What a film this was. What was your reaction? Did we miss anything? Early Drops & Full Reactions on YT Memberships & Patreon: www.patreon.com/baddmedicine Backup channel Subscribe here ruclips.net/channel/UC1CLUwA27dz-94o3FR0o3xg
It is a great movie but it had, I don't know if I should say, the bad luck of having been released very close to the events of 9/11 and half went unnoticed, or did not have much impact, especially for Americans, who did not have much desire to see anything related to war or terrorism in movies.
Another movie that had the same fate was Spy Game by Ridley's brother, Tony Scott, with Brad Pitt and Robert Redfort, also released around that time, which is precisely a movie that touches the theme of terrorism and in fact there is a scene of an attack with a car bomb, which had to be cut in intensity, precisely because of 9/11, they did not want to shock the audience with a strong scene, because they said it was too strong to see, in fact they explode and demolish a real building in Lebanon in that scene.
My reaction was: It got better the second time I saw it. I was no longer telling myself - I know that guy, and that guy, and that guy, and that guy . . . . On smartphone GPS: Pretty sure a competent strategy would be to 'turn-off' cell towers in any location with an enemy in it's service range.
An interesting fact about this movie, all of the helicopters in this battle were from the elite 160th SOAR "Night Stalkers", the best helicopter pilots in the world. When they filmed this movie, they actually got the US military to assist them by loaning out all the helicopters and pilots from the actual Night Stalkers regiment. In fact most of the helicopter pilots they used for the film were the **actual** pilots that flew during this battle.
The pilot who rescues SSG Daniel Busch from the first crash site was the man who extracted him. His copilot was shooting an MP5 out of the window until they could take off. All of that really happened. Sadly, Daniel Busch died due to his injuries. o7 Sua Sponte
@@johnkimble4119No, for sure the world. No other military pilots get the training or flight hours that the US does, these are the best of the best. No other country comes close.
The 2 delta guys who went to rescue the helicopter crew are the definition of heroes, requesting permission to go in against that hoard knowing it was a death sentence takes guts.
delta force is easily the best special forces in America not the seals don't get me wrong seals are amazing but it so hard to get into delta its not even funny
I need a George Washington trying to cut down the oak tree but it’s Appleton oak doing the shot gesture he does in the beginning of the Vids on a t shirt
Jeff Struecker, the lead Humvee driver who gives the guy a pep talk, has a channel. He posts "fun facts" about the movie and says it is as accurate as any movie could be given the limitations of fitting the story into two hours. He covers particular scenes and explains how close they are to reality. Also, one of the Delta operators did a long podcast a few days ago and confirmed a lot of what happened in the movie. For those who were adults when this incident happened, most of us remember the images and video CNN was running 24/7 for days. The most jarring was the video of the Somalis dragging the naked, dead bodies of the two Delta operators through the dirty streets. And there were videos of Somalis jumping up and down on the rotors of the downed Black Hawks. Then we saw the hostage video of Durant who was bruised and bloodied from the the crash and the beatings. There is a lot of political context for this story. This was actually part of a twenty-one-nation UN operation to help the Somalis. It wasn't until Adid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers that it turned into an offensive operation. I will not get into the political particulars, but there is blame to be placed on higher-ups for the failure of this mission. I was shocked to learn the following when I studied up on the battle. Adid's son had immigrated to the U.S. years earlier when he was 17. He became a U.S. citizen, attended college, and joined the Marines. He was assigned to the UN relief operation as a Somali interpreter. I believe his tour in Somalia ended a few weeks before the Rangers and Delta arrived. But Adid's son was on the U.S. side of this conflict. That changed after his father was killed. He returned to Somalia and took his father's position. From what I understand, he worked towards peace to a much greater degree than his father but was ultimately unsuccessful. Somalia has not improved in the 30 years since this event. It has not had a functional government in decades. It is still in a civil war. There are still warlords and factions. The main difference is that now the most powerful warlord and his faction are trying to implement an Islamic government.
The only trope I noticed was helo props continuing to spin and exist long past their disintegration period when contacting the ground. I see this too often in movies and that particular thing always makes me SMH. As for the actual mission - yeah, too much ring's of truth from a variety of POV's meaning someone did their homework. :)
@@SandraMorris51 I think it was a big shock to everyone in the U.S. to see the dead bodies of U.S. soldiers being manhandled and thrown around by the Somalis. Those were the two guys who were posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Thank you guys for watching this, the 30th anniversary just passed and this story needs to be remembered. You cant tell a full "true" story with a movie, but this one is was done good. But really, I just want to say thank you guys! I appreciate each of you🙏
This is probably the only way I could watch this movie. My dad did two tours of Vietnam and my niece was in Afghanistan. Growing up seeing the PTSD my dad went through and my niece’s personality change was enough for me. I’m so thankful for anyone who signs up to serve because I know I could never do it.
I worked for Colonel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore's character) a couple years after this happened. He is a class act and great person. He does a seminar on the events and it gives a much larger perspective on all of the events that led to this tragedy. You can find video here and on other sites. Highly recommended.
Did you watch this after you already knew him? I had no idea what a badass my LTG was until I ETSd and watched a literal TV show about him before he got stars. There was also this LTC I bunked with once and I found out later there was a book about him. Only in the army do you meet these badasses and it’s just normal, because when they look at you, they expect you to have done exactly the same thing in their shoes, and nothing less. I fucking loved my time there, and I’m going back as soon as I graduate.
This came out during my next station. I was in an infantry battalion with a few folks who had served in Regiment. Danny McKnight is a very humble an unassuming man. You would never pick him out of a crowd based on seeing Tom Sizemore.@@DopeSauceBenevolence
My uncle served in Somalia with special forces. He can’t tell me anything but I can tell you… that man has secrets. I’ve never met a more calm and patient person in my life. I’m guessing compared to the hell he saw in multiple theaters of war bad traffic and annoying civilian stuff must be a cake walk.
YES YES YES. This movie is fantastic. R.I.P Sergeant first class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon. They were the 2 heroes who insisted on being dropped in at the crash site to help. They were denied the request twice and kept insisting on going down. They died in combat and were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
I really wish they'd have shown Master Sergeant Brad Halling, the third Delta sniper on board the chopper. He took the starboard side Crew Chief's gun after the other man was wounded by ground fire. Super 6-2 stayed on station and provided air cover for about 10 minutes or so before it took an RPG in the space between the copilot and Halling, mangling his leg and knocking the copilot out cold
As a veteran that did 2 long and 1 short tour in the Middle East this is the first time I’ve revisited this movie. Of course I saw this before I had joined the service but seeing it after experiencing what it’s like hits different. Hits hard. Not everyone that goes out there gets to come home, even the ones that do come home leave a piece of themselves there. I know I left a piece of myself over there. Just want to thank all you at the channel for the respect and gratitude shown during this reaction. I don’t speak for everyone but for me it truly means a lot.
It is mostly agreed upon that this was a pretty accurate retelling of what really happened. The "Vietnam era Hueys" you spotted are not Vietnam era at all. Those are AH-6 Little Bird Gunships. They have the basic body shape of an earlier version of this chopper but has advanced tech and much more firepower. They are very fast and very maneuverable and they have incredible visibility with their bubble canopy.
There's a huey acting as relay in the air, that's where convoy was getting direction from. Who is turn is getting relay from a P-3 flying via JSOC, hence the line where the guy said there are time delays between directions.
The part that stuck out to me was when Eric Bana’s character asked to go in on foot. He got an almost instant green light. If he had requested that towards the start of the operation it would have run up command assessed if it was to risky etc. As the situation got worse and worse the orders were decided fast and without hesitation. Like if you think you can help then do it, go.
Highly recommend you read the book of the same title, by Mark Bowden. That's the definitive retelling of the battle. For the movie they had to simplify a lot of things because nobody thinks a film audience can understand anything on their own. Primarily this consisted of combining multiple real people into "composite characters", as well as leaving out pretty much everything from the Somali side. As far as specific events depicted in the movie, they're mostly accurate (they took some liberties with the "Mogadishu Mile" near the end; the vehicles didn't just leave the soldiers behind like that). The Americans who die & how they die? Also accurate. Speaking of the book... 2:40 "Aidid waits until the Marines withdraw, and then declares war on the remaining U.N. peacekeepers." The reason Aidid waited until the US Marines withdrew? His son was serving with them, deployed there because apparently he was the only active duty member of the USMC who was fluent in the local dialects. The younger Aidid served honorably, before being drawn back to Somalia after his father's death.
Mark Bowden also wrote "Killing Pablo". the definitive account of the giant man hunt for pablo escobar. the book they based the first two seasons of Narcos on.
