Custom «The Movie “Black Hawk Down"» Essay Paper Sample

The movie “Black Hawk Down” has distinctive features in the way it is directed. The movie establishes the mood through the use of pictures. Everyone can see the intensity of the war. In addition, the dazzling blue colors and sad tones alternating with the actions makes the movie more appealing. There is a proper coordination between the plot, setting, characterization and the plot. Events are arranged in a chronological manner. As the movie begins, we come across Americans preparing. This is where they call man for man. The entire mission was planned to take only one hour. However, 22 hours elapses as the war still goes on. This is because; American rangers are overwhelmed by the mighty Somali gunned men. Moreover, it is hard for them to escape as their two helicopters are destroyed. The plot of the movie is also made to flow in the way characterization is done. Each one is given a role to play. There are those who are to take charge of the helicopters as the soldiers are dropped into middle of the capital Mogadishu to commence their mission.

The movie is a war drama involving the fight, assaults as well as the mission to rescue. It shows all the actions taking place. For instance, Matt Eversmann was left in charge of the helicopter. As the Rangers were entangled in the fight, the first injury is witnessed as PFC Todd Blackburn falls down from the helicopter. This is after its effort to maneuver and avoid a RPG. At this moment, it is evident that the militia men are beginning to overwhelm the soldiers. The two helicopters are brought down. These include Super Six-One under the charge of Cliff "Elvis" Wolcott as well as Super Six-Four that was piloted by Mike Durant. The two pilots are also killed.

The setting is in the capital Mogadishu. The war took place on October 3, 1993. It was one of the disastrous wars. This is because American had sent about 100 Army rangers under the command of Capt. Mike Steele. The soldiers were dropped by a helicopter in the capital city of Mogadishu where they started the raid. Due to the impact and intense of the war, the war fight began between Rangers and hundreds of Somalis who were already gunned. During the war, two American Black hawk helicopters are destroyed. The efforts of the Rangers to get back to the helicopters are dashed where most of them are killed. The movie pays much focus on the frantic efforts made by the rangers to save their lives. They are depicted as heroes in the service to capture the two warlords in Somali.

In the movie, Sgt. Eversmann is given much attention as the Ranger unit Chalk Four was being lead to destruction. In addition, most of rangers are captured. The only survivor of the war was Warrant Officer Durant who was later captured. Thus, through the plot, it is possible to analyze the themes that are evident in the entire movie. The movie vivid describes the scene under which the action takes place. It shows how the two American helicopters carrying about 123 Rangers tour the airspace of Mogadishu before the soldiers started alighting from them in a flash. The public were caught unaware. This is why most of them become culprits of the attack. Unfortunately, just before the soldiers could accomplish their mission, hundreds of armed Somalis militia men emerged from no where. They exchange fires and missiles specifically leading to the crash of the two American helicopters.

The characterization in the movie is properly coordinated. This leads to conversion of the war into rescue mission. Several Somalis are skinned like beasts and about 18 Rangers loosing their lives. Americans are pulled from their helicopters and stripped. This depicts one of the worst scenes during the war. Thus, this is the demerit that the director did not consider. Communication between the soldiers is not been planned well. The rangers are described to have a gang-ho spirit. This is because; all they want is to get into the middle of the action and accomplish their mission without first assessing the situation in Mogadishu. Another bad thing about the movie is that it raises questions about lack of racial balance. Most of the rangers who were sent in the war as brought out in the movie are Black Americans. Thus, most of the destroyed rangers were black. Therefore, the essence of the title ''Black Hawk Down'' is brought out.

The movie also shows the egocentric desires of the West not to care about the welfare of Africans. In 1992, Somalia was suffering from great famine. Surprisingly, what Americans could do was to organize attacks to capture the warlords neglecting its effect to the public. The movie also shows that Western’s interests are mainly to control the oil deposits. From the pictures in the movie, an imitation of massacre and sacrifices is evident. Before the war, the actors call for a kind of ''it's a man's man's man's man's world''. This is a common phenomenon of the Bruckheimer films that shows the characters making decisions without having a second thought. The mission was aborted and the two warlords were not captured. People were killed, scores injured and resources wasted. This marks the culmination of the whole war. However, the movie has got its bright side. This is shown by the heroic nature of the American soldiers as they try to save their lives. Despite the fact that their helicopters were turned to ash, only 18 of them were killed. The killing of the unsuspecting innocent Somalis led to the call of the rescue mission. People are rescued from the assault as the war still goes on.

In the movie, the aspect dialogue is brought out in the scene where the American pilot, Mike Durant is being interviewed by his captor. The captor makes it clear to Mike that their effort to capture the warlord would not reverse the situation. In deed, their effort to capture the warlords has worsened the situation with the killing of innocent people. The captor also states that in Somali, war is their way of life. They are used to seeing people dying of machine gun. Juxtaposition is also evident in this scene. There are slow motion images that are being relayed. These images depict the reality in Somalia that displays the plights of people. For example, there are hundreds of faceless Somalis at the mercy of their tormentors while others are suffering from hunger. A picture of a cradling child is also seen. To some extent, this movie makes the audience to be empathic to the people of Somalia for their condition. What is amazing is that they are not apologetic for their situation. They have become accustomed to it. Moreover, Americans only worsens their condition instead of helping them to deal with their plights. The choice of music that accompanies the alteration of scenes makes the movie more appealing and catching.