Originally set for release in March but pushed up for a year-end release after it tested through the roof, Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down now qualifies for this year's Oscar race and will take advantage of both a weak slate of January films (when it will see wide release) and uncanny timing during what will surely be a renewed interest in its subject, Somalia, which is being kicked around as the United States' next target in the war on terrorism.  Down also goes a long way to cleanse the nation's palate for war films, after it was temporarily wonked up by Pearl Harbor earlier this year.

Filmed in Morocco but set entirely in Mogadishu, Somalia, Down takes place in the fall of 1993, where U.S. elite force soldiers (Rangers and Delta Force) are hunting for a warlord named Mohamed Farah Aidid, who is intercepting international food shipments targeted for the empty bellies of Somalia's citizens.  The film's opening lays out, in great detail, the history of Aidid, Somalia and the U.S.'s involvement in the country (warning: people too lazy to read subtitles may be irritated, but the reading lesson eventually stops).  It's interesting, and kind of vital to the plot of Down, but it's not completely necessary.  A bunch of good guys are going after a bad guy – 'nuff said.

Instead of focusing on one or two characters, like most films of its ilk, Scott's (Hannibal) subject becomes an expansive look at about 40 soldiers, many of whom are played by actors unknown to most audiences.  The actors they would ordinarily be able to recognize are hidden behind grime and goggles.  I've already whined about Gosford Park being a pain in the ass because of its ridiculously large cast, but Down is different.  You don't need to keep track of every character, because they're all practically interchangeable.

Down's focal point might be Staff Sergeant Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett, Harbor), just because he's played by the most recognizable star. Like many of his special ops pals, Eversmann has never been in the shit, and he constantly worries about the effect their actions will have on innocent Somali locals everyone else refers to as "skinnies" (he's the asthmatic soldier with a heart of gold).  Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge) plays Company Clerk John Grimes, an office lackey who's really good at making coffee.  Sam Shepard (Swordfish) is Maj. Gen. William Garrison, the commander who watches everything go down via video back at the camp.  That's about as fleshed out as the characters get in Down.

But, again, they don't need to be.  Down takes 15 minutes to explain the operation to yank Aidid out of hostile territory and remove him to a United Nations-controlled section of the city.  Another 15 are spent as the troops prepare for said operation, but once it gets underway, you'd better not plan on breathing for about an hour.  Like the title suggests, a Black Hawk helicopter goes down, turning what was supposed to be a half-hour snatch-and-grab exercise into one huge rescue mission.  The soldiers' motto is to never leave a man behind, and they risk life and limb to follow through on that vow.

The battle/rescue is something people will be talking about for a long time. It's just as intense and far more graphic than the opening salvo of Saving Private Ryan, and it had me choked up several times (if it doesn't get to you, the terrorists have already won).  Though it's not quite as handsomely photographed, cinematographer Slavomir Idziak (Proof of Life) does an exceedingly capable job and is aided by some of the year's best editing from Gladiator's Pietro Scalia (who won an Oscar winner for JFK).

The cast seems to be made up solely of actors who have appeared/will appear in other war projects, like Harbor (Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner, Kim Coates, Glenn Morshower), Band of Brothers (Ian Virgo, Tom Hardy, Corey Johnson), the upcoming Windtalkers (Jason Isaacs, Brian Van Holt) or Tigerland (Tom Guiry), but there are plenty who you may recognize from other films, like Eric Bana (Chopper), Jeremy Piven (Serendipity), Orlando Bloom (The Fellowship of the Ring) and Ioan Gruffudd (102 Dalmatians).  

Down, which is based on Mark Bowden's book, Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War, never really takes a stand on the whole Somalia thing, but it doesn't really show things from the Somali point of view either. Strangely, there's no mention of Osama bin Laden, who was likely responsible for training the men battling the U.S. troops.  One wonders if the film was poised to make a grander statement but changed things around a bit in light of recent events.  The incident, which really happened, was seen as a foreign policy nightmare for then-President Bill Clinton and ultimately led to both the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Somalia and the resignation of Les Aspin, who was the Secretary of Defense at the time of the ill-fated invasion.

2:12 –

for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language