I was damn adamant that I wasnt goin’ to watch another mindless war movie , as I was 100+% sure that it wud be on hyped up lines of Pearl HArbour , Thin Red line or etc etc , but I was proved wrong .In the end I was really glad that I watched this flick. This is a war movie with a difference.Wondering what the heck can be different ?? Read on.......
’’ War is over only for those who are dead’’ - PLATO.
The movie starts with the above philosophy. This is supposed to be a true story battled out in Somalia under Clinton presidentship in 1993..( Its said that DEfence secretary actaully lost his job after this debacle ) IT starts of on a US army mission to capture a dreaded Somalian general etc etc. But the mission goes totally haywire ’n the whole scenario turns into a retreat-back mission by saving the skin from the dreaded raw skinnies (Somalians) ’n escaping back to their US base .This flawed operation supposed to be over in a matter of an hour , prolongs nearly for a day.
The reasons why I found it to be different from the usual war movies:
1) It isnt abt a heroic venture on part of a single person (as is the case usually) taking on the opposition singlehandedly ’n inflciting collateral damage Arnie style , but focusses on a group of US soldiers battling it out on the ground .So there r no patriotic heroes like Tom Hanks or Mr Universes like Arnold .The only recognisable face was J.Hartnet ’n a couple of others.
2)Very rarely u see a Hollywood movie that concentrates on the lapse on part of US strategy ’n retreating back in face of stiff opposition.In this movie the heat is mainly on the US soldiers rather than on the opposition.It shows that in guerilla wars in unfamiliar territories sophisticated gadgetry, missiles, latest choppers r no match for barefooted gutsy savage fighters ’n US soldiers seemed like lambs among pack of wolves.
3)Bullets dont fly over ur head, or kiss past the heroes cheeks but actually results in a casualty.Bullets dont differentiate a Somalian or a US soldier, hero or a villian . This is exactly what the movie potrays with nerve wrenching effect.This movie never makes an attempt to prove who is wrong or right , nor try to glorify anybody’s acts ( Once a US soldier asks his captor : ’’US govt will never negotiate for my release, so what do u want from me? ’’)nor make any political statement, ( ’’Politics are immediately forgotten the first moment a bullet whizzes by your ear’’
)but just concentrates on the brutality, carnage ’n the mayhem of war. Its not that I relish these scenes, but when a movie is making a statement on a war u cant afford to sprinkle it with a brush of sentimentality just to please the audience.
4)The movie moves at a furious pace ’n leaves no time to breathe ’n keeps u on the edge of the seat right from scene 1. There r no (or shd I say its there in right proportions)speeches/sermons , hypocratic talks, emotional flashbacks/remembrances ( a couple of ’em , but justified ) in the middle of the climax but is just concentrated on the battlefield.Many a times it seems as tho’ its a live coverage on CNN with a hand held camera from the streets of some war torn African country rather than a movie.
5)WARNING: This movie isnt for chicken hearted , as it is soaked in blood, gore , with bullets/missiles flying onto ur face , ghastly scenes...etc etc ’n this is no escapist fantasy.IF u think it as mindless, think again thats , whatz happening in real world .The treatment to the whole movie is just too unbelievably realistic ’n is a first class war movie, that really held my attention rather than feeling disgusted .(Infact it isnt bloody as ’’Saving Private Ryan’’)
6) Some scenes wherein the soldier of a crashed chopper is mobbed by the whole village ’n the fanatical mob mentality , the expression on face of soldiers when death is staring right in front of ’em, the horror of bracing to fight in an unknown hostile territory like SOmalia, the usage of silence as a special sound effect when choppers r marching towards the target in the beginning, local Soamlis for whom war/violence is just a part of the routine life in a day, choppers being downed by missiles ’n many such scenes r handled deftly with spine tingling effect.WEll u may argue that its the same with all war movies , but I dont know why , I cant put my finger exactly on what it was, but this was different, is all I can say, maybe its that touch of Ridley Scott.Technically the movie is brilliant !!It differs primarily from ’’Saving Private Ryan’’ in the sense that audience may not be able to relate personally to any particular charecter strongly.
7)Eventho’ the name ’’Somalia’’ may conjure up haunting images of starvation, poverty etc , the insight into the military prowess of the local warlords is unbelivable , with bullets , missiles in unlimted supply ’n every one in the village right from a 10 yr old kid flashing the assault rifle.The challenge to US isnt from technologically advanced nations but from the poorest of the poorest nations.
Not exactly the kindoffa stuff I wud like to watch, but somehow I liked it to my own surprise infact. It just makes one shudder thinking of those who r caught in the bloody battle ’n digging their own grave .A movie can be quite a headache for some who cant stomach the actual reality !!