Its not that, Aidid waited because the marines landed with 20,000 strong with tanks and APC and air support which he knew he couldn't stand up against.
Listen to the “Shawn Ryan Podcast”, last week’s episode was Tom Satterly. He was one of the Delta guy’s involved in the real event. Blackhawk Down happened when i was in high school and was the driving force behind my enlistment and i re-upped on 12 Sep 2001. We need to stop killing our own service members by sending them to more forever wars and conflicts we have no business being in. Regardless of the outcome.
This has always been one of my favorite military movies. Saving Private Ryan is great, but I feel like this really gave a perspective of what our soldiers were going through now, rather than what our ancestors went through in the past, and it was very poignant because of that.
I was 21 during Desert Shield/Storm, my 1st deployment, and 23 during Restore Hope/Gothic Serpent, my 2nd deployment. I'll never forget that time in my life, both good and horrific. Navy 90-96.
I enlisted in the Army after having dropped out of college due to financial difficulties. I did return to college after having served and I earned my Bachelor of Arts in December 1992. I wanted to attend law school, but I began to develop the onset of my VA diagnosed PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I served as a United States Infantry Sergeant, and I earned my Combat Infantryman Badge for my service inside the Korean DMZ (December 1983 - December 1984). I subsequently served as a Police Sergeant, and I retired as a Federal Investigator. The fear and anxiety can be managed, but you fool yourself into the irrational concept known as, "I must bury my emotions." But, the vivid thoughts memories will be and are triggered by the most obscure exposures to a stimulus. Every single day of your life is filled with a direct bond to and with everyone who has experienced the futility of a firefight.
One of the actors you fellas recognized early on ("The banker from Dark Knight", "Quarterback from Longest Yard", etc.) is named William Fichtner. And yeah, he's a brilliant addition to pretty much half of everything. If you want to see him steal a movie right out from under Nicolas Cage himself, I highly recommend "Drive Angry".
The 2 pilots that landed the Little Bird at the crash site were the actual pilots who did it during the operation. They co-pilot really did shoot at targets with his MP5 while sitting in the chopper as the main pilot got a Silver star for assisting with rescuing the Delta Operator.
I think it's important to note, yes by todays standard huge cast, however like Lannister boy, Orlando Bloom, Tom Hardy etc a lot of those weren't big actors at the time :)
'Big' is subjective. If you mean leading roles and top billing - correct. If you mean character roles and appearances in other popular media than HUGE is appropriate. Those with the lead in this are no more popular than those with much smaller parts but each contributes to the construction of believability. This is why character actors will always be needed to support the script and give the leads weight.
@@terrylandess6072 I agree, my "big" reference was more in terms of when the movie came out those names were not really known as they are today. So if we look objectively at the film as an all star cast, it really wasn't when it came out 20 odd years ago. Where as if you look at the movie, new years eve which has a platoon of highly known actors at the time it came out. If you know what I mean. When all that is said you're absolutely right :)
I remember rewatching Band of Brothers some time ago and recognizing Tom Hardy was a nice surprise ( also Fassbender, McAvoy, Simon Pegg and few others).
Concur… kind of. The story of “Windtalkers” needs more telling… or I should say, the story of the Navajo *CODE* talkers needs more telling. What I have issues with (besides the title) is 1) Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater. That business of assigning a white handler to each Navajo DID NOT HAPPEN. The CODE talkers underwent the same basic training that every other Marine underwent-in addition to CREATING AND LEARNING the code to the level of instant, flawless while getting shot at. 2) would liked to have seen more about the development of this code that has never been broken. 3) it’s a fictional story about actual events. Those young men were so incredibly badass and their TRUE story is so much better than the film. 4) some epilogue would have been great too… these men went home and couldn’t even tell their families what they had done bc the code itself stayed classified for so long! (If anyone reading this wants to know more, I HIGHLY recommend the memoir “Code Talker” by Chester Nez. He died only 10 years ago and has done interviews as well.
I lived just off Ft Bragg when this came out and MANY of my active duty neighbors told me this is real as it gets for what it was really like to be there
This film really shows how difficult and chaotic combat can be. You should watch some breakdowns of this battle, it's crazy. It's a testament to our soldiers it wasn't worse. The best films revolve around true storie...as long as they stick to those stories (looking at you Pearl Harbor)...for WII should really check out Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Both are directed by Clint Eastwood and tell the same story from opposite sides.
Black Hawk Down was the subject of a school project for me back in the noughties when I was in school. I barely remember what class or what criteria I studied for the movie and the assignment, but I never forget the feeling of wartime and what seeing portrayals of war does. One of many engaging yet difficult movies that, like Quinn said, really made me not care for seeing news in the regular day to day just because of how overarching and omnipresent it was in my youth and still kind of is today. I'm just glad I have some semblance of peace living the way I get to in this life. I'm luckier than too many people in the world. Really glad I found this channel and will always give props to this awesome team. Badd Medicine is goodd content!
This movie released when I worked at a movie theater. I saw it before it opened to the public, enjoyed it so much that I saw it an additional four times at my theater.
How have NONE OF YOU seen this film? This is one of the most realistic, in war films released. They won awards for staying true to reality of what occurred on October 3rd and October 4th 1993
One thing i will say, if anyone wants to know more about the little birds used during this operation, read "The Night Stalkers" by Durant. 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, or 160th SOAR(A). They're mentioned by name in this film ( during the Scrabble argument early on ) as well as one of their actual pilots makes a cameo in this movie, Chief Warrant Officer Four Keith Jones. The scene with the air support attack which required the infrared strobe as a marker for the attack, was also Night Stalkers. "Death Waits In The Dark" is their motto.
The Operations Room channel has a two part video summary of this whole event. Lots of heroes all around. From those two snipers who died protecting the crash site to the Malaysian U.N reinforcements who, under constant fire, wouldn't leave any American soldiers behind. Diamond Dave putting in work editing all the channel's videos love that man
46:33 These are the rules of combat medics: 1: In war, men will die. 2: Doc can not change rule 1. 3: Doc will move Heaven and Earth trying to change rules 1 and 2.
The closest I got was watching The Empire Strikes Back on a naval base when it released - some Marine yells out 'Paris Island' when Luke crashes on Dagobah.
Hey I just wanted to leave a comment and let you guys know I love the channel and have enjoyed watching along with you guys these past few months. I was shocked when I first found out you guys are from Wisconsin too cuz I swear I've seen you guys before I even knew about the channel. Keep up the great work everyone!
I watched the movie maybe 4 times and read the book I think 3 times, over maybe a 5 year period. FOR THE SAME REASON that you guys stated in your reaction. I wanted to know what happened over there and why. I watched and read "We Were Soldiers" for the same reason. I agree that we should all watch these movies, at least once, to get an idea of what our soldiers have done and why and at what cost. We're so insulated here in North America from what life is like in much of the rest of the world. Movies like these are not easy or comfortable to watch...they're not supposed to be. Really good reaction, guys.
My dad was an Army infantryman stationed in Somalia in 1993, he lived through this. The horrors of this movie are very accurate. I know it was really hard for my dad, they were sent there for a humanitarian mission and it tuned into combat.. the men there just wanted to help. my dad is a hero in my eyes and he lost so many friends here.
Mike Durant wrote a memoir (In the Company of Heroes) about his time in the service and particularly about his time in captivity. Fantastic read! There’s also another channel on RUclips (can’t remember the name) where special forces veterans breakdown the movie that provides a lot of insight.
If y'all are interested in the rescue portion at all, there was a movie by a Malaysian director that was released earlier this year (August) called Matbatt: Misi Bakara. It's about the 19th Battalion Malay Regiment which was the rescue convoy deployed as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force during the Black Hawk Down mission. The Black Hawk Down movie was generally a huge hit worldwide, so many Malaysians were genuinely surprised to find out we played such a significant role in the rescue of those troops, especially since the movie makes little mention of it. It just adds a little more depth and insight into what went on behind the scenes in planning and executing the actual rescue. PS. I've never been this early to a reaction before but I've been stuck binge-watching all of you guys' videos for the past month. Stay warm and stay healthy!
Thanks for the insight. It's important for any member of the UN contributions to be known as it solidifies it's reason for existence (or disbandment - depending on outlook)
As a Malaysian, many of us were not surprised that Malaysian UN troops played a significant role in the rescue as it was well publicised here considering we had one soldier killed in action (Private Mat Aznan Awang) & 9 others injured. Whilst we understand it is a Hollywood movie, we were indeed disappointed how this movie did not give the due recognition to the Malaysian & Pakistan UN''s participation without which US would have seen higher casualties. It ended up as if the US soldiers rescued themselves entirely & Malaysian & Pakistani soldiers were only portrayed as transport drivers.
