BLACK HAWK DOWN: MY PERSONAL REVIEW: 2 1/2 STARS

self ^ | 01/18/01 | RaceBannon

[RaceBannon]

Ok, after all the hype, I expected a blockbuster of a movie. Sorry, it aint.

[junta]

Which Waffen SS division? If I may ask.

[Travis McGee]

That book is on my boat, I don't recall the author off hand. It's written in the form of a first person "historical" diary, but I think it's fiction based on experience. Great scenes, such as where the protagonist's SS platoon is assigned the duty some 20K from the lines of checking the orders of any Germans driving to the rear. They stop several cars with German officers who do not have the proper travel orders, they are lined up and shot despite their protests.

He describes road marching beyond fatigue some six soldiers abreast, each linked arm and shoulder, all "asleep", the most "alert" soldier steering them all, but occasionally all six in a rank fall totally asleep and march like automatons straight off the road into a ditch. Very realistic depiction of that war, with aspects I had not considered.

[GOPyouth]

I really appreciated this movie. This movie and SPR make me so proud of the guys/gals who serve this country. I sat there so furious at Bill Clinton and Les Aspen as I watched those copters take off in broad daylight to get shot down. I just turned 25 this week, and although I was youngER then, I remember going from disliking Clinton, to despising him.

The only downside I could see was the first 20 minutes or so before they mission started. I found that rather boring, but it sure made up for it once the raid started. I think it topped SPR when it came to gore and war footage.

[Travis McGee]

Whoops, you asked which division, not the author, but same answer, the book's on my boat. I re-read "Cross of Iron" and "The Black March" every few years to remind myself how lucky I am to have been born in 1957 in America and not in 1925 in Europe.

[junta]

I have to see the movie made from Heinrich's book, Sgt. Steiner is a great character more American than authoritarian German. I much prefer the American model of initiative over the unflinching discipline such as the Germans prefered. Try the "Forgotten Soldier" you will not be able to put it down, and thanks I'll get that book. I switch my reading habits from war to war and side to side it seems to make each book more interesting by seeing the other side. Not to take up much more of your time but you might try a book by the Japanese officer who spent twentysomething years on an island in the Phillipines, Hirou Onada, fascinating adventure is the only way to describe the total gist of it.

[Glutton]

The movie made me recall the old attachments to the T53L13 engines of Hueys that vectored the hot gasses up into the rotor-wash to diffuse the hot air.

I wonder if the twin engine "crash hawk" (which was an early rotor-head slang for the UH-60) could have baffles like that developed to make them less vulnerable to ground to air, or air to air missiles.

It seems to me that that would be a plus to have.

[Travis McGee]

I lived on Guam for 2 years, Onada's cave was a local tourist attraction.

[sneakypete]

In real combat, guys basically can't talk to each other at all. There is just too much noise.

Yes,you can. Your ears have the ability to filter-out the loud noises and focus on the human voice.

The other problems with Private Ryan were: 1. At the end, the tank would not have driven in to the town without infantry clearing the way. Tanks are very vulnerable in cities.

The tanks DID have infantry support. They were all guys running around with the German uniforms,the 98 Mausers,and the MP-40's. One even stuck a bayonet in one of the patrol members who had been manning a A-6 Browning.

2. The explosives that they used for making anti-tank weapons could have much more effectively have been used to simply blow up the bridge.

Their job there was to PREVENT the bridge from being blown up. The American forces NEEDED that bridge to cross the river. The Germans were trying to blow it up to prevent this from happening. Given that this was the case,WHY would the Americans have blown-up the bridge?

[sneakypete]

To me the worst was the prolonged segment with the "experienced" recon patrol going forward into German contested areas, just strolling through open fields, "smoking and joking", oblivious to potential snipers, or machine gun ambush.

Yeah,but movies live or die on dialogue between the characters. If they had been properly spaced and silent,they wouldn't have been able to "set the scene" or develope their characters.

[Lazamataz]

2. The explosives that they used for making anti-tank weapons could have much more effectively have been used to simply blow up the bridge.

I thought they wanted to keep the bridge operational and only were going to blow the bridge as a last-ditch effort. In fact I'm sure of it. That's why some of them were dying trying to get to the 'button'.

[Lazamataz]

Was it my imaginination, or did Cat. Steele's accent change from Australian to Texan as the movie progressed?

Son, ev'rbudies accent chang's t' Texan eventually....

[RaceBannon]

USMC 1977-1981

Never shot at, never shot from, either.

[Dante3]

My husband and my daughter agree with you. They thought "Black Hawk Down" was an excellent movie, one they liked far better than "Private Ryan." One reason might be that BHD is contemporary, one they can identify with.

[RightOnline]

"The explosives that they used for making anti-tank weapons could have much more effectively have been used to simply blow up the bridge."

Ah, but that is exactly where they got those explosives they used to make the "sticky bombs", remember? They didn't want to blow up the bridge except as a last resort. There were only two bridges left across that river.........and they were protecting one of 'em. If they could stop the German advance and keep them from taking the bridge, then the U.S. and allied forces could use it.

[RightOnline]

"Was it my imaginination, or did Cat. Steele's accent change from Australian to Texan as the movie progressed?"

No, it was just an incredibly bad "southern accent" from the get-go. The guy's a more than decent actor...........but he was wholly incapable of affecting a proper accent (Texas, Georgia, Alabama.......it wouldn't have made any difference).

BTW, in case you didn't recognize him, that was the guy that played the despicable commander of the British Dragoons in "The Patriot". He did a fabulous.........if hammy..........job in that flick.

[BradyLS]

No, it was just an incredibly bad "southern accent" from the get-go. The guy's a more than decent actor...........but he was wholly incapable of affecting a proper accent (Texas, Georgia, Alabama.......it wouldn't have made any difference).

Sounds like we have a third British actor playing an individual from the book!

[Travis McGee]

Yeah,but movies live or die on dialogue between the characters. If they had been properly spaced and silent,they wouldn't have been able to "set the scene" or develope their characters.

And that is a major difference with BHD: in BHD, capturing the reality and confusion and pace of the battle was primary, in SPR the character development led and the realism followed.

But anyone seeing SPR and believing that a recon infantry platoon is going to chitchat and smoke cigarettes while walking through open fields in sniper range of hedgerows and treelines is getting a VERY wrong appreciation of how soldiers really behave when such behavior would be near suicidal. A real "experienced" platoon out in that country would have been nervous as all get out, scurrying from cover to cover, covering each other at all times, all business, in what was one huge "danger area crossing". No way would they just take a Sunday stroll through the open fields talking out loud about their lives. You do that around the campfire in the rear, or in the foxhole with your buddy.

So when people say SPR is a great movie, I agree, but when they say "it set the new standard for realism" I stronly disagree.

[VOA]

No, Really! I started to cry in Private Ryan about 5 times!

I'm in the LA area, heard a lot about Pvt. Ryan before the opening...still couldn't
avoid getting a bit teary at the graveyard scenes.
What surpised me even more was a young (20-something?) lady a few rows back who
was fighting (and losing) her war against sobbing.

Also, a number of people reported about how chatty teenagers simply went mute
during the opening beach assault.

All this in sophisticated, liberal West Los Angeles.
Maybe there is still hope for this country...

[Squantos]

Ok I'm off to the movies....damn !

I told myself I'd never go back in one of those popcorn pits :o)

Let's see, 1911, Flash light,spare mags, backup, soda pop and popcorn money.....what's that cost now 20 bucks ?

Stay Safe !