a review of 黑鹰坠落

Black Hawk Down is one of those celebrated productions that made me wonder if I was the last person on Earth who still hadn't seen it. So I finally saw it on the first day of 2018. After all, what's a better way to start a year than watching a bloody war movie? Ridley Scott is a man who likes to leave an impression. He sure succeeded in doing so with his early classics, such as Blade Runner and Alien. In terms of action choreography, scene staging and adrenalin inducement, Black Hawk Down definitely leaves an impression too. Knowing that the plot is based on true events made the film even more tense, but also more frustrating. Black Hawk Down makes you realize the insanity of war once again, as did films such as Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan and 13 Hours. A few things bothered me a bit about Black Hawk Down. First of all, the contrast between American heroism and Somalian 'villains' was a bit too absolute, in my humble opinion. I guess there needs to be a certain degree of military glorification to make the US Army put their expensive equipment at the disposal of a film studio. The second thing that ruined some scenes for me was Hans Zimmer's bombastic, heroic soundtrack. Such a score works for an epic film like Gladiator, but in Black Hawk Down it distracted me from the intended level of realism.