I saw this movie when I was very young, just maybe a year or so after the film had come out. In many ways, it defined how I feel about war and soldiers and American foreign policy and bureaucracy. It has been a tradition of mine to watch this film every Veterans Day, been doing that for the last few decades. And it remains #2 on my favorite films of all time right behind the LoTR trilogy.
Yurek the Sgt that almost got mowed down by tom hardy is Tom Guiry who was a child actor starring in the movie the Sandlot. He's been in other movies as an adult like Mystic River & most recently The Reverent. The Asst to the General played by Sam Shepard is the actor Steven Ford who is the son of President Gerald R. Ford & first lady Betty Ford.
I was stationed on the USS KITTY HAWK CV-63 and our battle group were in theater just 10 months before this happened....things were only simmering and reaching at a boiling point back then in December 92. I was sent to Mogadishu for temporary duty with several others to facilitate military personnel passengers going in and out of the area, we were non combatants but rebel militia snipers were taking pot shots at our HQ so we were transferred north to Mombasa, Kenya....spent Christmas of 92 there.
"Hunger is his weapon"... It's astonishing what humans are capable of doing to each other. It's a very sobering moment when you realize how lucky you are and how many people suffered (and still suffer) throughout history. Great reaction as always ❤
27:20 that pilot of the smaller helicopter, called a "Little Bird", is named Keith Jones who was one of the pilots flying a Little Bird during the battle in 1993. He and his co-pilot actually flew in, landed, and took the wounded soldier (Daniel Busch, who later passed away sadly of his wounds) away in the middle of all that. Keith Jones plays himself in that scene. Also as they run back to the Little Bird and load up to leave - the co pilot is firing a MP5 out of the side. Later in this same scene I think, a few Air Force Pararescue or "PJ's" as theyre known, are dropped in. One of them, a real life guy named Tim Wilkinson, is played by Ty Burrell who was Phil Dunphy in the show Modern Family on ABC. I only know all of this is because I did a lot of research for a paper I wrote for a history class in high school. And I've listened to a ton of podcasts later in life of guys who were Rangers and Delta IRL and veterans of what went down in Mogadishu.
@@davidobrien2541 yep. Wilkinson ran across an open street 3 times from the 6-1 crash to a casualty collection point for medical supplies and treated the guy that Grimes was based on as well as a number of other Rangers.
I love this movie. And it stays pretty close to the book and actual events from everything I understand. One thing that was left out though was exactly HOW the pilot, Durant, got released. Following the firefight, the US reinforced the area with more troops and armor and we're bringing a carrier group into the area. The US negotiator said that it was the easiest negotiation he ever had, because President Clinton gave him authorization to say what he did The negotiator met with a representative of Aidid's who gave a speech followed by a long list of demands. The negotiator then said, I will see what I can do about your demands, but let me tell you this. If Durant isn't released SOON, then nothing will be able to stop what is coming. The US military wants revenge and now has the means to exact it. They will roll in here with heavy armor and planes and no two bricks will be left standing in your city. Durant was released a few days later with no demands being met. Although the US did completely withdraw a few weeks later.
@@fautless Black Hawks are different helicopters than both Hueys and Little Birds. The Little Bird is the helicopter that they were misidentifying as a Huey.
In his defense, they actually used Hueys for some of the shots, when you see them from the top down. That’s because they only had the 160th SOAR and their Black Hawks for a limted time, and had to use a Huey for later fill-in shots.
Yes, every star starts out very small and many actors were used in Pearl Harbor, which was released in the same year. I'm surprised you don't recognize Leon from the fast and the furious. Johnny Strong plays Shughart here.
The thing here is many of these actors are already well established - making for an amazing ensemble. I'm sure there are many actors I didn't recognize as they were starting and since I don't watch TV or go to modern movies, wouldn't know the level of their current success.
I'm your age guys and I remember this conflict very well. It was savagery, seeing reports of Marine William David (Cleveland) being dragged and beaten in the streets of Mogadishu was horrifying and the rest of the conflict was horror. The sad thing about physical media disappearing is the DVD had a special documentary (probably can find it on you tube) and some extra features and interviews with the actual soldiers who were there. Many of them said, they were ready to go back in and were gonna bring hell with them. However, president Clinton at the time made the decision to leave. The rebels actually believe to this day that they defeated the American forces because of that.
I was a US Army Ranger during the GWOT. I was shot twice and suffered a severed femoral artery (and vein). My EBL or "Estimated Blood Loss" was 2-3 liters. My tourniquet was applied about 30-45 seconds after i was shot. You have about 2 Liters of blood per 60 pounds of body weight. So i nearly lost half my blood volume in under 1 minute. The blood was spraying THROUGH my pants. It sounded like the sound made when you spray a hose through a towel when washing your vehicle. After about 10 seconds (maybe less) i knew my cognition was impaired from the loss of blood and blood pressure. I did end up passing out and going into Hypovolemic Shock about 15 seconds after my tourniquet was applied. I could not apply my tourniquet myself because i was also shot through my right wrist and my right hand was just flopping around. Traditionally, trauma theory has been to FIRST apply a "pressure dressing" and then, if that didn't work, apply a tourniquet. Totally backwards thinking and probably caused many unnecessary deaths in combat. Probably even the civilian side as well, since EMS used that line of thinking for so long and maybe still do ? I haven't seen EMS SOP's since about 2007 but even back then they were pushing "pressure dressing first" ideology. Ironically, i was trained as a Special Operations Combat Medic at Ft Bragg. That's an absolutely fantastic course. Probably the best in the world. I always tell people who will listen, if you suspect you have an arterial bleed, tourniquet first. ASAP. Do what you gotta do AFTER the tourniquet is applied. I ended up losing 6cm each of femoral artery and vein. I had to have reverse saphenous vein grafts to both. Also developed compartment syndrome and had to have 4 emergency compartment fasciotomies and developed a DVT as well. Radius was shattered. The AK round destroyed over half of my vastus medialis. Simply watch a rifle round go through clear ballistics gel to understand why. I knew some Ranger Medics who were there in Somalia at the time. They said they were carrying medical gear back then that they didn't even know how to use. After this incident, they started sending Rangers to Ft Bragg to go through the "Special Operations Combat Medic" course. When i went through that course in the early 2,000's all SOF sent their medics there except Air Force PJ's. So Green Berets (it's their course and they stay a bit longer to learn animal husbandry and dental skill sets) SEALS, Marine Force Recon, Rangers and a few others. When i went through, one of the guys trying out for SF was a former PJ and he said this course was much better than the PJ course. PJ's apparently had too high of a failure rate so they stopped sending them there.
This is directorRidley Scott's usual first rate job. I absolutely love how the credits roll to Shane McGowan's strane, compelling rendition of The Minstrel Boy.
I got out of the Army in 1991, but for six months in 1993 I was a military contractor supporting USSOCOM in Tampa, FL while the lead up to this operation was going on. My work ended and I left there in early September, just a month before the events in the movie happened. I was in no way involved, but the deployment to Somalia was definitely what most people there were focused on.
I somehow had never paid close attention to the more minor characters of this movie, and it blew my mind when I finally realized the same actor who plays Cpt Steele also plays Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter. Going from a shaved head to glorious long blond hair probably fooled me well enough. Mr Atto is also in HP, as Kingsley Shackleford. Also you guys need to react to Band of Brothers & The Pacific, so you're ready when Masters of the Air comes out next year.
So glad you picked the Extended Edition of this movie. Thankfully it contains the stuff that should have been in the "Theatrical Cut." Fact: The US DoD, the 160th SOAR "The Night Stalkers", Delta Force and the 75th Ranger Regiment got into the production by doing it accurately as possible. The actors got into Ranger School and some got trained by Delta Force. There are Black Hawk Down-behind the scenes videos currently up on RUclips and you should check it out for more info. This movie from start to finish is gonna stay in your head for the rest of your life. It's non-stop action packed with all-star cast that we all know today.
You're absolutely right - it stays in your head for the rest of your life. I saw this, what, 20 years ago (wait wut? It's been that long??), and still, every once in awhile, scenes will pop into my head. Amazingly powerful film.
A few months back I met a guy who was a part of this mission, its insane. Also met a dude who was a SEAL in Vietnam, both were home aids now, our country let them down. After what they did they shouldnt have to work a day in their lives.
A great reaction. One of my fave war films, I love the score by Zimmer, Leaving No Man behind is amazing. I believe that they made the character Hoot out of two delta operators.
A great book to check out is called The Battle of Mogadishu. It features six perspectives of the battle: Army Rangers Matt Eversmann, John Belman, Mike Kurth and Raleigh Cash and Air Force Special Tactics Airmen Combat Controller Dan Schilling (who rode with Colonel McKnight) and Pararescueman Tim Wilkinson (Ty Burrell's character). The forward is by Mark Bowden who wrote the book.
