123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
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 lead to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Rangers and hundreds of Somali gunmen, leading to the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. This film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed black hawks, centering on Sgt. Eversmann, leading the Ranger unit Chalk Four to the first black hawk crash site, Warrant Officer Durant who was captured after being the only survivor of the second black hawk crash, as well as many others who were involved.
Written by Matthew Patay: revised by Brady Schloz
Brendan Sexton III (Kowalewski) was unhappy working on the film because it conflicted with his leftist views on U.S. foreign policy in general and specifically with regard to U.S. actions in Somalia (both before and during the 1992-93 peacekeeping operations there). He told Salon.com after the film opened that he and another actor improvised a scene with anti-imperialist materials, but it was all cut from the film before it was released.
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Goofs
Anachronisms:
The sunglasses worn by SFC Hooten (Eric Bana) are Oakley Juliets. Throughout the film Oakley is one of the very few brand names mentioned (when Pilla is impersonating Capt. Steele - "Delta don't wear Oakley"). The company does have a Standard Issue range that is intended for military use and the brand itself is highly popular with servicemen. The appearance of Hoots sunglasses is chronologically incorrect though, the events depicted in the film took place in 1993 and Oakley did not start marketing the specific sunglasses he wears until 1999.
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Quotes
[first lines]
Dan Busch:
There. Technicals, nine o'clock. See more »
Crazy Credits
There are no studio logos at the beginning and the only opening credit is the title.
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