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Going to see "Black Hawk Down" tommorrow night....
- Thread starter Big Buck
- Start date
Taps
New member
I expected a standard war film, but basically it's one big action sequence. The first 20 mins is just used to introduce the characters and the next 2 hours is pure carnage.
I loved how it showed that even the best laid plans don't always work out, and sometimes it's nobody's falult -- sometimes shit just happens.
I disliked the ending, where Riddly Scott tacked some standard "moralizing" about war being hell, etc. Beyond that, it was a really cool movie.
I loved how it showed that even the best laid plans don't always work out, and sometimes it's nobody's falult -- sometimes shit just happens.
I disliked the ending, where Riddly Scott tacked some standard "moralizing" about war being hell, etc. Beyond that, it was a really cool movie.
The MN Bulk
New member
I'm going to see it this Sunday. I am going to laugh and cheer everytime a Somalian gets shot! Those bastards!
HappyScrappy
New member
I don't mean to ruin the movie, but Legolas Greenleaf from Lord of the Rings falls out of the helicopter.
THeMaCHinE
New member
Great movie! As a sidenote: I might get to shoot a SAW this weekend just like the one in the movie...hope it works out!
vixenbabe said:
It's not "hoo yah" - that is a Navy saying...it is actually "hoo - ah", which doesn;t have a distinct meaning except as a show of enthusiasm/agreement.
It was a great movie. Kind of made me want to be a Ranger again.
TxArmyGuy
New member
Matt you will always be a Ranger....
you know you will always be able to Lead the Way
Some of us are still waiting till we get our chance
as far as hoo-ah is concerned most of our Drill Sgts didn't want to hear it from us too much cause they feel like The word was dragged through "Leg" land too much
you know you will always be able to Lead the Way
Some of us are still waiting till we get our chance
as far as hoo-ah is concerned most of our Drill Sgts didn't want to hear it from us too much cause they feel like The word was dragged through "Leg" land too much
THeMaCHinE
New member
TxArmyGuy said:
What does "leg" mean -- a friend of mine (airborne) insists on calling me a "dirty leg" all the time...
THeMaCHinE
New member
TxArmyGuy said:
Ahhh... funny shit. I about took that solution -- at one point I was looking at becoming part of an LRS unit here...
Leg = not airborne qualified. It kinda is irrelevant outside the Army.
Tx -
You still at Benning? A friend of mine is graduating Ranger school 15 Feb. I'll be in Columbus all weekend...do you have any time off?
Matt
Tx -
You still at Benning? A friend of mine is graduating Ranger school 15 Feb. I'll be in Columbus all weekend...do you have any time off?
Matt
Tx
Well....I don't know a lot of guys who are at Gordon...most of those I know are at Benning or Lewis and a few at Ft Bragg. where are you headed after that?
Well....I don't know a lot of guys who are at Gordon...most of those I know are at Benning or Lewis and a few at Ft Bragg. where are you headed after that?
Cool...Bragg isn't the worst place in the world....and if you just stick with it, you should be able to get through RIP> It isn't that bad.
A buddy of mine from 3rd RGR Batt. was in Somalia. We went to Pre-Ranger and Ranger School together in 93. the next time I saw him was on Larry King Live a short while after the Somalia battle. There's some stuff the movies never show I still remember being one of those getting choked up watching a fallen Ranger's wife at a furneral. Child in one hand and a folded flag from a coffin in the other. It Sobers you up really quick and makes you realize that there's always a price for freedom.
frorider6
New member
vixenbabe
Classy Skank
Originally posted by MattTheSkywalker
It's not "hoo yah" - that is a Navy saying...it is actually "hoo - ah", which doesn;t have a distinct meaning except as a show of enthusiasm/agreement.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Matt...I understand this now!
It's not "hoo yah" - that is a Navy saying...it is actually "hoo - ah", which doesn;t have a distinct meaning except as a show of enthusiasm/agreement.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Thanks Matt...I understand this now!
The Ranger
New member
Matt,
Good definition on " Leg " ... and there is no such thing as an ex-Ranger....That " Brotherhood " is for life....
Also..." CAB " if you're not Scuba qualified....
Common
Air
Breather
Heh heh heh
How bout " Wop-wop Wings " Remember that one...???