It's refreshing watching dudes my age recognize actors from movies I grew up with. I'll be watching a younger person react to a movie and they're like "Anthony Hopkins, who is that". I just shake my head.
I went into the Army in 1997 and at the time, the Mark Bowden book from which this movie is largely based was a must-read for every Infantryman. I was stoked when they made the movie in 01-02.
27:35 - Fun fact - The Little Bird pilot who jumps out and grabs the injured Delta operator is Army pilot (CW4) Keith Jones. He is playing himself and is re-enacting his real life rescue of Delta operator Daniel Busch in this scene. Jones advises Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) on the crash site casualties and airlifts Busch out. Jones received a Silver Star for his actions.
This is one of those pieces where, if you watch it every few years, you'll recognize actors who weren't famous at the time but are now. You guys should definitely check out Lone Survivor and 13 Hours. Combined with Black Hawk Down, they're the trifecta of modern war movies. For something a little less brutal (in terms of combat) Generation Kill is fantastic!
The smaller helicopters aren't Hueys. Those are MH-6 Little Birds. They are special operations birds used by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment to fly in special operators, and for close air support in limited situations.
The book has much stuff "between the lines" like the Delta just almost resenting the rangers being there cos they had to 'baby sit' them. The parts about the 2 snipers are taken from other delta guys and also mike durant at the crash, you really get the idea that these guys were good enough to make it if there had been a 1% chance they could have done, this wasn't a one way trip for them. god damn heroes.
Bit of a long post, but a few things not touched on for obvious reasons: There were 19 helicopters involved in the mission. 8 Black Hawks (Super 6-1 to Super 6-8) and the others were either MH-6 Little Bird transport helicopters or AH-6 gunships. Super 6-1 and Super 6-2 carried Delta snipers, Super 6-3 was the Command and Control or C2 bird, Super 6-4 to 6-7 carried the Rangers and Super 6-8 was the Combat Search And Rescue bird, which had a Delta medic officer as the lead medic, two Air Force Pararescuemen and 11 Rangers to act as security. Dan Busch was only 25 years old when he and Jim Smith (I think was his name) defended the 6-1 crash site. The pilot who flew in to rescue him, CWO4 Keith Jones, recreated his real life rescue. Super 6-1 actually crashed in an alleyway, and the pilots of Star 4-1 (Jones and Karl Meier) managed to land their helicopter with just inches between the blades and the walls. At the 6-4 crash site, all four crew members survived, and copilot Ray Frank and crew chiefs Tommie Fields and Bill Cleveland defended the crash site until Shugart and Gordon showed up. Durant couldn't move as his femur had snapped on the seat and compressed his spine. The snipers moved the three ambulatory men to the tail and Durant to a tree, which kept him from being in the middle of that fight. A third Delta sniper, Brad Halling, was with Gordon and Shugart onboard Super 6-2, but he was maning the right side minigun because the crew chief was wounded. They stayed above the 6-4 crash site for a while until an RPG hit the right side of the bird, knocking the copilot out and disfiguring Brad's left leg. Pilot Mike Goffena managed to land in a friendly area where the crew was rescued by friendly forces and brought back to the base. Danny McKnight was wounded, and did NOT return to the fight after returning to the base. A Major named Nixon took command of the Ranger convoy that moved out to the port while the Malaysian and Pakistani vehicles were assembled. Super 6-6 made resupply runs all night long, dropping water, medical supplies and ammo to different groups around the city. Pararescueman Tim Wilkinson actually left the 6-1 crash to treat the wounded in a house across a huge street. He ran across it three times to grab supplies from the medics still at the crash site. The whole scene with The Jerk actually played out during the battle, when Tim and fellow PJ Scott Fales were at the back of the helicopter. Scott had been wounded soon after dropping into the area, and he was acting as a shooter. Tim was treating him and holes began appearing in the tail behind them. Tim said, "They hate the cans!" Also, the exchange between Grimes and Sanderson was Tim and Ranger John Stebbins. The end credits lists 19 men killed. 18 died during the fight and Delta Operator Matt Rierson was killed in a mortar attack two days later.
I recommend watching Black Rifle Coffee’s “The True Story Behind “Black Hawk Down””, anything from Kyle Lamb especially the book “Leadership in the Shadows: Special Operations Soldier”, The Shawn Ryan Show with Tom Satterly, and the book by Michael Durant “In the Company of Heroes: The Personal Story Behind Black Hawk Down”
I remember seeing this happen on the news. It was fkng awful. There wasn't a ton of censoring back then so the imagery that was coming out of there was utterly horrifying. I was a teenager at the time but this particular event really opened my eyes, the barbarity was something I had only read about in History books and realized as a species we still have a long way to go. I'm glad I've never had to live under a succession of Warlords, I'm grateful I was born in the greatest nation that's graced the annals of History thus far. On a lighter note, I'm always a little sad when people don't recognize Ewan Bremner in this hahaha! His catalog of work be giant and full of great pieces, but I like so many will always see him as Spud from Trainspotting LOL! Him and Tom Hardy were absolutely brilliant together, I was pulling for them the entire film! It was also fun to see Spud and Renton together again LOL
Hoot, Eric Bana's character, spent 20 years in the military, then became Air Marshal, and then went to and finished med-school and started working as a doctor in a VA hospital.
YES! I really liked the casting of Eastwood's antagonist as well. From 'Quest for Fire' and DUNE we see Everett McGill has certain qualities making him an amazing character actor who like many made the move to TV and kept his career active.
What a film this was. What was your reaction? Did we miss anything?
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It is a great movie but it had, I don't know if I should say, the bad luck of having been released very close to the events of 9/11 and half went unnoticed, or did not have much impact, especially for Americans, who did not have much desire to see anything related to war or terrorism in movies.
Another movie that had the same fate was Spy Game by Ridley's brother, Tony Scott, with Brad Pitt and Robert Redfort, also released around that time, which is precisely a movie that touches the theme of terrorism and in fact there is a scene of an attack with a car bomb, which had to be cut in intensity, precisely because of 9/11, they did not want to shock the audience with a strong scene, because they said it was too strong to see, in fact they explode and demolish a real building in Lebanon in that scene.
777😅😅😅
Reacción a TROPA DE ÉLITE (1;2)
Saludos desde Argentina 🇦🇷
My reaction was: It got better the second time I saw it. I was no longer telling myself - I know that guy, and that guy, and that guy, and that guy . . . .
On smartphone GPS: Pretty sure a competent strategy would be to 'turn-off' cell towers in any location with an enemy in it's service range.
An interesting fact about this movie, all of the helicopters in this battle were from the elite 160th SOAR "Night Stalkers", the best helicopter pilots in the world. When they filmed this movie, they actually got the US military to assist them by loaning out all the helicopters and pilots from the actual Night Stalkers regiment. In fact most of the helicopter pilots they used for the film were the **actual** pilots that flew during this battle.
Also, the men roping down from the helicopters were real Rangers.
The pilot who rescues SSG Daniel Busch from the first crash site was the man who extracted him. His copilot was shooting an MP5 out of the window until they could take off. All of that really happened. Sadly, Daniel Busch died due to his injuries.
o7 Sua Sponte
Clint Elvis Wolcott was my cousin may he rest in peace
Best pilots in us maybe. In the world, not really.
@@johnkimble4119No, for sure the world. No other military pilots get the training or flight hours that the US does, these are the best of the best. No other country comes close.
I'm a Desert Storm vet and i was deployed to Saudi Arabia when this happened. I get choked up every time I watch this movie.
The 2 delta guys who went to rescue the helicopter crew are the definition of heroes, requesting permission to go in against that hoard knowing it was a death sentence takes guts.
Shugart and Gordon received the Medal of Honor for it
delta force is easily the best special forces in America not the seals don't get me wrong seals are amazing but it so hard to get into delta its not even funny
Definition of invading terrorists
@@ridhwankazi9503 dont be like a 12 year old ffs...
@@emillyyelen5169 don't be a karen ffs ...
The end, when Hoot talks about it being 'about the men next to you' and then immediately says he's better on his own, hits me in the gut every time.
Hoot is a real bro, he knows that more people would be better but he wants to give the other guy a pause,
Tom Sizemore was such a great actor especially in war movies. RIP
Didn’t even realise he died till I seen this comment, wow how incredibly sad RIP
This channel is such a gem, especially Oak. Sending real love to you all.
