Black Hawk Down (2001)
76%RT Audience Score: 74%
Awards & Nominations: Won 2 Oscars
11 wins & 37 nominations total
Though it’s light on character development and cultural empathy, Black Hawk Down is a visceral, pulse-pounding portrait of war, elevated by Ridley Scott’s superb technical skill
Black Hawk Down is a movie that will make you feel like you’re in the middle of a warzone, without actually having to be in one. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions, from the adrenaline rush of the action scenes to the heartbreak of the losses suffered. And let’s not forget the impressive cast, including Josh Hartnett in arguably his best performance. Overall, it’s a must-watch for any war movie fan, just make sure you have some tissues handy.
Production Company(ies)
Focus Features, Anonymous Content This Is That Productions,
Distributor
Columbia Tristar, Columbia TriStar Home Video, Svensk Filmindustri (SF) AB, Cascade Film, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Revolution Studios
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Sidi Moussa, Rabat, Morocco
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language
Year of Release
2002
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:DTS Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 24m
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Language(s):English, Somali, Arabic
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 18, 2002 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 11, 2002
Genre(s)
War/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $172,989,651
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $286,914,162
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 525
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 31,288,349
US/Canada gross: $108,638,745
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $180,184,157
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 415
US/Canada opening weekend: $179,823
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $298,248
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,543
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $92,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $152,587,757
Production budget ranking: 215
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $82,168,507
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $52,157,897
ROI to date (est.): 22%
ROI ranking: 1,284
Kent Robertson
Amy Goodman
Rafael Correa
Hugo Chavez
Trudie Styler
– Self
Director: Joe Berlinger
Producers: Joe Berlinger, Michael Bonfiglio, J.R. DeLeon, Richard Stratton
Director(s)
Ridley Scott
Writer(s)
Mark Bowden, Ken Nolan
Producer(s)
Jerry Bruckheimer, Ridley Scott
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 2 Oscars
11 wins & 37 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Winners
All Critics (173) | Top Critics (47) | Fresh (133) | Rotten (40)
I also don’t know how well this 2001 drama represents the events of October 3 and 4, 1993, though I can see that it represents them in a realist vein, referring to other war movies without becoming frivolous.
November 8, 2011
Lisa Alspector
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
Black Hawk Down makes that point without preachment, in precise and pitiless imagery. And for that reason alone it takes its place on the very short list of the unforgettable movies about war and its ineradicable and immeasurable costs.
November 8, 2011
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
A relentless immersion in combat strikingly realized but none too pleasurable to sit through.
January 2, 2009
Todd McCarthy
Variety
TOP CRITIC
Ambitious, sumptuously-framed and frenetic, Black Hawk Down occasionally errs on the confused, but is nonetheless a rare find of a war movie which dares to turn genre convention on its head.
December 30, 2006 | Rating: 3/5
Mark Dinning
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Has the pointless verisimilitude of an expensively rendered computer simulation.
October 19, 2003
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
A first-rate war movie that presents its subject so horrifyingly well that it doesn’t need to probe or preach.
July 20, 2002
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
…arguably the best performance of Josh Hartnett’s career…
April 14, 2021
Jim Rohner
Battleship Pretension
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.
September 25, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Scott pares back story, character development and moral righteousness to their bare essentials, resulting in the most striking, if not revealing, portrait of modern warfare ever filmed.
July 13, 2020 | Rating: 4.5/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
The nobility and inspiration are in the action. It is in that sense a film very much in tune with America’s mood: practical, resolute, fierce.
June 18, 2012
Mark Steyn
The Spectator
Violent depiction of a risky rescue; adults only.
January 2, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
Kelly Kessler
Common Sense Media
No film from the Zeroes – hell, maybe ever – more forcefully imparted the horrors of war as thoroughly, coherently and hauntingly. Even justified wars run rampant with monstrosities, and this showed just how critical camaraderie can be in conquering them.
September 25, 2010 | Rating: 4/4
Nick Rogers
The Film Yap…
Plot
Action/war drama based on the best-selling book detailing a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993. On this date nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This led to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Army Rangers, US Special Forces, and hundreds of Somali gunmen, resulting in the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. The film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed helicopters, centering on SSG Eversmann, leading the Ranger unit Chalk Four to the first crash site, Chief Warrant Officer Durant who was captured after being the only survivor of the second crash, as well as many others who were involved.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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