Ranger
Good definition on " Leg " ... and there is no such thing as an ex-Ranger....That " Brotherhood " is for life....
Also..." CAB " if you're not Scuba qualified....
Common
Air
Breather
Heh heh heh
How bout " Wop-wop Wings " Remember that one...???
Ranger
3Vandoo
Well-known member
I saw Blackhawk Down two weeks ago. I give it a strong two thumbs up!!!
I have to commend Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer for getting the
details absolutely correct. The attention they paid to telling the story
accurately and truthfully is marvelous. Film of the Year, for sure.
But, a couple VERY interesting things happened in the movie. Or
rather, did NOT happen:
The people who have seen the movie tell you how violent and bloody it
is. They tell you that the whole movie is like the Normandy scene from
Saving Private Ryan. Boy, do I have news for them!!!
This movie did NOT show the most violent scenes. Nope, they totally
avoided them. The one that stands out most is the night scene: the
Rangers/Delta hold up for Sunday night/Monday morning in a couple of houses
on the same block near one of the crash sites. The movie shows two Little
Bird gunships making ONE SINGLE run run up and down the streets, killing
lots and lots of Somalis. The "oohs" and "aaahs" could easily be heard in
the packed theater.
Well, I have news for them: The Little Birds provided CAS all night
long! They didn't make one or two runs. They kept coming all night long,
killing any Somalis who organized into groups of two or more. The Little
Birds killed Somalis on the rooftops, inside buildings and on the streets.
This is important for two reasons:
1. The troops felt that the brass
had not abandoned them.
2. It kept the Somalis from grouping together and
pumping themselves up in that mob mentality where they become suicidal
killers.
For those who don't know, the vast majority of the 1,000-10,000 Somalis
were killed by the Little Birds that night. The movie only showed one run.
Why not show those helicopters killing the Somali mobs all night long?
There is another episode that the movie doesn't show. Early on, a
Ranger misses his fast rope and falls 70 or 80' to the ground. Since they
can't get him evacuated by helicopter, they send him back to base in a 3
Humvee convoy. This convoy turns a corner onto errrr, ummm, National Road
(I think) and comes face to face with thousands of Somalis who form a human
roadblock. The Humvees move forward but the Somalis swarmed around the
vehicles. So, the order was given to the .50 gunner on the roof of the
Humvee to open a path. He does so- firing his .50 at point blank range into
thousands of Somalis. You can imagine what happened for yourselves. It
wasn't pretty. Anyway, the movie specifically avoids this episode, too.
These are two extremely significant events that Scott and Bruckheimer
purposely did not address. Can you guess why?
Another observation: As you all know, this movie was based on the
book by Mark Bowden, who names both the Delta operators and the Rangers.
Well, in the movie, the only Delta operators who are identified by name are
the ones that died, whereas ALL the Rangers' names are included. So, again
we find Scott and Bruckheimer purposely avoiding something. They avoided
using the name of any surviving Delta or SEAL. (Yes, there was at least one
SEAL on the op and possibly more.)
What happened? Well, the producers needed LOTS of military equipment
for the filming of the movie, so I think there was a deal struck with the
Pentagon: We give you the equipment, you don't use the Delta/SEAL names.
One of the Delta operators was named John Macejunas, who is a friend of
a friend. You can see his character throughout the movie, but you'll
specifically see him at the end, back at base. He's the operator who's
eating a plate of food standing up. They refer to him as "Hoot" in the
movie. He makes a reference to "going back out there" just as the movie
ends. Though the movie doesn't show it, he did go back out into Mogadishu
that night. He went searching for Mike Durant, the Blackhawk pilot who was
held as hostage for 11 days. THAT part isn't even written about in the book
and we'll never know the real story. This guy's got some cojones.
Another observation: The movie doesn't really show a difference between
the Delta operators and the Rangers, though the book delves into this
relationship in depth. The easiest way to tell the difference between
Ranger and Delta is the helmets. Rangers wear the standard helmet while
Delta wears matte black hockey helmets. But the difference goes MUCH
further than that- the Rangers worshipped Delta, who are clearly superior in
talent. The only thing the movie touched on was when a combined team heads
from the site of the raid to one of the crash sites. The Delta guys moved
really fast and the Rangers couldn't keep up.
