's passion for war subjects is a consistent feature of the wealthy American film industry. When the special effects created by large sums of money are combined with the tragic casualty scenes, classic war films such as "Saving Private Ryan" are naturally produced. It’s just that, in my opinion, it’s "Black Hawk Down" that is truly the pinnacle of the "hardcore war movie". Compared with it, "Saving Private Ryan" seems to be too beautifying...
First of all, it must be explained that the meaning of "Black Hawk Down" (Black Hawk Down) is not just referring to the film shot in 2002, in most of the United States In people's minds, it refers to the failure of the US military operations in Somalia in 1993.
The executor of this military operation was a special force dispatched by the United States to Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, with the purpose of arresting the armed leaders of the local militia who attacked the United Nations and US forces. As a result of the battle, the adventurous U.S. military was caught in a frantic siege by the local armed forces due to errors in intelligence and command. Two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by the militia’s RPG rockets. In order to rescue the wounded, the capture operations of the US special forces were forced to turn into rescue operations.
After more than 14 hours of fierce fighting, the US special forces finally broke through with the help of the United Nations forces. As a result of the battle, 19 Americans were killed, while the Somali militia suffered more than 1,000 casualties. In the eyes of the U.S. military who considers itself invincible, this is already the biggest casualties suffered after the Vietnam War. The then President Clinton was also forced to announce that he had suspended his intervention in Somalia and unilaterally announced the withdrawal of troops.
is also such a defeat, which made the US military realize that the helicopter + army joint propulsion model is not suitable for complex urban operations, and pay more attention to fire preparation before urban street battles, thus accumulating experience for the subsequent Gulf War and Yugoslav War. .
This is the real history.
War films of ordinary Americans are always full of extremely popular scenes, but after the initial freshness of that kind of over-beautified scenes, the impression that it can leave on the audience will become thinner. To some extent, "Black Deer Falling" got rid of this stereotype. In this movie, you don’t see the huge crowds like the "Gettysburg" depicting the American Civil War, nor can you see World War II themes such as "Saving Private Ryan" and "Thin Red Line" The roar of artillery, the charging of tanks, and the surge of infantry.
According to historical data, the number of US troops invested in the entire battle is about 300, and there are fewer troops in the film. The director condensed the experiences of many soldiers who participated in the war on certain actors, which made the film fall into the category of "small scenes"-in the entire film, there has never been more than 20 combat scenes.
However, this is precisely the true portrayal of modern local wars. Raleigh Scott, who has filmed "Blade Runner" and "Gladiator", can be said to rack his brains to show cruelty and blood in limited scenes. The small scale of the battle does not mean that the plot is lackluster. In fact, in the 144-minute movie, the battle scene takes up about 100 minutes, and this 100-minute battle is a 14-hour real journey. How can we avoid cold spots and repetition? The answer is editing.
can be said that this is a group-like movie without a unique protagonist. Ranger Captain Eversman, Delta Anti-Terrorist Force Hut, Hummer Sergeant Striker, Black Expansion Helicopter Pilot Durant... These few characters that play more often are not the real protagonists. The director also knows very well that none of them alone can support a sufficiently plump main line.
So, the battle plot of the movie that was finally shown before our eyes is actually an overlapping of different encounters of various small groups of the US military participating in the battle at the same time period, thus enriching the tension of the film on all levels. Of course, such a complicated narrative mode places very high demands on the editing of the film. "Black Hawk Down" also won the 2002 Oscar for Best Editing Award. What
must affirm is that although this film is innovative in editing and structure, it is still a war film that promotes American values. When Scott tried his best to restore the cruelty and details of the war, he still advertised Americanism, intentionally or unintentionally. A notable example of
is: when the film is about to end and most of the troops are safe, the US military helicopters are still hovering in Morocco.Over Gadishu, through the tweeter repeatedly called the name of the captured Dark Demon driver: Durant, we must find you! However, such American values are not the value of the film. Every Chinese audience I met, they almost forgot this line, but talked about the difference between US-made weapons and Soviet-made weapons in the film, the individual quality of the Somali militia and the US military, the US ranger and the The similarities and differences in the uniforms and tactics of the Delta Anti-terrorist Force....
is like an American film critic who pointedly pointed out that the phrase printed on the propaganda poster of "Dark Devil's Fall" comes from the famous saying of the Delta Anti-terrorist Force Commander Garrison: We Never give up any compatriot-it is actually not appropriate. The really appropriate slogan should be the sentence in the movie that comes directly from the real battlefield recording: We have got a Black Hawk Down! (We just dropped a Black Hawk helicopter!).
