Is Black Hawk Down the best film of the 21st century? It’s certainly a heartstopping war movie, jawdroppingly shot with an all-star cast, and a dizzying technical achievement. But the best film of the last 25 years?
Quentin Tarantino thinks so. Speaking on the Bret Easton Ellis podcastthe director of Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood named Black Hawk Down the best movie of the 21st century. He said the film had grown on him after initial viewing, and he now considered it “a masterwork”.
2001’s Black Hawk Down is based on the true story of a US Army mission that went disastrously wrong in war-torn Mogadishu in 1993. When two powerful helicopters crashed in different parts of the city, pockets of Army Rangers and special forces found themselves isolated, alone and desperately fighting just to find their comrades, never mind make it out.
To tell their stories, director Ridley Scott marshals an ensemble cast and cuts between virtually non-stop action scenes to create a powerfully immersive experience of the battle. As Tarantino puts it, “The feat of direction is beyond extraordinary.”
It’s worth noting criticism that the film doesn’t have much time for the background or politics of the situation, with the Somalis in their own country treated as faceless, brutal enemies. Instead, Black Hawk Down focuses entirely on the harrowing here and now for the stranded soldiers.
It’s a pretty clear influence on more recent war films like Dunkirk and Warfarewhich also place you squarely in the middle of an intense battle.
“This is the only movie that actually goes completely for an Apocalypse Now sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling,” said Tarantino, “and I think it achieves it… my heart was going through the entire runtime of the movie; it had me and never let me go.”
Photographed by cinematographer Slawomir Idziak, Black Hawk Down has a deliberately desaturated palette. Everything is smoky and dusty, with muted skin tones, less-than-lush greens and unforgiving golden sunlight turning up the heat.
Regular TVs might flatten this into a beige wash, but a capable TV or projector can handle the nuances of this subtle colour grading. Decent contrast reveals the careful separation between sun-bleached exteriors, shadowed alleyways and the dark interiors of helicopters and humvees.
You can also pick out crisp close-up detail of sweat, grime and darting eyes as the soldiers react to their surroundings. That’s important, because like a lot of war films, it can be hard to keep track of the identically-dressed soldiers (although UK viewers have an advantage if you can recognise British faces like Ewan McGregor, Jason Isaacs, Ewen Bremner and Tom Hardy in his first film role).
The large cast and overlapping stories are deftly juggled by editor Pietro Scalia, who won an Academy Award for his work. Black Hawk Down‘s other Oscar was for Best Sound, and it’s easy to hear why.
In keeping with the story, the helicopter rotor blades whump with real weight, as a surround system clearly places the Black Hawks above and around the listener. The almost constant gunfire and explosions are differentiated between nearby and echoing from elsewhere, adding to the feeling of being trapped in a city under seige.
Black Hawk Down is widely available to stream, and rent, but make sure you opt for the best possible quality. Whether or not you agree with Tarantino’s ranking, it’s a film that’s absolutely made for Blu-ray 4K, Dolby Atmos and the biggest screen.
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