I need a George Washington trying to cut down the oak tree but it’s Appleton oak doing the shot gesture he does in the beginning of the Vids on a t shirt
Jeff Struecker, the lead Humvee driver who gives the guy a pep talk, has a channel. He posts "fun facts" about the movie and says it is as accurate as any movie could be given the limitations of fitting the story into two hours. He covers particular scenes and explains how close they are to reality. Also, one of the Delta operators did a long podcast a few days ago and confirmed a lot of what happened in the movie.
For those who were adults when this incident happened, most of us remember the images and video CNN was running 24/7 for days. The most jarring was the video of the Somalis dragging the naked, dead bodies of the two Delta operators through the dirty streets. And there were videos of Somalis jumping up and down on the rotors of the downed Black Hawks. Then we saw the hostage video of Durant who was bruised and bloodied from the the crash and the beatings.
There is a lot of political context for this story. This was actually part of a twenty-one-nation UN operation to help the Somalis. It wasn't until Adid killed 24 Pakistani soldiers that it turned into an offensive operation. I will not get into the political particulars, but there is blame to be placed on higher-ups for the failure of this mission.
I was shocked to learn the following when I studied up on the battle. Adid's son had immigrated to the U.S. years earlier when he was 17. He became a U.S. citizen, attended college, and joined the Marines. He was assigned to the UN relief operation as a Somali interpreter. I believe his tour in Somalia ended a few weeks before the Rangers and Delta arrived. But Adid's son was on the U.S. side of this conflict. That changed after his father was killed. He returned to Somalia and took his father's position. From what I understand, he worked towards peace to a much greater degree than his father but was ultimately unsuccessful.
Somalia has not improved in the 30 years since this event. It has not had a functional government in decades. It is still in a civil war. There are still warlords and factions. The main difference is that now the most powerful warlord and his faction are trying to implement an Islamic government.
The only trope I noticed was helo props continuing to spin and exist long past their disintegration period when contacting the ground. I see this too often in movies and that particular thing always makes me SMH. As for the actual mission - yeah, too much ring's of truth from a variety of POV's meaning someone did their homework. :)
I remember seeing the images on the news all too well
@@SandraMorris51 I think it was a big shock to everyone in the U.S. to see the dead bodies of U.S. soldiers being manhandled and thrown around by the Somalis. Those were the two guys who were posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
@@476429 yeah shit happens...
Emilly sure comes off as a real a**h0le in this comment section.
Thank you guys for watching this, the 30th anniversary just passed and this story needs to be remembered. You cant tell a full "true" story with a movie, but this one is was done good. But really, I just want to say thank you guys! I appreciate each of you🙏
30 years gone in a bink of an eye, RIP brave soldiers.
This is probably the only way I could watch this movie. My dad did two tours of Vietnam and my niece was in Afghanistan. Growing up seeing the PTSD my dad went through and my niece’s personality change was enough for me. I’m so thankful for anyone who signs up to serve because I know I could never do it.
I worked for Colonel Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore's character) a couple years after this happened. He is a class act and great person. He does a seminar on the events and it gives a much larger perspective on all of the events that led to this tragedy. You can find video here and on other sites. Highly recommended.
Did you watch this after you already knew him?
I had no idea what a badass my LTG was until I ETSd and watched a literal TV show about him before he got stars.
There was also this LTC I bunked with once and I found out later there was a book about him.
Only in the army do you meet these badasses and it’s just normal, because when they look at you, they expect you to have done exactly the same thing in their shoes, and nothing less. I fucking loved my time there, and I’m going back as soon as I graduate.
This came out during my next station. I was in an infantry battalion with a few folks who had served in Regiment. Danny McKnight is a very humble an unassuming man. You would never pick him out of a crowd based on seeing Tom Sizemore.@@DopeSauceBenevolence
saw this in the largest screen at my local cinema premiere week!amazing sound editing, no wonder they won the Oscar for it!
My uncle served in Somalia with special forces. He can’t tell me anything but I can tell you… that man has secrets. I’ve never met a more calm and patient person in my life. I’m guessing compared to the hell he saw in multiple theaters of war bad traffic and annoying civilian stuff must be a cake walk.
As a Somalian whose mother and father lived through this and heard their stories this is pretty accurate
YES YES YES. This movie is fantastic.
R.I.P Sergeant first class Randy Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon. They were the 2 heroes who insisted on being dropped in at the crash site to help. They were denied the request twice and kept insisting on going down. They died in combat and were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously.
That’s one of the hardest scenes to watch for me. Such horror yet I also feel pride for their bravery 😢
They were heros
I really wish they'd have shown Master Sergeant Brad Halling, the third Delta sniper on board the chopper. He took the starboard side Crew Chief's gun after the other man was wounded by ground fire. Super 6-2 stayed on station and provided air cover for about 10 minutes or so before it took an RPG in the space between the copilot and Halling, mangling his leg and knocking the copilot out cold
As a veteran that did 2 long and 1 short tour in the Middle East this is the first time I’ve revisited this movie. Of course I saw this before I had joined the service but seeing it after experiencing what it’s like hits different. Hits hard. Not everyone that goes out there gets to come home, even the ones that do come home leave a piece of themselves there. I know I left a piece of myself over there.
Just want to thank all you at the channel for the respect and gratitude shown during this reaction. I don’t speak for everyone but for me it truly means a lot.
It is mostly agreed upon that this was a pretty accurate retelling of what really happened. The "Vietnam era Hueys" you spotted are not Vietnam era at all. Those are AH-6 Little Bird Gunships. They have the basic body shape of an earlier version of this chopper but has advanced tech and much more firepower. They are very fast and very maneuverable and they have incredible visibility with their bubble canopy.
There's a huey acting as relay in the air, that's where convoy was getting direction from. Who is turn is getting relay from a P-3 flying via JSOC, hence the line where the guy said there are time delays between directions.
The part that stuck out to me was when Eric Bana’s character asked to go in on foot. He got an almost instant green light.
If he had requested that towards the start of the operation it would have run up command assessed if it was to risky etc. As the situation got worse and worse the orders were decided fast and without hesitation. Like if you think you can help then do it, go.
Highly recommend you read the book of the same title, by Mark Bowden. That's the definitive retelling of the battle. For the movie they had to simplify a lot of things because nobody thinks a film audience can understand anything on their own. Primarily this consisted of combining multiple real people into "composite characters", as well as leaving out pretty much everything from the Somali side. As far as specific events depicted in the movie, they're mostly accurate (they took some liberties with the "Mogadishu Mile" near the end; the vehicles didn't just leave the soldiers behind like that). The Americans who die & how they die? Also accurate. Speaking of the book...
2:40 "Aidid waits until the Marines withdraw, and then declares war on the remaining U.N. peacekeepers." The reason Aidid waited until the US Marines withdrew? His son was serving with them, deployed there because apparently he was the only active duty member of the USMC who was fluent in the local dialects. The younger Aidid served honorably, before being drawn back to Somalia after his father's death.
Mark Bowden also wrote "Killing Pablo". the definitive account of the giant man hunt for pablo escobar. the book they based the first two seasons of Narcos on.
Its not that, Aidid waited because the marines landed with 20,000 strong with tanks and APC and air support which he knew he couldn't stand up against.
Listen to the “Shawn Ryan Podcast”, last week’s episode was Tom Satterly. He was one of the Delta guy’s involved in the real event. Blackhawk Down happened when i was in high school and was the driving force behind my enlistment and i re-upped on 12 Sep 2001. We need to stop killing our own service members by sending them to more forever wars and conflicts we have no business being in. Regardless of the outcome.
I just heard that interview the other day you and it's no joke!
This has always been one of my favorite military movies. Saving Private Ryan is great, but I feel like this really gave a perspective of what our soldiers were going through now, rather than what our ancestors went through in the past, and it was very poignant because of that.
I served under a NCO that was in the QRF (Quick Reaction Force) during this event. He said that this was a good Hollywood depiction.
I was 21 during Desert Shield/Storm, my 1st deployment, and 23 during Restore Hope/Gothic Serpent, my 2nd deployment. I'll never forget that time in my life, both good and horrific. Navy 90-96.
I would assume you didn't see 13 hours. Another true life event. Awesome movie.
Another great movie indeed.
Yeah that film was brutal af. Loved it. Michael bay, with a good script, he can do a great film.
Absolutely! 💯 need to react to that.
@@leftorright04 Also Lone Survivor, that was good to.
I very much appreciate you putting the closing text in full at the end. The people listed there deserve their due in full.
I enlisted in the Army after having dropped out of college due to financial difficulties. I did return to college after having served and I earned my Bachelor of Arts in December 1992. I wanted to attend law school, but I began to develop the onset of my VA diagnosed PTSD, anxiety, and depression. I served as a United States Infantry Sergeant, and I earned my Combat Infantryman Badge for my service inside the Korean DMZ (December 1983 - December 1984). I subsequently served as a Police Sergeant, and I retired as a Federal Investigator.
