Black Hawk Down Movie Review

In the early 90’s, the united states sent a large number of Army Rangers and Delta Force troops to Mogadishu, Somalia. The reason they sent these troops was to put down the militia of Muhammad Farah Aidid. Over 1000 Somalia militia died in the battle and only 19 American troops died. Black Hawk Down correctly portrayed the events that happened at the battle of Mogadishu.

Throughout the movie, soldiers say that they should not be fighting another mans war. This idea was shared by many Americans during this time. The reason that we were there in the first place was correctly shown in the movie when Aidid’s men took the food that America was sending the starving people in Somalia. Hunger was Aidid’s weapon and this statement is expressed in the movie. The reasons that America was in Mogadishu to begin with were historically correct in the movie.

In Black Hawk Down, the language of the movie is correct. Subtitles are often used because the language spoke by Somalians, is actually their true language. In one point during the film a militia sergeant is interrogating an American sergeant. The Somalian can not speak English very well and this shows how most of the people in Mogadishu were not educated as well as the rest of the world. Soldiers that were in battle in this event called Mogadishu the “The Moge”; this is present in the movie. When Private Blackburn ask how Mogadishu, he is quickly corrected by Grimsey who tells him that it is simply called the “The Moge.” Many other slang military terms were used in the movie. Clothes in this movie were also accurate. You could see how the more successful leaders of the country wore suits that were influenced by western society. Your more common people in the town had raggedy clothes, because they could not afford things needed for living, like food, much less any kind of clothing.

Weaponry was also accurate in this film. American soldiers carried the most advanced weapons of that time, like M16, while Somalian militia had mostly AK- 47’s and other cheap made machine guns. One thing that the militia had that was a true weapon in this time was the RPG, or rocket propelled grenade. This weapon was used to eliminate two of the American Black Hawk helicopters. The Americans had more advanced weapons in the movie, which was true during this time. One of the major advantages that Americans had was night vision. Towards the end of the movie it gets dark in the town and the Americans have a distinct advantage because of their ability to strike in complete darkness. Another thing that showed the better and more advanced technology that American’s had was the infrared strobes that they used mark the rooftop during the middle of the night. This was important because it allowed our helicopters to make strafing runs and eliminate the Somalians off of the rooftops