October 1993. Elite US military forces Delta Force and Army Rangers are sent to Somalia to target the warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Under the command of Major General Garrison (Sam Shepard), the men set out to seize two of Aidid's lieutenants from a crowded marketplace in Mogadishu. Among those heading out are Staff Sgt Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), an idealistic Ranger, Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk clerk who has yet to see combat, and Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), a veteran who is unhappy crazy about the limited support theyÕll receive. But on the whole the men are relaxed and unconcerned about the ÔskinniesÕ who ÔcanÕt shoot for shitÕ. They expect to be back at base in about an hour, and so leave behind basic equipment and supplies to make room for extra ammo.
But things go wrong from the beginning. The men come under heavy fire the moment they land. Then Ranger Pvt. First Class Todd Blackburn (Orlando Bloom) falls from one of the choppers. The Somali prisoners are taken as planned but one of the Americans is shot dead. Then the unthinkable happens: one of the AmericansÕ Black Hawk helicopters is hit by a Somali RPG missile and crashes five blocks north-east of the target building.
The men try to reach the crash site to rescue the survivors and secure the helicopter from the hostile locals. But fierce fire impedes their progress and prevents the fractured units from linking up. A convoy of military vehicles led by Maddox (Michael Roof) also comes under heavy fire and takes a wrong turn. It ends up getting lost in MogadishuÕs rabbit warren of streets.
A small group of men led by Eversmann reaches the crash site to find the two pilots are dead and the two crew chiefs wounded. They attempt to secure a perimeter around the site under heavy fire. But they are hanging on by a thread against hordes of Somali gunmen. The convoy struggles to come to their aid but improvised roadblocks and a general sense of disorientation have them going around in circles.
A second Black Hawk helicopter is shot down by the Somalis and crashes about a mile south-west of the target building. Two Delta snipers volunteer to be dropped in from the air to secure the crash site, despite the fact that hundreds of hostile locals are massing there. They find the pilot, Durant (Ron Eldard) with a broken leg and move him from the helicopter while fighting off swarms of Somali gunmen. Meanwhile the convoy arrives back where it started, at the original target building. With so many wounded in the vehicles, Maddox has no choice to give up. The convoy returns to base camp, to rearm and regroup.
Garrison requests help from UN peacekeeping forces to extricate his men from the fighting. They agree, but it will take time to organise the mission. Meanwhile Durant is captured by an angry Somali crowd. They are ready to tear him limb from limb, but a gunman claims him as a prisoner of General Aidid.
The fighting around the first crash site dies down as the sun sets and the Somalis gather for evening prayers. But the Americans continue to suffer casualties. Smith is hit in the thigh: it is an arterial wound and he will not survive for long without medical aid. Yet the US and UN commanders are still debating the logistics of organising a rescue convoy. Elsewhere, Durant is interrogated by his Somali captor, Firimbi, who lambasts the US for interfering in his countryÕs affairs and killing its civilians.
In the early hours of the morning, the rescue convoy finally arrives at the crash site. But it is too late for Smith, who died long before. The dead pilot needs to be removed from the crashed helicopter and hours are spent cutting him out as the men wait anxiously to evacuate.
Finally, as dawn breaks, the convoy moves off. But with the wounded loaded on to the vehicles, there is no room for the other survivors. The exhausted and battered soldiers who are supposedly being ÔrescuedÕ have no choice but to run out of the city, still under heavy fire. They begin by using the vehicles as cover but cannot keep up with them and have to fight their way out on their own.
At the rallying point, the soccer stadium, the wounded are treated but some donÕt make it. The survivors say their goodbyes to their dead buddies. Soon afterwards, the President Clinton pulls Delta Force and the Rangers out of Somalia. Eversmann vows to visit SmithÕs parents and tell them their son died a hero.
Back to Black Hawk Down menu
Back to home page