Black Hawk Down review

Heavily tipped for glory the Oscars, Black Hawk Down puts a glossy Hollywood spin on a harrowing real life incident.

Like Behind Enemy Lines, the film feeds on the patriotism coursing through America's veins, portraying the nation's armed forces as blameless protectors of the innocent, battling against almost insurmountable odds.

During the 1993 Somalian Civil War, a group of US soldiers was despatched to Mogadishu to kidnap the lieutenants of the ruling warlord, in an attempt to quell the escalating violence. The mission went terribly wrong, and two helicopters - the Black Hawks of the title - were shot down behind enemy lines.

The surviving soldiers found themselves embroiled in a terrifying firefight, facing hordes of angry, armed villagers with only limited ammunition at their disposal. Meanwhile, US high command launched a daring rescue operation to bring their boys home.

There's no denying the technical brilliance of Black Hawk Down. Director Ridley Scott's verité camerawork takes us into the bloody heart of the conflict, ducking and diving as bullets fly overhead, and missiles pound the barren earth. Enemy gunfire abruptly shreds US soldiers limb from limb in front of our horrified eyes, and you can almost feel the ground shake as helicopter gunships unleash their full arsenal on crowds of heavily armed Somalians, reducing narrow side-streets to rubble.

Unfortunately, the picture lacks emotional depth, and we never know any of the soldiers well enough to care about their plights. Most of the background to the conflict is related in a five minute pre-credits sequence, and the huge gallery of characters is barely introduced before the first helicopter goes down and the explosions begin.

Performances from Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor and Tom Sizemore get lost in the bombastic mix, and Sam Shepard is wasted as the commander forced to witness the slaughter of his men, but Eric Bana (soon to be fleshing out the big screen Incredible Hulk) is impressive as a gung-ho sniper, taking the fight to the enemy.

The screenplay dilutes the facts so thoroughly, that the emphasis becomes dangerously one-sided. While Black Hawk Down never glorifies the US offensive on Mogadishu, the film does add an heroic sheen to the American's actions. And some flashes of artistic licence - friendly Somalians cheering the US soldiers as they reach the border - verges on shameless flag-waving.