Why is everybody saying Black Hawk Down is dissappointing?

[BitchTits]

I loved this movie. And not just because it was action-packed. It also happened to be one of the most emotional and downright depressing war flicks I've seen in a long time.

I know this movie lacked character development. But this movie wasn't about the characters, it was about the mission.

[Scarface98.9]

I can see why, but I love it regardless. I guess because it was hard to know who was who at some points, and it was a very long action sequence, which some may have gotten tired of.

[The Heart Collector]

maybe because it disappointed THEM.

[JoBlo]

Who exactly are you refering to, when you say "everybody" thought it was disappointing??

I think most critics liked the movie and at least all of the schmoes who slapped their own reviews to the site, also seemed to love it quite some: http://www.joblo.com/ubb/Forum22/HTML/000567.html

[Muha]

why is black hawk down disappointing?

hmm...lemme count the ways.

1. It doesnt matter if the film was about the mission and wasnt about the characters. Saving Private Ryan was about the mission just as much as BHD, but in SPR they talked about the mission and why they didnt like it, why they had to do it, and what they had to do to get it done.
In BHD, I dont recall them discussing the mission, because of the fact that they had no breaks. Therefore, you cant really say its about the mission. The mission wasnt really discussed except for the beginning, noting that that really didnt help. If they would have done a better job explaining the mission, I would have liked it more. I know about the mission... im a history buff. But, i cant get into a movie if i dont know the overall gist of the film. Like, why are we going in there and getting the warlord? why do we go in there like this?

2. Poor Acting and Misuse of Talent: When I found out Ioan Gruffudd (star of excellent Horatio Hornblower series) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas from LOTR:FOTR) were in this movie I flipped. However, with their both quick departures from the film, I sat there and was like "what a fucking waste of talent... they should have put them in better roles."

Plus, I really do not like Josh Hartnett... his performance in this wasnt as bad as his in PH, but it was still bad. Granted, there was some good acting, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, and William Fitchner did great. However, the best performance was by Eric Bana. If I had to pick the best thing from this film, I'd say it was his performance.

3. No Character Development: Hmm... people say this is not about the characters. I dont think that is very fair to the people that were actually in Somalia. In SPR, the characters may not have been completely real, but each of them represented the different types of people that fought during D-Day. Also, during BHD, soldiers got shot all the time and there was no remorse at all. Soldiers getting blown up and everyone continued to fight. I understand that they had to do that to survive, but Scott and his crew could have added a grieving time in the film. I didnt see one. In SPR, everyone was hurt when one of their men died. Hell, even in the D-Day scene there was a very emotional moment after. I didnt know any of the characters names except for a select few, I didnt feel upset when one of them died. That's sad since I usually cry after war movies. i.e. SPR, We were soldiers, the patriot, braveheart, even pearl harbor.

BHD final grade 4/10

[CriticalBill6966]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Muha:
why is black hawk down disappointing?

hmm...lemme count the ways.

1. It doesnt matter if the film was about the mission and wasnt about the characters. Saving Private Ryan was about the mission just as much as BHD, but in SPR they talked about the mission and why they didnt like it, why they had to do it, and what they had to do to get it done.
In BHD, I dont recall them discussing the mission, because of the fact that they had no breaks. Therefore, you cant really say its about the mission. The mission wasnt really discussed except for the beginning, noting that that really didnt help. If they would have done a better job explaining the mission, I would have liked it more. I know about the mission... im a history buff. But, i cant get into a movie if i dont know the overall gist of the film. Like, why are we going in there and getting the warlord? why do we go in there like this?

2. Poor Acting and Misuse of Talent: When I found out Ioan Gruffudd (star of excellent Horatio Hornblower series) and Orlando Bloom (Legolas from LOTR:FOTR) were in this movie I flipped. However, with their both quick departures from the film, I sat there and was like "what a fucking waste of talent... they should have put them in better roles."

Plus, I really do not like Josh Hartnett... his performance in this wasnt as bad as his in PH, but it was still bad. Granted, there was some good acting, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, and William Fitchner did great. However, the best performance was by Eric Bana. If I had to pick the best thing from this film, I'd say it was his performance.

