who saw "black hawk down" ???

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: kami
Good movie, and hold out on the current DVD if you haven't bought it yet cause I hear either a 2 disc or 3 disc SE is on its way.

I just bought it today. But I paid $10, so I aint upset.

 

[440sixpack]

Thank you for the comments on my quote. As stated, this guy is a former Ranger who knew some of those who died in Somalia. Here's another post of his on it, the two men listed here are to two snipers who were voluntarily inserted to protect the downed chopper, knowing full well no rescue would be coming. Absolute unbelievable heroism. Sorry about the length but I believe this is worthy.

Black Hawk Down
The movie was released on DVD/VHS on Tuesday June 11.

I highly recommend to everyone to buy this movie! is is under $15 at Wal-Mart and is a must have. In addition to it's historical value it was a good film winning 2 Academy Awards, and features and all star cast.

You will see the true valor and professionalism of US fighting forces against terrible odds, in the most horrific situation imagineable. Watching this film pays tribute to those who lost their lives, and those who showed heroism beyond what is possible in normal men.

You will also see the valor of two men, both Sargeants in the Army's Delta Force, who voluteered time and time again to go in and protect a down air crew.. when finally given permission they fought to the end against insane odds. Both won the Congressional Medal of Honor for their acts. The highest award possible for any member of the US military.




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quote:
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*GORDON, GARY I.
Rank and organization: Master Sergeant, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Lincoln, Maine. Citation: Master Sergeant Gordon, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as Sniper Team Leader, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Master Sergeant Gordon's sniper team provided precision fires from the lead helicopter during an assault and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. When Master Sergeant Gordon learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the second crash site, he and another sniper unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After his third request to be inserted, Master Sergeant Gordon received permission to perform his volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Master Sergeant Gordon was inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon and his fellow sniper, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Master Sergeant Gordon immediately pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Master Sergeant Gordon used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers until he depleted his ammunition. Master Sergeant Gordon then went back to the wreckage, recovering some of the crew's weapons and ammunition. Despite the fact that he was critically low on ammunition, he provided some of it to the dazed pilot and then radioed for help. Master Sergeant Gordon continued to travel the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. After his team member was fatally wounded and his own rifle ammunition exhausted, Master Sergeant Gordon returned to the wreckage, recovering a rifle with the last five rounds of ammunition and gave it to the pilot with the words, "good luck." Then, armed only with his pistol, Master Sergeant Gordon continued to fight until he was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Master Sergeant Gordon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

*SHUGHART, RANDALL D.

Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army. Place and date: 3 October 1993, Mogadishu, Somalia. Entered service at: ----- Born: Newville, Pennsylvania. Citation: Sergeant First Class Shughart, United States Army, distinguished himself by actions above and beyond the call of duty on 3 October 1993, while serving as a Sniper Team Member, United States Army Special Operations Command with Task Force Ranger in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sergeant First Class Shughart provided precision sniper fires from the lead helicopter during an assault on a building and at two helicopter crash sites, while subjected to intense automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenade fires. While providing critical suppressive fires at the second crash site, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader learned that ground forces were not immediately available to secure the site. Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader unhesitatingly volunteered to be inserted to protect the four critically wounded personnel, despite being well aware of the growing number of enemy personnel closing in on the site. After their third request to be inserted, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader received permission to perform this volunteer mission. When debris and enemy ground fires at the site caused them to abort the first attempt, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader were inserted one hundred meters south of the crash site. Equipped with only his sniper rifle and a pistol, Sergeant First Class Shughart and his team leader, while under intense small arms fire from the enemy, fought their way through a dense maze of shanties and shacks to reach the critically injured crew members. Sergeant First Class Shughart pulled the pilot and the other crew members from the aircraft, establishing a perimeter which placed him and his fellow sniper in the most vulnerable position. Sergeant First Class Shughart used his long range rifle and side arm to kill an undetermined number of attackers while traveling the perimeter, protecting the downed crew. Sergeant First Class Shughart continued his protective fire until he depleted his ammunition and was fatally wounded. His actions saved the pilot's life. Sergeant First Class Shughart's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest standards of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit and the United States Army.

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only 3427 of these awards have been made in our nations history, through all of the wars and deaths and great deeds, involving millions of men.. less than 3500 have lived up to the courage required.

by this movie.. honor these men..

Hooah!

 

[Swanny]

You really got a feeling of how war is hell and how miscommunication, indecision and bad calls get soldiers dead. I wonder how accurate it was too.

Yup, you really get the feeling that Clinton is a dumb putz. The whole reason that little mission failed was that he wouldn't authorize the use of armored vehicles and proper firepower.

Go figure.



And yes, it was a very good movie.