The fear and anxiety can be managed, but you fool yourself into the irrational concept known as, "I must bury my emotions." But, the vivid thoughts memories will be and are triggered by the most obscure exposures to a stimulus.
Every single day of your life is filled with a direct bond to and with everyone who has experienced the futility of a firefight.
One of the actors you fellas recognized early on ("The banker from Dark Knight", "Quarterback from Longest Yard", etc.) is named William Fichtner. And yeah, he's a brilliant addition to pretty much half of everything. If you want to see him steal a movie right out from under Nicolas Cage himself, I highly recommend "Drive Angry".
He's such a great actor. he had a small part in 12 Strong was the last movie I saw him in.
Also in prison break and Pearl Harbor and the perfect storm also
He plays small roles usually, but he shines in them.I liked him in "Heat".
The 2 pilots that landed the Little Bird at the crash site were the actual pilots who did it during the operation. They co-pilot really did shoot at targets with his MP5 while sitting in the chopper as the main pilot got a Silver star for assisting with rescuing the Delta Operator.
I think it's important to note, yes by todays standard huge cast, however like Lannister boy, Orlando Bloom, Tom Hardy etc a lot of those weren't big actors at the time :)
'Big' is subjective. If you mean leading roles and top billing - correct. If you mean character roles and appearances in other popular media than HUGE is appropriate. Those with the lead in this are no more popular than those with much smaller parts but each contributes to the construction of believability. This is why character actors will always be needed to support the script and give the leads weight.
@@terrylandess6072 I agree, my "big" reference was more in terms of when the movie came out those names were not really known as they are today. So if we look objectively at the film as an all star cast, it really wasn't when it came out 20 odd years ago. Where as if you look at the movie, new years eve which has a platoon of highly known actors at the time it came out. If you know what I mean. When all that is said you're absolutely right :)
I remember rewatching Band of Brothers some time ago and recognizing Tom Hardy was a nice surprise ( also Fassbender, McAvoy, Simon Pegg and few others).
I highly reccomend "Unbroken" or "Windtalkers" both highly underrated movies about stories that happened during WW2
Concur… kind of. The story of “Windtalkers” needs more telling… or I should say, the story of the Navajo *CODE* talkers needs more telling.
What I have issues with (besides the title) is 1) Nicholas Cage and Christian Slater. That business of assigning a white handler to each Navajo DID NOT HAPPEN. The CODE talkers underwent the same basic training that every other Marine underwent-in addition to CREATING AND LEARNING the code to the level of instant, flawless while getting shot at.
2) would liked to have seen more about the development of this code that has never been broken.
3) it’s a fictional story about actual events. Those young men were so incredibly badass and their TRUE story is so much better than the film.
4) some epilogue would have been great too… these men went home and couldn’t even tell their families what they had done bc the code itself stayed classified for so long!
(If anyone reading this wants to know more, I HIGHLY recommend the memoir “Code Talker” by Chester Nez. He died only 10 years ago and has done interviews as well.
Unbroken is great though! It’s an incredible survival story, not just a war story
I lived just off Ft Bragg when this came out and MANY of my active duty neighbors told me this is real as it gets for what it was really like to be there
They said this movie is one of the most accurate war movies out there
This film really shows how difficult and chaotic combat can be. You should watch some breakdowns of this battle, it's crazy. It's a testament to our soldiers it wasn't worse.
The best films revolve around true storie...as long as they stick to those stories (looking at you Pearl Harbor)...for WII should really check out Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Both are directed by Clint Eastwood and tell the same story from opposite sides.
Clint just cant make a single mistake!
Black Hawk Down was the subject of a school project for me back in the noughties when I was in school. I barely remember what class or what criteria I studied for the movie and the assignment, but I never forget the feeling of wartime and what seeing portrayals of war does. One of many engaging yet difficult movies that, like Quinn said, really made me not care for seeing news in the regular day to day just because of how overarching and omnipresent it was in my youth and still kind of is today.
I'm just glad I have some semblance of peace living the way I get to in this life. I'm luckier than too many people in the world.
Really glad I found this channel and will always give props to this awesome team. Badd Medicine is goodd content!
still get goosebumps everytime the scene when the snipers go in. cant comprehend the courage it takes to run into certain death.
Watched this in the theaters. It is such a tough movie to watch, but it is completely worth the pain. Thanks for watching it.
Sadly, Tom Sizemore passed away recently. RIP.
This movie released when I worked at a movie theater. I saw it before it opened to the public, enjoyed it so much that I saw it an additional four times at my theater.
How have NONE OF YOU seen this film? This is one of the most realistic, in war films released. They won awards for staying true to reality of what occurred on October 3rd and October 4th 1993
One thing i will say, if anyone wants to know more about the little birds used during this operation, read "The Night Stalkers" by Durant. 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, or 160th SOAR(A).
They're mentioned by name in this film ( during the Scrabble argument early on ) as well as one of their actual pilots makes a cameo in this movie, Chief Warrant Officer Four Keith Jones. The scene with the air support attack which required the infrared strobe as a marker for the attack, was also Night Stalkers.
"Death Waits In The Dark" is their motto.
The Operations Room channel has a two part video summary of this whole event. Lots of heroes all around. From those two snipers who died protecting the crash site to the Malaysian U.N reinforcements who, under constant fire, wouldn't leave any American soldiers behind. Diamond Dave putting in work editing all the channel's videos love that man
46:33
These are the rules of combat medics:
1: In war, men will die.
2: Doc can not change rule 1.
3: Doc will move Heaven and Earth trying to change rules 1 and 2.
Outsiders is another great example of a movie with a lot of young actors who went on to have great success in films and television .
One of my favorite war movies. Heartbreaking. I made the mistake of rewatching this when my son was in the Marines 🤦🏼♀️😥
When I was serving overseas they showed this movie for free to all of us on base when it came out. Good experience.
The closest I got was watching The Empire Strikes Back on a naval base when it released - some Marine yells out 'Paris Island' when Luke crashes on Dagobah.
Hey I just wanted to leave a comment and let you guys know I love the channel and have enjoyed watching along with you guys these past few months. I was shocked when I first found out you guys are from Wisconsin too cuz I swear I've seen you guys before I even knew about the channel. Keep up the great work everyone!
The end where they had to run on foot was called the Mogadishu mile and really happened.
I watched the movie maybe 4 times and read the book I think 3 times, over maybe a 5 year period. FOR THE SAME REASON that you guys stated in your reaction. I wanted to know what happened over there and why. I watched and read "We Were Soldiers" for the same reason. I agree that we should all watch these movies, at least once, to get an idea of what our soldiers have done and why and at what cost. We're so insulated here in North America from what life is like in much of the rest of the world. Movies like these are not easy or comfortable to watch...they're not supposed to be. Really good reaction, guys.
My dad was an Army infantryman stationed in Somalia in 1993, he lived through this. The horrors of this movie are very accurate. I know it was really hard for my dad, they were sent there for a humanitarian mission and it tuned into combat.. the men there just wanted to help. my dad is a hero in my eyes and he lost so many friends here.
Mike Durant wrote a memoir (In the Company of Heroes) about his time in the service and particularly about his time in captivity. Fantastic read!
There’s also another channel on RUclips (can’t remember the name) where special forces veterans breakdown the movie that provides a lot of insight.
If y'all are interested in the rescue portion at all, there was a movie by a Malaysian director that was released earlier this year (August) called Matbatt: Misi Bakara. It's about the 19th Battalion Malay Regiment which was the rescue convoy deployed as part of the United Nations peacekeeping force during the Black Hawk Down mission. The Black Hawk Down movie was generally a huge hit worldwide, so many Malaysians were genuinely surprised to find out we played such a significant role in the rescue of those troops, especially since the movie makes little mention of it. It just adds a little more depth and insight into what went on behind the scenes in planning and executing the actual rescue.
PS. I've never been this early to a reaction before but I've been stuck binge-watching all of you guys' videos for the past month. Stay warm and stay healthy!
That's a very long message lol
Thanks for the insight. It's important for any member of the UN contributions to be known as it solidifies it's reason for existence (or disbandment - depending on outlook)
Thanks for the suggestion! I'm going to check it out now!
As a Malaysian, many of us were not surprised that Malaysian UN troops played a significant role in the rescue as it was well publicised here considering we had one soldier killed in action (Private Mat Aznan Awang) & 9 others injured. Whilst we understand it is a Hollywood movie, we were indeed disappointed how this movie did not give the due recognition to the Malaysian & Pakistan UN''s participation without which US would have seen higher casualties. It ended up as if the US soldiers rescued themselves entirely & Malaysian & Pakistani soldiers were only portrayed as transport drivers.
