Black Hawk Down is the Mark Bowden's true-life account of the ambush of U.S. Rangers and the Delta Force in Mogadishu, Somalia on October 3rd, 1993. At the time of the event, the American involvement in Somalia interested few people, but the events of one Sunday in October of 1993 changed all that. American soldiers were on a mission to raid a meeting of Somali warlords, hoping to destabilize the regime and make it easier to deliver food and supplies to the millions of starving citizens.
The raid called for 4 Black Hawk helicopters which would drop 4 teams of troops into the area around the building where the meeting was taking place and then to raid the building, arresting pre-determined targets. A back-up force on the ground would then move in and carry the prisoners away.
From the very moment the Rangers and Delta Force dropped from their Black Hawks into the streets of Mogadishu, the mission went horribly wrong. The forces immediately came under attack by an unexpected barrage of gunfire from all sides. The more troops are dropped into the area, the more intense the gunfire becomes. Not only are members of the militia attempting to prevent the raid, but the citizens of Mogadishu, tired of U.S. interference in their country also take up arms against the soldiers.
With the ground troops pinned to their positions, the Black Hawks overhead attempt to provide cover fire and disperse the crowds of civilians with the wash of their rotors. Two Black Hawks are gunned down within the first half hour of the mission, resulting in the largest U.S. military rescue effort of recent times.
The back-up force is sent in to rescue the crews of the downed Black Hawks but soon find themselves under heavy gunfire and taking casualties.
With the initial raid pinned to their positions and the back-up force under heavy fire, more than 100 soldiers must spend the night fighting for their lives in a city that literally wants them killed. When the fighting subsides the next morning 18 U.S. soldiers are dead and more than 70 are injured. The Somali toll is much worse: over 1000 are injured and more than 500 have been killed.
Click here for the Mark Bowden's original, non-fiction account of the raid in Somalia. Includes maps, audio/video, and actual images of the location.
Directing the film is Ridley Scott, director of such films as "Gladiator", "Hannibal", "Alien", and "Thelma and Louise". Jerry Bruckheimer ("Saving Private Ryan") is serving as producer. They have assembled an impressive young cast for the film, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan MacGregor, Jason Isaacs, Tom Sizemore, Jeremy Piven and Johnny Strong. All of the actors involved were made to go through a full week of actual Army Basic Training in Ft. Benning, Georgia. The film is being shot in the Sidi Moussa region of Morocco near the capital of Rabat and is scheduled for a March 2002 release. The release was moved from November to March to give plenty of time for post-production.
My page of actual photos from the Morrocan filming of Black Hawk Down (note: some are graphic)
Black Hawk Down Set pics - Page 2 (new stuff)
Visit the Offical Black Hawk Down site to view the teaser trailer in several different formats.
Black Hawk Down - Cinemayhem.com - my pick for the best Black Hawk Down site on the net. Thanks to Trent for letting me use some of his stuff.