3. No Character Development: Hmm... people say this is not about the characters. I dont think that is very fair to the people that were actually in Somalia. In SPR, the characters may not have been completely real, but each of them represented the different types of people that fought during D-Day. Also, during BHD, soldiers got shot all the time and there was no remorse at all. Soldiers getting blown up and everyone continued to fight. I understand that they had to do that to survive, but Scott and his crew could have added a grieving time in the film. I didnt see one. In SPR, everyone was hurt when one of their men died. Hell, even in the D-Day scene there was a very emotional moment after. I didnt know any of the characters names except for a select few, I didnt feel upset when one of them died. That's sad since I usually cry after war movies. i.e. SPR, We were soldiers, the patriot, braveheart, even pearl harbor.

BHD final grade 4/10</font>

Your talking crazy esse, don't you know it's loco to even compaire Ryan to Black Hawk. Ryan was a chearcter driven epic movie, who gives a damn about the mission and if they talked about it. SPR was about MANY people dieing and was full of MANY emotions.

BHD on the other hand, was about a small few dieing (talking about our side) and full of nonstop heart pounding actions of war. No drama of the sort. The most emotion that ran through my mind was.."Holy Shit fear" and a "Fucking Kickass cheers" and that's all.

So to compaire the two is just complety ignorant, IMO, being they are two differnt movies with two differnt goals/objective/emotions behind them.

[Scrunch]

I was disappointed. I was expecting something more hmm... wow.

It wasn't wow to me.

I personally like character development. If it's just a movie about the mission it's hardly better than a movie you watch in high school history class... with the exception of the quality of the production, the stars etc.

[Muha]

So to compaire the two is just complety ignorant, IMO, being they are two differnt movies with two differnt goals/objective/emotions behind them.


first off... its not ignorant and i take offense to that statement. second, they may be different movies, but the overall theme is war. war is war. theres nothing different about one war from the other if you are talking about human emotions. in every war, people were scared, anxious, angry, painful... its all the same man. who cares about the mission... its the soldiers who drive the war films.

Ryan was a chearcter driven epic movie, who gives a damn about the mission and if they talked about it. SPR was about MANY people dieing and was full of MANY emotions.

all war movies are character driven... thats what they are about... who cares about the mission... the mission doesnt impress me much. its all the same in war man.. get rid of the bad guy. they may do different things to do it, but the underlying sense of accomplishment is shown when they get the bad guy or kill the bad guy. SPR was full of MANY emotions... thats what made it soooo much better than BHD. i think BHD would have been a better movie if ridley scott would have put some emotions into that.

[Dunch]

check this out. Black Hawk Down was a dissapointment because it LICKED MY LEFT BALL. And my left ball is the harriest, sweatiest one. Saving Private Ryan fondled my balls a little, but that's not a bad thing.

I'd rather watch Behind Enemy Lines, because the guy wore a generic Adidas jacket. So FUCK black hawk down.

[ColinM]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Dunch:
check this out. Black Hawk Down was a dissapointment because it LICKED MY LEFT BALL. And my left ball is the harriest, sweatiest one. Saving Private Ryan fondled my balls a little, but that's not a bad thing.</font>

Well how can one argue with logic like this? http://www.joblo.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

All I will say is that any war movie that can put me in the middle of the fighting like BHD did must be great.

[badgirl]

IMHO, i absolutely loved BHD, definitely one of the best movies of the year and the greatest war movie i have ever seen (granted, i have not seen Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket) but at least it wasn't a Spielberg-Hanks propoganda machine like SPR. Can Spielberg make a movit without letting his personal oppinions seep through at every possible instant??!! I liked BHD because it kept it real and wasn't trying to tug on the heartstrings of ignorant Americans (of which i am one) who will probably never know what it is like to be in a real war/battle situation (and if anyone ever thinks of suggesting 9/11 i will kill myself). SPR was so damn condescending. BHD made you pay attention and didn't allow any shortcuts.

[DaFuNk44]

I wasn't disappointed at all. It had the action to keep me interested, and it got its point across ~ It was depressing to see all this brutality, but I loved the action and the emotions that ran high. I loved it !!