 

[Stifko]

440sixpack, I cut and pasted your whole last post into word and printed it out for a security guard on my job. He is a former Navy guy and did some covert things in Bosnia and the Middle East. He cannot tell me any of the stories b/c there are guys still out on those missions, and that would jepordize their safety. Anyway he really appreciated me printing that out and giving it to him. He wound up posting it in the locker room for the security guards downstairs and on it he wrote :

when you candyA$$es think that you are having a bad day, read this.

thanks for that post.

 

[kh3443]

I heard the actually battle only lasted for 13 mins and 13 US died and 1000 enemys died. Good movie, but I didn't get why we were there in the first place. And I thought the General in the movie is probably the worst general I've seen in war movies so far. Also the Captians on the coopers are so freaken dumb as hell. I blame the losses because of bad directioning. Theres one part where the General looks at the map and said....."we need to get them out of hostil area and get them to the safe zone." I was like, No sh*t Sherlock, In the movie he never said anything strategic. And later on the UN comes in cuz we needed help. Why do we always want credit for everything, Clinton tries to be the Hero all the time.

 

[Insomnium]

Actually there was a show on like FoxNews, CNN, or maybe the history channel titled "America's First Battle with Osama Bin Laden" which was actually about Black Hawk Down. Don't remember the specifics, but bin laden was involved in this somali thing one way or another, i think in supporting this new regime. Definitely check that out if you get a chance, i have no idea if it will ever re-air.

btw, i found black hawk down to also be a bit of a chick flick as i had no probs watching it with the gf. Not too much gore but its probably cuz of josh hartnet :disgust:

 

[440sixpack]

Originally posted by: Stifko
440sixpack, I cut and pasted your whole last post into word and printed it out for a security guard on my job. He is a former Navy guy and did some covert things in Bosnia and the Middle East. He cannot tell me any of the stories b/c there are guys still out on those missions, and that would jepordize their safety. Anyway he really appreciated me printing that out and giving it to him. He wound up posting it in the locker room for the security guards downstairs and on it he wrote :

when you candyA$$es think that you are having a bad day, read this.

thanks for that post.

You're welcome. It's always good to see others can be affected by those words also.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: kh3443
I heard the actually battle only lasted for 13 mins and 13 US died and 1000 enemys died. Good movie, but I didn't get why we were there in the first place. And I thought the General in the movie is probably the worst general I've seen in war movies so far. Also the Captians on the coopers are so freaken dumb as hell. I blame the losses because of bad directioning. Theres one part where the General looks at the map and said....."we need to get them out of hostil area and get them to the safe zone." I was like, No sh*t Sherlock, In the movie he never said anything strategic. And later on the UN comes in cuz we needed help. Why do we always want credit for everything, Clinton tries to be the Hero all the time.

You heard wrong it was far more than 13 minutes...

and wtf is bad directioning?

And while I am commenting on your post, wtf the fvck does this mean:

And I thought the General in the movie is probably the worst general I've seen in war movies so far

Perhaps you should read some military history. You could start wiht the book, Black Hawk Down. Then read anything about WWI and tell me you haven't found some incompetent Generals...

 

[Stifko]

Did the Blackburn kid die from the fall ?

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: Stifko
Did the Blackburn kid die from the fall ?

IIRC, he only broke his legs, right?

nik

 

[Bulk Beef]

Originally posted by: Stifko
Did the Blackburn kid die from the fall ?

No.

 

[Bulk Beef]

In response to your original question re: the accuracy of the movie, you should really read the book.

I thought the movie did a good job of capturing the feel of modern combat (not that I would really know), and most events portrayed in the movie are covered in the book. Mark Bowden was apparently pretty diligent about having stories from more than one source.

The one thing I thought was strangely inaccurate was that in the movie, Sgt. Eversmann leads his chalk to the first crash site. According to the book, Eversmann and his chalk were on the lost convoy that never made it to the crash site. Lt. DiTomasso lead that chalk to the crash site, and it was DiTomasso who wound up covered in Jamie Smith's blood, not Eversmann. While I understand the need to condense things for the screen (composite characters, etc.), I thought it was strange that the movie would attribute the real actions of a real person to another real person. Just an observation.

 

[coolVariable]

i didn't like the movie:

1. bad story for a movie (i know it's a true story but it still is a bad story for a movie). it's only a endless firefight - nothing else. and that's very, very boring!!!
2. too long; after about 20 minutes of fighting i kept looking at my watch when they would finally get it over with.
3. with everyone looking the same things got really confusing when you suddenly saw people who you had thought seen dying were suddenly still living and shooting.
4. i saw the documentary about the actual incident and THAT was far more interesting!

i don't want to deminish the soldiers who were actually there but as a movie it sfcked big time.