Now, I think Scott and Bruckheimer added a couple things that do not
show up in the literature. First, there is NOTHING written about American
forces dressed as reporters tracking Aidid and his henchmen. Now, we ALL
know that it happened, but it's just not out there in print. So, very early
on, the movie shows a scene of an American witnessing one of Aidid's guys
getting into a car and driving away.
Second, when the Blackhawks and Little Birds are lifting off from the
base, the movie shows a child with a cell phone. The kid's obviously
alerting Aidid when he holds up the phone to the sound of the helicopters.
I have NEVER read where this happened in real life. In fact, the Somalis
burned tires to summon the militia or to announce that the Americans were
moving. I doubt there was even a cell phone network in Mog at the time.
But Italian had a secert pact with Somalia War lords so when the Italian flag was down
it was warning them that US forces was sent out.
So, you can see that there are some problems with the movie. These are
small problems, though. As I said above, I have never seen a more accurate
portrayal of a real battle.
Thankfully, Scott and Bruckheimer did not go into the politics behind
the movie or the reasons for the screw ups. I know who's hands are bloody
and I don't need Hollywood's socialists to tell me.
Now, the above is just factual stuff. As entertainment, Blackhawk Down
is simply good
322
I have to commend Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer for getting the
details absolutely correct. The attention they paid to telling the story
accurately and truthfully is marvelous. Film of the Year, for sure.
But, a couple VERY interesting things happened in the movie. Or
rather, did NOT happen:
The people who have seen the movie tell you how violent and bloody it
is. They tell you that the whole movie is like the Normandy scene from
Saving Private Ryan. Boy, do I have news for them!!!
This movie did NOT show the most violent scenes. Nope, they totally
avoided them. The one that stands out most is the night scene: the
Rangers/Delta hold up for Sunday night/Monday morning in a couple of houses
on the same block near one of the crash sites. The movie shows two Little
Bird gunships making ONE SINGLE run run up and down the streets, killing
lots and lots of Somalis. The "oohs" and "aaahs" could easily be heard in
the packed theater.
Well, I have news for them: The Little Birds provided CAS all night
long! They didn't make one or two runs. They kept coming all night long,
killing any Somalis who organized into groups of two or more. The Little
Birds killed Somalis on the rooftops, inside buildings and on the streets.
This is important for two reasons:
1. The troops felt that the brass
had not abandoned them.
2. It kept the Somalis from grouping together and
pumping themselves up in that mob mentality where they become suicidal
killers.
For those who don't know, the vast majority of the 1,000-10,000 Somalis
were killed by the Little Birds that night. The movie only showed one run.
Why not show those helicopters killing the Somali mobs all night long?
There is another episode that the movie doesn't show. Early on, a
Ranger misses his fast rope and falls 70 or 80' to the ground. Since they
can't get him evacuated by helicopter, they send him back to base in a 3
Humvee convoy. This convoy turns a corner onto errrr, ummm, National Road
(I think) and comes face to face with thousands of Somalis who form a human
roadblock. The Humvees move forward but the Somalis swarmed around the
vehicles. So, the order was given to the .50 gunner on the roof of the
Humvee to open a path. He does so- firing his .50 at point blank range into
thousands of Somalis. You can imagine what happened for yourselves. It
wasn't pretty. Anyway, the movie specifically avoids this episode, too.
These are two extremely significant events that Scott and Bruckheimer
purposely did not address. Can you guess why?
Another observation: As you all know, this movie was based on the
book by Mark Bowden, who names both the Delta operators and the Rangers.
Well, in the movie, the only Delta operators who are identified by name are
the ones that died, whereas ALL the Rangers' names are included. So, again
we find Scott and Bruckheimer purposely avoiding something. They avoided
using the name of any surviving Delta or SEAL. (Yes, there was at least one
SEAL on the op and possibly more.)
What happened? Well, the producers needed LOTS of military equipment
for the filming of the movie, so I think there was a deal struck with the
Pentagon: We give you the equipment, you don't use the Delta/SEAL names.
