MovieChat Forums > Black Hawk Down (2002) Discussion > A few things that frustrated me..

A few things that frustrated me..

posted 9 years ago by bosoxfan_131
10 replies | jump to latest

On numerous occasions soldiers were carelessly walking in the open when there was gunfire just feet from them, sometimes they would be talking to others or on the phone to command. Also I understand only 19 US soldiers died so they couldn't really kill more than that off in the movie, but there were numerous scenes where the Somalis had the trucks with I assume 50 cals on the back just drive by 5-10 soldiers in the wide open when they were sitting ducks in the middle of the road.

[–] nickm2 9 years ago

Two things;

First the Deltas told the Rangers that 'bullets tend to skim the walls so stand away from them';

Second: the Somali fighters were often hopped up of their minds on Khat & didn't have the best fire discipline. It's also how a relative handful of highly trained & experienced South African PMCs like Executive Outcomes were able to just 'dominate & decimate' the mobs of drugged up gunmen that made up the RUF in Sierra Leone.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] mav100000 9 years ago

First off, I've read the book several times. I think it does state that the bullets travel the walls. It also states that McKnight, in particular, walked around as if unphased by the gunfire.

However, I've also spoken to one of the Rangers who participated in this event in 93, and the biggest inaccuracy of the movie that he mentioned (other than getting actual events wrong on the ground) was that the movie did not fully realize the amount of incoming fire the Rangers / Delta were receiving throughout the battle. He also noted that there was no time at night for making coffee.

Cheers mate!

[–] nickm2 9 years ago

All true, of course, but naturally a 2+ hour movie with nothing but gunfire, explosions & shouting dialogue would be darned tough to watch.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] dubyahsrobotminion 9 years ago

There were in fact 5 separate buildings holing up the various Delta operators and Rangers. It would have been difficult for any one participant to know what happened in all the buildings. This was affectionately known as 'The Alamo'. During the night there actually was considerable downtime. Later in the night as long as Delta and the Rangers stayed still or stayed inside, there were actually significant periods of no shooting at all. There was plenty of time at night. But they simply didn't have any rations let alone coffee. The coffee thing like many of the scenes that didn't happen was an homage to things said in the book. Stebbins had mentioned that he yearned for coffee sometime around darkness falling, or something like that.

You're taking a dump and they call GQ do you pinch it off or finish your business?

[–] mav100000 9 years ago

Yeah, could be. I only know what my guy told me. He also confirmed that he was on the radio all night calling air strikes (which I don't recall from the book). Therefore, he may have been a bit busier than some.

Cheers mate!

[–] KSzir 9 years ago

I've read the book a few times myself. I think the guy was referring to the gun-runs the little bird helicopters were making all through the night. They only show one run in the movie, when Eversmann throws the strobe on the roof. In reality that was done to mark where the occupied buildings were, not where to fire. There was one time they also used the infra-red strobe to mark a landing zone for a Blackhawk to drop off supplies and ammo when they realized they weren't getting the armored convoy to The Alamo for several hours. I wish they had showed that in the movie. That helo knew it was going to be a sitting duck while they dropped off the ammo and supplies but they still did it. It didn't land but hovered over the spot they had marked and a Delta guy threw out packs of supplies and ammo for them to collect. I even think that guy got his leg shot off during the resupply mission. The rest of the night the little birds did straffing runs to keep the Somali's at bay. One of the Delta's in the book said the gun runs were a major help during the night and kept the Somali's from being able to mass and overrun The Alamo.

[–] bear022013-588-696101 9 years ago

Somalis,Nigerians or sub saharan african types are bad shots....no discipline.

[–] Flinstone 9 years ago

Most somalis in the battle were untrained civilians that just wanted to kill americans. In -93 Mogadishu everybody had a gun. Most people had one so they could protect themselves from militia.

Most of militia were trained soldiers. They brought down several Black Hawks and were responsible for US casualties during the battle.

That difference between somalis (untrained civilian with Kalasnikov vs. Aidid´s militia) was mentioned few times in the book.

"Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs..."

[–] mwgfgrey 8 years ago

Also another thing i heard (can't remember if it was the book or the veterans's commentary) is that none of them saw technicals/gun trucks that day. They saw em on other missions but not this one.

[–] johnral (138) 7 years ago

I agree. Too many scenes where US soldiers are just walking in range of enemy shooters, at least as depicted in the movie. Good aim or not, and high or not, you would not to be in the open like that...