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Out of 5:

If heroic war flicks and non-stop violence are your thing, you're going to love the latest offering by director Ridley Scott and renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer, "Black Hawk Down". The Americans have certainly responded well to it.

Based on the exhaustively researched, critically acclaimed book by Mark Bowden, a journalist with the Philadelphia Inquirer, it dramatically chronicles a covert operation involving elite US soldiers in Mogadishu, Somalia, that went horribly wrong.

The true events which the movie faithfully, and bloodily, details are as follows: US Army Rangers and members of the elite Delta Force were sent into Mogadishu, Somalia, in October 1993 as part of a United Nations peacekeeping operation. Their mission was to abduct two top lieutenants of notoriously vicious Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid as part of a strategy to quell the civil war and famine that was ravaging the country.

On arrival in Mogadishu the soldiers found themselves surrounded by hostile militia, with the city soon turned into a deadly combat zone. And when two seemingly invincible Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, the mission changed into a desperate race against time to rescue the surviving flight crews, and finally, the soldiers on the ground.

Young Rangers and veteran Delta Force soldiers fought side by side against overwhelming odds. For 18 harrowing hours, they remained trapped and wounded in the most hostile district of Mogadishu until a rescue convoy could be mounted to retrieve them. Outnumbered and surrounded, many lost their lives.

Like Bowden's book, the film does not thoroughly examine the context of the conflict, but gives a detailed and intense blow-by-blow account of the fighting. Guys will love "Black Hawk Down" for all its incessant brutality and gung-ho heroism. Girls, however, might want to opt out of this one!

The cast includes Josh Hartnett as a competent but nervous Ranger sergeant leading his first mission, Ewan McGregor as a "desk jockey" who excels when sent into combat, Eric Bana as a cocky and enigmatic Delta, and Ron Eldard as a downed Black Hawk pilot.

The film has received several Academy Award nominations, among them Ridley Scott for Achievement In Directing. Other nominations are for Achievement In Cinematography, Achievement in Film Editing and Achievement in Sound.

For more info, see the official movie website: http://www.spe.sony.com/movies/blackhawkdown/

What the international critics are saying

"The boldness of the firefight and Scott's ability to get us close to the action makes Black Hawk Down an important war film."
Victoria Alexander, FILMS IN REVIEW

"BHD captures the adrenalized excitement of armed conflict...and the horror of it."
Walter Chaw, FILM FREAK CENTRAL

"This is a story of brave men and heroes, self-sacrifice and honor under fire."
Robin Clifford, REELING REVIEWS

"The movie seems at all times to be an honest, even-handed version of a terrible incident."
Daniel Eagan, FILM JOURNAL INTERNATIONAL

"Gunfire. Lots of gunfire."
Ross Anthony, HOLLYWOOD REPORT CARD

"Scott has a talent for creating a polished, photogenic vision of battle that still gets across the blood and guts of it all."
Rob Blackwelder, SPLICEDWIRE

"Ridley Scott's directorial achievement is nothing short of awesome"
Laura Clifford, REELING REVIEWS

"No doubt captures some of the horror and the chaos of the actual situation, but it makes for a loud, often confusing, and always bloody two and a half hours."
Ken Fox, TV GUIDE'S MOVIE GUIDE