turn back after driving through this hellish gauntlet where everyone gets wounded ("You, drive." "..but I got shot, sir" "Everyone's wounded. Now get in there and drive!" >boom< "Ahh! I can't see!" >blood running down his face< "Just keep your foot on the gas! Keep your foot on the gas!") Yes, my deep quote of the day is "Just keep your foot on the gas."
But anyway, it is very chaotic and confusing, and the pacing is horrible. All the dramatic moments are sort of skipped over (like when the General basically begged the Pakistanis to deploy rescue convoys, or the desperation of the soldiers, the change from "We won't be using that in this half-hour thing" to "oh dear god..."). A lot of the storytelling was skipped and there was too much focus on the shooting and the soldiers running helter-skelter. Of course, if they're going from that angle, it didn't work either, because we hardly knew any of the soldiers' names. I was hoping for more "big picture" stuff. For example, they never really explained why Aidid is against the US, how many different factions there are at Mogadishu, UN vs US tensions, Rangers vs. Delta. They made a half-hearted attempt to present the Somali/Aidid side of the story, but that just makes it even more disjointed and confusing. Plus it didn't really help when the rest of the time you see them shooting at Americans and then getting plowed down by the Black Hawks shooting from the air.
Well, if it is one thing they got right, it is the whole chaotic-ness of the whole thing. These guys have been loafing around Somalia, doing these relatively easy and successful missions, usually those in and out, boom boom boom with the high tech weapons and special Delta troops. This was supposed to be another one of these missions, and was not to exceed half an hour. They go in, they nab the high officials, throw them onto humvees (sp?), and then ... boom, the world flipped upside down. A Black Hawk chopper was shot and crashed. So they deploy ground troops to protect the downed chopper and do the whole "We don't leave anyone behind" thing. People get confused and left behind. Many people get shot. Everyone ends up holed up and waiting for rescue convoys and choppers. Another chopper got shot down. This one didn't have such good luck, and was soon overran by a mob of angry Somalis. A pilot was taken hostage, blah blah blah. They didn't really explain why these bunch of Somalis were so angry at the Americans. (Maybe because so many had already died b/c of the General Aidid hunt? hmm...) And then near the end, there were "happy safe sane" Somalis who were cheering the American soldiers in the "safe zone". That wasn't really explained either.
I think the movie's main problem is that it is trying to do a blend of "Saving Private Ryan" deep comraderie type thing, but at the same time, tell the whole story from the strategic point of view. Didn't work.
And I suppose I should end with one of my favorite scenes: The humvees were trying to reach the first crash site, but had to turn back after driving through this hellish gauntlet where everyone gets wounded ("You, drive." "..but I got shot, sir" "Everyone's wounded. Now get in there and drive!" >boom< "Ahh! I can't see!" >blood running down his face< "Just keep your foot on the gas! Keep your foot on the gas!") Yes, my deep quote of the day is "Just keep your foot on the gas."
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you don't know me, but....
and i have to ask you
how do you make that link so that they click on it and it reveals more parts to the entry?
Re: you don't know me, but....
Use <lj-cut>, and the default text would show up, like "Read More".
You can change it to your own text by adding an attribute, like so: <lj-cut text="click to read more rants">
Here's the FAQ reference:
What are LJ-specific tags?
BHD
Re: BHD
yes, you need to get more sleep. sleep-draw! (instead of sleep-walk... you dream of dnptf anyway, ne?) ~_^
yeah, it's confusing. I can explain it to you if you want... basically, two elite groups, the rangers and the delta groups are there to catch General Aidid because he killed a bunch of UN peacekeepers. They haven't had much luck until they get this tip, so they follow the car with the cross to find the hotel (the Imperial). Then the deltas drop from the black hawks, some to barge in and grab the officials, some to form a perimeter for protection. Then six (?) humvees go in and pick up the hostages and drive out. However, a Black Hawk gets shot down, so half of the humvees are ordered home with the hostages, while the rest are ordered to go to the crash site (about a mile away), and protect the fallen pilots. There are basically three groups. One gets holed up about a block from the site, another gets holed up at the site, and the humvees drive through Bakara Market only to find the way blocked. The humvees lose most of their manpower on their way through the market (they had to go and then go back the same way), so they go back to base. Meanwhile, another Black Hawk gets shot down farther away, and since everyone's stuck somewhere, the base sends in a new convoy to rescue them. However, the roads in are all blocked, so they had to deploy four people to go in on foot. Another Black Hawk sent down three people to help the second downed chopper because they knew help couldn't come any sooner. They get shot when the mob comes. One of the pilots, Mark Harnvas or something, is taken hostage. So when the four rescue-people comes, no one's there, so they had to blow up the chopper. They then proceeded to the other crash site and ambushed some people. The General (Gorrison?) is at his wits end, and asks the Pakistani Peacekeepers for help. They drive in on these really big armored cars, and pick up the group a block away from the crash site. As for the one right next to the crash site, they have to shoot down some Somalis first. Since it was dark, the choppers can't tell friend from foe, which is why they had to throw a flare thing onto the roof. Anyway, the Somalis get plowed down, the convoy drives in. But it turns out there aren't enough vehicles. So the delta people volunteer to run behind the convoy and jump on after they're out of the danger zone. They get ditched halfway, so it's more running back to the stadium. Blah.