@bjthoughts3281 because until the battle the UN had done absolutely nothing to quell the issues.
Awesome reaction guys, as a Vet that served in the Middle East, thank you.
Thank you for your service!
I saw this movie when I was very young, just maybe a year or so after the film had come out. In many ways, it defined how I feel about war and soldiers and American foreign policy and bureaucracy. It has been a tradition of mine to watch this film every Veterans Day, been doing that for the last few decades. And it remains #2 on my favorite films of all time right behind the LoTR trilogy.
One of the Delta operators was just on The Shawn Ryan Show. Powerful interview.
I've seen this movie countless times and just now realized Yurek, the one that got shot at by the other 2 soldiers is Smalls from the Sandlot 😅
My all time classic. As a vet this one, and Hurt Locker became I'm 89D EOD.
The pictures of Durant's wife and son are actually Eric Bana's wife and son. The prop department forgot to take pics with them so they asked the Banas
Yurek the Sgt that almost got mowed down by tom hardy is Tom Guiry who was a child actor starring in the movie the Sandlot. He's been in other movies as an adult like Mystic River & most recently The Reverent.
The Asst to the General played by Sam Shepard is the actor Steven Ford who is the son of President Gerald R. Ford & first lady Betty Ford.
I was stationed on the USS KITTY HAWK CV-63 and our battle group were in theater just 10 months before this happened....things were only simmering and reaching at a boiling point back then in December 92. I was sent to Mogadishu for temporary duty with several others to facilitate military personnel passengers going in and out of the area, we were non combatants but rebel militia snipers were taking pot shots at our HQ so we were transferred north to Mombasa, Kenya....spent Christmas of 92 there.
"Hunger is his weapon"... It's astonishing what humans are capable of doing to each other. It's a very sobering moment when you realize how lucky you are and how many people suffered (and still suffer) throughout history. Great reaction as always ❤
27:20 that pilot of the smaller helicopter, called a "Little Bird", is named Keith Jones who was one of the pilots flying a Little Bird during the battle in 1993. He and his co-pilot actually flew in, landed, and took the wounded soldier (Daniel Busch, who later passed away sadly of his wounds) away in the middle of all that.
Keith Jones plays himself in that scene. Also as they run back to the Little Bird and load up to leave - the co pilot is firing a MP5 out of the side.
Later in this same scene I think, a few Air Force Pararescue or "PJ's" as theyre known, are dropped in. One of them, a real life guy named Tim Wilkinson, is played by Ty Burrell who was Phil Dunphy in the show Modern Family on ABC.
I only know all of this is because I did a lot of research for a paper I wrote for a history class in high school. And I've listened to a ton of podcasts later in life of guys who were Rangers and Delta IRL and veterans of what went down in Mogadishu.
Jones received the Silver Star and I believe Wilkinson got the Air Force Cross for his actions during the battle.
@@davidobrien2541 yep. Wilkinson ran across an open street 3 times from the 6-1 crash to a casualty collection point for medical supplies and treated the guy that Grimes was based on as well as a number of other Rangers.
@@michaelserot6844 Incredible valor.
I love this movie. And it stays pretty close to the book and actual events from everything I understand.
One thing that was left out though was exactly HOW the pilot, Durant, got released.
Following the firefight, the US reinforced the area with more troops and armor and we're bringing a carrier group into the area.
The US negotiator said that it was the easiest negotiation he ever had, because President Clinton gave him authorization to say what he did
The negotiator met with a representative of Aidid's who gave a speech followed by a long list of demands. The negotiator then said, I will see what I can do about your demands, but let me tell you this. If Durant isn't released SOON, then nothing will be able to stop what is coming. The US military wants revenge and now has the means to exact it. They will roll in here with heavy armor and planes and no two bricks will be left standing in your city.
Durant was released a few days later with no demands being met. Although the US did completely withdraw a few weeks later.
Those helicopters are not Hueys, they are MH-6 Little Birds.
I was hoping someone would say it. Thanks. :)
Is there a chance black hawk is the code name?
@@fautless Black Hawks are different helicopters than both Hueys and Little Birds. The Little Bird is the helicopter that they were misidentifying as a Huey.
In his defense, they actually used Hueys for some of the shots, when you see them from the top down. That’s because they only had the 160th SOAR and their Black Hawks for a limted time, and had to use a Huey for later fill-in shots.
Yes, every star starts out very small and many actors were used in Pearl Harbor, which was released in the same year. I'm surprised you don't recognize Leon from the fast and the furious. Johnny Strong plays Shughart here.
The thing here is many of these actors are already well established - making for an amazing ensemble. I'm sure there are many actors I didn't recognize as they were starting and since I don't watch TV or go to modern movies, wouldn't know the level of their current success.
I'm your age guys and I remember this conflict very well. It was savagery, seeing reports of Marine William David (Cleveland) being dragged and beaten in the streets of Mogadishu was horrifying and the rest of the conflict was horror. The sad thing about physical media disappearing is the DVD had a special documentary (probably can find it on you tube) and some extra features and interviews with the actual soldiers who were there. Many of them said, they were ready to go back in and were gonna bring hell with them. However, president Clinton at the time made the decision to leave. The rebels actually believe to this day that they defeated the American forces because of that.
Clinton . . . . . When America chooses vanity over ability.
There's a four disc special edition DVD set that came out and it had a few documentaries as well as commentary by some the real operators.
I was a US Army Ranger during the GWOT. I was shot twice and suffered a severed femoral artery (and vein). My EBL or "Estimated Blood Loss" was 2-3 liters. My tourniquet was applied about 30-45 seconds after i was shot. You have about 2 Liters of blood per 60 pounds of body weight.
So i nearly lost half my blood volume in under 1 minute. The blood was spraying THROUGH my pants. It sounded like the sound made when you spray a hose through a towel when washing your vehicle. After about 10 seconds (maybe less) i knew my cognition was impaired from the loss of blood and blood pressure. I did end up passing out and going into Hypovolemic Shock about 15 seconds after my tourniquet was applied. I could not apply my tourniquet myself because i was also shot through my right wrist and my right hand was just flopping around.
Traditionally, trauma theory has been to FIRST apply a "pressure dressing" and then, if that didn't work, apply a tourniquet. Totally backwards thinking and probably caused many unnecessary deaths in combat. Probably even the civilian side as well, since EMS used that line of thinking for so long and maybe still do ? I haven't seen EMS SOP's since about 2007 but even back then they were pushing "pressure dressing first" ideology.
Ironically, i was trained as a Special Operations Combat Medic at Ft Bragg. That's an absolutely fantastic course. Probably the best in the world.
I always tell people who will listen, if you suspect you have an arterial bleed, tourniquet first. ASAP. Do what you gotta do AFTER the tourniquet is applied.
I ended up losing 6cm each of femoral artery and vein. I had to have reverse saphenous vein grafts to both. Also developed compartment syndrome and had to have 4 emergency compartment fasciotomies and developed a DVT as well. Radius was shattered. The AK round destroyed over half of my vastus medialis. Simply watch a rifle round go through clear ballistics gel to understand why.
I knew some Ranger Medics who were there in Somalia at the time. They said they were carrying medical gear back then that they didn't even know how to use. After this incident, they started sending Rangers to Ft Bragg to go through the "Special Operations Combat Medic" course.
When i went through that course in the early 2,000's all SOF sent their medics there except Air Force PJ's. So Green Berets (it's their course and they stay a bit longer to learn animal husbandry and dental skill sets) SEALS, Marine Force Recon, Rangers and a few others.
When i went through, one of the guys trying out for SF was a former PJ and he said this course was much better than the PJ course. PJ's apparently had too high of a failure rate so they stopped sending them there.
This is directorRidley Scott's usual first rate job. I absolutely love how the credits roll to Shane McGowan's strane, compelling rendition of The Minstrel Boy.
I got out of the Army in 1991, but for six months in 1993 I was a military contractor supporting USSOCOM in Tampa, FL while the lead up to this operation was going on. My work ended and I left there in early September, just a month before the events in the movie happened. I was in no way involved, but the deployment to Somalia was definitely what most people there were focused on.
I somehow had never paid close attention to the more minor characters of this movie, and it blew my mind when I finally realized the same actor who plays Cpt Steele also plays Lucius Malfoy in Harry Potter. Going from a shaved head to glorious long blond hair probably fooled me well enough. Mr Atto is also in HP, as Kingsley Shackleford.
Also you guys need to react to Band of Brothers & The Pacific, so you're ready when Masters of the Air comes out next year.