One of the Delta operators was named John Macejunas, who is a friend of
a friend. You can see his character throughout the movie, but you'll
specifically see him at the end, back at base. He's the operator who's
eating a plate of food standing up. They refer to him as "Hoot" in the
movie. He makes a reference to "going back out there" just as the movie
ends. Though the movie doesn't show it, he did go back out into Mogadishu
that night. He went searching for Mike Durant, the Blackhawk pilot who was
held as hostage for 11 days. THAT part isn't even written about in the book
and we'll never know the real story. This guy's got some cojones.
Another observation: The movie doesn't really show a difference between
the Delta operators and the Rangers, though the book delves into this
relationship in depth. The easiest way to tell the difference between
Ranger and Delta is the helmets. Rangers wear the standard helmet while
Delta wears matte black hockey helmets. But the difference goes MUCH
further than that- the Rangers worshipped Delta, who are clearly superior in
talent. The only thing the movie touched on was when a combined team heads
from the site of the raid to one of the crash sites. The Delta guys moved
really fast and the Rangers couldn't keep up.
Now, I think Scott and Bruckheimer added a couple things that do not
show up in the literature. First, there is NOTHING written about American
forces dressed as reporters tracking Aidid and his henchmen. Now, we ALL
know that it happened, but it's just not out there in print. So, very early
on, the movie shows a scene of an American witnessing one of Aidid's guys
getting into a car and driving away.
Second, when the Blackhawks and Little Birds are lifting off from the
base, the movie shows a child with a cell phone. The kid's obviously
alerting Aidid when he holds up the phone to the sound of the helicopters.
I have NEVER read where this happened in real life. In fact, the Somalis
burned tires to summon the militia or to announce that the Americans were
moving. I doubt there was even a cell phone network in Mog at the time.
But Italian had a secert pact with Somalia War lords so when the Italian flag was down
it was warning them that US forces was sent out.
So, you can see that there are some problems with the movie. These are
small problems, though. As I said above, I have never seen a more accurate
portrayal of a real battle.
Thankfully, Scott and Bruckheimer did not go into the politics behind
the movie or the reasons for the screw ups. I know who's hands are bloody
and I don't need Hollywood's socialists to tell me.
Now, the above is just factual stuff. As entertainment, Blackhawk Down
is simply good
322
Rex
New member
My personal favorite scene was where the two Somalis were garreted.
Buck: You'll enjoy the movie. Especially the opening scene where it says that Marines were sent in originally, and Aidid didn't do shit while they were there since you're a jar head and all.
Another close in fact war movie is Band of Brothers. Well it's not really a movie, but it was good. I met Bill Guarnere when he came into my work one day. He is cool as shit. Definatly one of my heroes. I was, and still am in awe of that man.
Buck: You'll enjoy the movie. Especially the opening scene where it says that Marines were sent in originally, and Aidid didn't do shit while they were there since you're a jar head and all.
Another close in fact war movie is Band of Brothers. Well it's not really a movie, but it was good. I met Bill Guarnere when he came into my work one day. He is cool as shit. Definatly one of my heroes. I was, and still am in awe of that man.
For Ranger
I'm no longer a common air breather since 97 when I got my "bubble" while in 2/75. And I agree once a Ranger, always a Ranger. That's why that what makes Ranger Rendezvous so great down in Ft. Benning. I'm sure you guys have to remember those times LOL. Good thing I always "bumped" my head on the jump back into Ft. Lewis and forgot what I'd done down there. Aw Victory Drive, Menopause I mean Memory lane where the old girls hang LOL. Oh shit that's OPSEC
I'm no longer a common air breather since 97 when I got my "bubble" while in 2/75. And I agree once a Ranger, always a Ranger. That's why that what makes Ranger Rendezvous so great down in Ft. Benning. I'm sure you guys have to remember those times LOL. Good thing I always "bumped" my head on the jump back into Ft. Lewis and forgot what I'd done down there. Aw Victory Drive, Menopause I mean Memory lane where the old girls hang LOL. Oh shit that's OPSEC
3Vandoo....
After that all went down we'd heard that supposedly they tried to get cell phone communications shut down in Somalia during that time frame. But apparently the people involved weren't about to violate peoples personal rights on how they used cell phones as long as they paid their bills
After that all went down we'd heard that supposedly they tried to get cell phone communications shut down in Somalia during that time frame. But apparently the people involved weren't about to violate peoples personal rights on how they used cell phones as long as they paid their bills
