Black Hawk Down - R\nStarring: Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore\nDirected by: Ridley Scott\nShowing: Showplace West 12\nBring a sturdy stomach to the latest gory, blood-laced war epic. You'll see squirting blood, detached fingers and a legless torso. Empty bullet shells and mangled corpses outnumber developed, emotionally packed characters, creating more of a big-screen video game than a heart wrenching, smarter "Pearl Harbor." \nBased on Mark Bowden's nonfiction book of the same title, "Black Hawk Down" provides eye-catching, startling action sequences sandwiched between snapshots of macho, sweating Delta troops horsing around at camp or giving orders behind aviator shades. It's a macho film. Still, the movie falls short of yanking on emotions when it could have centralized the story on one or two characters or connected the Somali plight to the fresh wounds of Sept. 11.\n"Black Hawk Down" recalls the true story of United States soldiers' foiled attempt to kidnap personnel of Somali warlord Muhammad Farah Aidid, who during Somali's civil war among rival clans, cut off food supplies killing 300,000 civilians in famine. The Oct. 3, 1993 mission is supposed to last only 30 minutes. But well-armed, bloodthirsty Somalis bring down two Black Hawk helicopters and an 18-hour battle arises, killing 19 American soldiers and more than 100,000 Somalis.\nWith startling stunts and compelling patriotism, "Black Hawk Down" consumes the sight and gives viewers insight into modern warfare. For example, one soldier tries to explain to another that he can't return to the battlefield. But the second soldier reminds him that they're all scared, inspiring the first soldier to put on his best courageous appearance, pump his asthma inhaler and leap into a loaded jeep. Hans Zimmer's poignant score provides the mood, as an enormous American flag hanging from the camp shelter provides a stirring, inspiring backdrop. \nBut it's not all guts and glory. The film shows soldiers periodically questioning their courage and whether the United States should be fighting another country's war. But the film never directly addresses Sept. 11, although the bloodbath in Mogadishu, Somalia, shows a U.S. foreign policy blunder later addressed by Osama bin Laden. The director missed his chance at connecting a less than well known tragedy to a calamity that still rings loudly in every American's ears. The film also could have played with emotions by further developing individual soldiers -- giving them backgrounds, families and hopes for the future. Dying troops call out to their daughters and parents who are safely thousands of miles away, but besides a brief look at a wife missing her soldier-husband's call home, "Black Hawk Down" sticks mainly to action scenes, foolishly failing to make the Somali civil war personal or relevant. But it's still a fine, adrenaline-pumping action film for the big screen…as long as you bring that steel stomach.\n
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