So glad you picked the Extended Edition of this movie. Thankfully it contains the stuff that should have been in the "Theatrical Cut."
Fact: The US DoD, the 160th SOAR "The Night Stalkers", Delta Force and the 75th Ranger Regiment got into the production by doing it accurately as possible. The actors got into Ranger School and some got trained by Delta Force. There are Black Hawk Down-behind the scenes videos currently up on RUclips and you should check it out for more info.
This movie from start to finish is gonna stay in your head for the rest of your life. It's non-stop action packed with all-star cast that we all know today.
You're absolutely right - it stays in your head for the rest of your life. I saw this, what, 20 years ago (wait wut? It's been that long??), and still, every once in awhile, scenes will pop into my head. Amazingly powerful film.
Would’ve never thought Obi-Wan Kenobi could make a mean cup of Joe 🤣🤣🤣 13:49
A few months back I met a guy who was a part of this mission, its insane. Also met a dude who was a SEAL in Vietnam, both were home aids now, our country let them down. After what they did they shouldnt have to work a day in their lives.
I met some of the survivors while on Active Duty as Marine, they gave us a great lesson in leadership.
Midway is one of the best military movies based on true events. Amazing story of luck, talent, and circumstance.
R.I.P Tom Sizemore. A great role he played in this movie
A great reaction. One of my fave war films, I love the score by Zimmer, Leaving No Man behind is amazing. I believe that they made the character Hoot out of two delta operators.
The real CPT Steele, when he was a Lt Col he was at Campbell when I was and man he was just as intimidating.
My uncles best friend was in that Blackhawk. Fantastic reaction
I watched this movie, because I noticed you have this video on your channel. Thank you for that. Love your channel!
Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon both received medals of honor posthumously for their efforts to protect the piolet
A great book to check out is called The Battle of Mogadishu. It features six perspectives of the battle: Army Rangers Matt Eversmann, John Belman, Mike Kurth and Raleigh Cash and Air Force Special Tactics Airmen Combat Controller Dan Schilling (who rode with Colonel McKnight) and Pararescueman Tim Wilkinson (Ty Burrell's character). The forward is by Mark Bowden who wrote the book.
Read that book before.....still looking for a copy of it
Remembering how much I had a crush on Josh Hartnett ...
No regrets 😂❤
Movie slaps, let's go!
I do hope you're a woman.
A real woman, not that woke trans BS.
It's refreshing watching dudes my age recognize actors from movies I grew up with. I'll be watching a younger person react to a movie and they're like "Anthony Hopkins, who is that". I just shake my head.
I went into the Army in 1997 and at the time, the Mark Bowden book from which this movie is largely based was a must-read for every Infantryman. I was stoked when they made the movie in 01-02.
27:35 - Fun fact - The Little Bird pilot who jumps out and grabs the injured Delta operator is Army pilot (CW4) Keith Jones. He is playing himself and is re-enacting his real life rescue of Delta operator Daniel Busch in this scene. Jones advises Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) on the crash site casualties and airlifts Busch out. Jones received a Silver Star for his actions.
This is one of those pieces where, if you watch it every few years, you'll recognize actors who weren't famous at the time but are now.
You guys should definitely check out Lone Survivor and 13 Hours. Combined with Black Hawk Down, they're the trifecta of modern war movies. For something a little less brutal (in terms of combat) Generation Kill is fantastic!
I second the Lone Survivor recommendation! That is a fantastic movie!!!
The smaller helicopters aren't Hueys. Those are MH-6 Little Birds. They are special operations birds used by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment to fly in special operators, and for close air support in limited situations.
The book is exceptional as well.
The book has much stuff "between the lines" like the Delta just almost resenting the rangers being there cos they had to 'baby sit' them. The parts about the 2 snipers are taken from other delta guys and also mike durant at the crash, you really get the idea that these guys were good enough to make it if there had been a 1% chance they could have done, this wasn't a one way trip for them. god damn heroes.
Bit of a long post, but a few things not touched on for obvious reasons:
There were 19 helicopters involved in the mission. 8 Black Hawks (Super 6-1 to Super 6-8) and the others were either MH-6 Little Bird transport helicopters or AH-6 gunships. Super 6-1 and Super 6-2 carried Delta snipers, Super 6-3 was the Command and Control or C2 bird, Super 6-4 to 6-7 carried the Rangers and Super 6-8 was the Combat Search And Rescue bird, which had a Delta medic officer as the lead medic, two Air Force Pararescuemen and 11 Rangers to act as security.
Dan Busch was only 25 years old when he and Jim Smith (I think was his name) defended the 6-1 crash site. The pilot who flew in to rescue him, CWO4 Keith Jones, recreated his real life rescue.
Super 6-1 actually crashed in an alleyway, and the pilots of Star 4-1 (Jones and Karl Meier) managed to land their helicopter with just inches between the blades and the walls.
At the 6-4 crash site, all four crew members survived, and copilot Ray Frank and crew chiefs Tommie Fields and Bill Cleveland defended the crash site until Shugart and Gordon showed up. Durant couldn't move as his femur had snapped on the seat and compressed his spine. The snipers moved the three ambulatory men to the tail and Durant to a tree, which kept him from being in the middle of that fight. A third Delta sniper, Brad Halling, was with Gordon and Shugart onboard Super 6-2, but he was maning the right side minigun because the crew chief was wounded. They stayed above the 6-4 crash site for a while until an RPG hit the right side of the bird, knocking the copilot out and disfiguring Brad's left leg. Pilot Mike Goffena managed to land in a friendly area where the crew was rescued by friendly forces and brought back to the base.
Danny McKnight was wounded, and did NOT return to the fight after returning to the base. A Major named Nixon took command of the Ranger convoy that moved out to the port while the Malaysian and Pakistani vehicles were assembled.
Super 6-6 made resupply runs all night long, dropping water, medical supplies and ammo to different groups around the city.
Pararescueman Tim Wilkinson actually left the 6-1 crash to treat the wounded in a house across a huge street. He ran across it three times to grab supplies from the medics still at the crash site. The whole scene with The Jerk actually played out during the battle, when Tim and fellow PJ Scott Fales were at the back of the helicopter. Scott had been wounded soon after dropping into the area, and he was acting as a shooter. Tim was treating him and holes began appearing in the tail behind them. Tim said, "They hate the cans!" Also, the exchange between Grimes and Sanderson was Tim and Ranger John Stebbins.
The end credits lists 19 men killed. 18 died during the fight and Delta Operator Matt Rierson was killed in a mortar attack two days later.
I recommend watching Black Rifle Coffee’s “The True Story Behind “Black Hawk Down””,
anything from Kyle Lamb especially the book “Leadership in the Shadows: Special Operations Soldier”,
The Shawn Ryan Show with Tom Satterly,
and the book by Michael Durant “In the Company of Heroes: The Personal Story Behind Black Hawk Down”
Seen this movie so many times and only just realized that Yurek is the kid from the Sandlot
I spent a lot of time on IMDB after seeing this movie - quite the rabbit hole.
I love this movie the acting is so top notch and how it makes you feel watching it!! I love the reaction guy's it was amazing!!
The Guy "Yurick" that was shot at by the two guys that got separated from the group was Smalls in "The Sandlot"
Love your channel guy's, this is my personal favorite war film. A fantastic cast, geeat directing by Scott and an emotional story.
You guys are great, your reactions are something else. This movie is awesome and will never get out of your head
I remember seeing this happen on the news. It was fkng awful. There wasn't a ton of censoring back then so the imagery that was coming out of there was utterly horrifying. I was a teenager at the time but this particular event really opened my eyes, the barbarity was something I had only read about in History books and realized as a species we still have a long way to go. I'm glad I've never had to live under a succession of Warlords, I'm grateful I was born in the greatest nation that's graced the annals of History thus far.
On a lighter note, I'm always a little sad when people don't recognize Ewan Bremner in this hahaha! His catalog of work be giant and full of great pieces, but I like so many will always see him as Spud from Trainspotting LOL! Him and Tom Hardy were absolutely brilliant together, I was pulling for them the entire film! It was also fun to see Spud and Renton together again LOL
My instructor was there. 68w. They’re tough
Hoot, Eric Bana's character, spent 20 years in the military, then became Air Marshal, and then went to and finished med-school and started working as a doctor in a VA hospital.
Jason Isaacs - Black Hawk Down, The Patriot, The Tuxedo, Fury
Clint Eastwood in “Heartbreak Ridge” has some of the best one liners. A military training movie (Marines). Instant classic.
YES! I really liked the casting of Eastwood's antagonist as well. From 'Quest for Fire' and DUNE we see Everett McGill has certain qualities making him an amazing character actor who like many made the move to TV and kept his career active.