"Only the dead have seen the end of war," says our opening title card quoting Plato. A ruthless warlord, Mohamed Farrah Aidid, controls Mogadishu, Somalia, and is terrorizing UN Peacekeepers and Red Cross relief workers who are delivering food to the starving people. General Garrison (Sam Shepard) hatches a plan to capture several of Aidid's top lieutenants hiding out in the Bakara Market in Dountown Mogadishu. The entire mission is scheduled to begin and finish in under an hour; however, the best laid schemes never go according to plan and one of the most vicious firefights in American military history ensues.
Ridley Scott, our director, is a stickler for details. From the facsimile of arial video of the actual event spliced together with second unit photography, to each of the featured soldiers' personal ticks including Ewan McGregor's Grimes' coffee fetish, enhanced by snapshots of the Somalian people caught up in battle. Private Blackburn (Orlando Bloom) falls, foretelling the tragedy to follow as the lid to the powder keg blows off and the first fatality as well as the titular chopper hits the deck and the team loses the initiative.
The sound design, along with the music enhances the tension and desperation allowing the viewer to experience the battle in a sensual way. The massive cast adds to the chaos while providing some quality emotional content through spectacular performances. Chock-full of heavy hitters including Sam Shepard, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, Josh Hartnett, Jason Issacs, Ewan Bremmer, Ewan McGregor, William Fichtner, Glen Morshower, Zeljko Ivanek, Orlando Bloom and Matthew Marsden, this film provides a brilliant ensemble bringing us a list of characters so real, we can't help but admire the courage of the men they channel. Especially notable are performances by Shepard, McGregor, Bana, Issacs and Hartnett bringing every angle and philosophy, as well as the innocence, naivete, and battle savvy brought to the skirmish. Each point of view, from accepting the fight as part of a job or seeing it as a higher calling, is portrayed allowing the viewer to choose which philosophy is best.
The photography represents the gritty nature of urban warfare. The "shaky cam" is definitely borrowed from the D-Day opener in Saving Private Ryan, and works just as effectively, in portraying the desperate nature of the battle, as well as the chaos and the odds the soldiers are up against. The night coverage is brilliantly color-corrected to show which foxholes each group is a part of. The pyrotechnic effects, coupled with the sound, and location adds to the realism of the piece deepening my respect for the Americans who left their blood and lives in Somalia and the ones who are away from home fighting now.
I love a good ensemble piece; I love an emotionally-charged battle movie, especially one historically accurate. This one is both, in spades, and is wrapped into a beautiful package that both honors the dead and inspires the soul.
****
In: William Fichtner
Out: Ewan McGregor
Coming Soon: Emma
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