MovieChat Forums > Black Hawk Down (2002) Discussion > Potentially great movie let down by DIRE...

Potentially great movie let down by DIRECTING!

posted 8 years ago by datrd
13 replies | jump to latest

The directing of this film was absolutely awful! Endless cutting-cutting-cutting, trendy songs inserted here & there (for no reason whatsoever) before disappearing after serving no purpose at all (e.g.: Faith No More, House Of Pain, Hendrix), crappy shaky cam... I could not believe it when I found out who the director was! So amateurish, almost Michael Bay-like at times. Kept thinking of well directed similar movies while watching this film (Private Ryan, American Sniper) & sitting there marvelling at how bad the directing in this movie was. Clear sign of things to come for Scott....

[–] Jones70 (6853) 6 years ago

It’s funny that you say that cause this is generally considered to be one of Scott’s better movies!

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78448) 6 years ago

Just rewatched this and I must disagree
It's possibly the best war movie ever...seriously tense, constant danger for all involved
A really magnificent and frightening war drama

[–] olioz (3844) 6 years ago

I just finished watching BHD again, I've seen it at least a dozen times. I agree that it is possibly the best war movie ever. Actually BHD and The The Thin Red Line would be my choises for the best war movies ever. Both 10/10. But BHD is more rewatchable.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78448) 6 years ago

I just saw The Thin Red Line for the first time recently
It was violent, shocking and felt authentic to me and I enjoyed the photography a great deal
I need to see more of Malick's movies

[–] olioz (3844) 6 years ago

The Thin Red Line is his masterpiece imo. Badlands is pretty great too. I can't really get into his other movies, heavy stuff.

[–] huwdj (4571) 5 years ago

Only seen Thin Red Line once and didn't like it so much because it wasn't the book. But this is a common problem for me and it's now a long time since I read it so maybe I should give it another go.

[–] olioz (3844) 5 years ago

I didn't really care for it when I saw it for the first time and now it's one of my favourite movies. Give it another try, maybe you'll end up liking it.

[–] huwdj (4571) 5 years ago

I always thought this was a great war film. It's chaotic and brutal but you're still able to follow the individual characters. Quite often in films like this you can lose track of who is who and I think it's a mark of the directors skill that the individual story threads hold together.

[–] prometheus1816 (1060) 5 years ago

War is not a series of ten minute one shots. This film was hectic because that day was hectic. It was also bloody and disorienting. The soldiers who took part in the raid itself said the film accurately depicted the mayhem of that afternoon/evening. If the ones who took part in the raid found the film believable, then hey who are you?

[–] Mrmojo4700 (21695) 5 years ago

“Endless cutting-cutting-cutting, trendy songs inserted here & there (for no reason whatsoever) before disappearing after serving no purpose at all (e.g.: Faith No More, House Of Pain, Hendrix), crappy shaky cam..”

Did you want long panning shots and Mozart? It’s historical intense urban combat that took place in the early 90’s.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 5 years ago

I didn't like it, there wasn't really much of a story just a giant action sequence. I know fans of BHD get very very defensive of their movie but it's really not that good. Scott has made much better films (Gladiator, Alien, Blade Runner, etc.)

[–] olioz (3844) 5 years ago

For me this is Scott's best. I think it's just an incredibly intense war movie.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 5 years ago

What I mostly didn't like about it was he didn't give us any time to form any kind of connection to any of the characters so in the end it comes off quite shallow despite the fact that it seems to think it's a deep film. Dunkirk and We Were Soldiers had similar problems. (although I do give WWS credit for at least developing Hal Moore very well but here's the problem: The film is called "WE were soldiers" NOT "I was a soldier")