i just finished watching ridley scott's black hawk down on tv. it's the first time i've watched it from beginning to end. i wouldn't dare call it a good movie. certainly the film is not in the same league as scott's two masterpieces, blade runner and alien, but the movie is a hyper-kinetic visual feast. most good war movies are. say what you want about peace, love and understanding but a good battle scene on the screen quickens the senses.

yet, scott's sumptuous eye and flair for editing fails on what is a one-note story. i know it's based on fact, but the facts of history are not what i mean. the flick lacks depth. characters are one-dimensional and the plot hinges on soldiers trapped in the chaos of war with a rescue squad on its way.

which is compelling and very watchable. as far as action movies goes, this is one of the better ones. still, i thought scott could've used this story for a kind of journey to the heart of darkness, much like francis ford coppola did in his brilliant movie apocalypse now.

there are hints in black hawk down of a kind of metaphysics. such as near the end when the soldiers run back into the compound and waiters greet them with clean white towels and glasses of water. scott approaches such a moment with a tenderness that borders on the hallucinogenic. when i first caught a glimpse of that scene a few months ago, again on tv, i thought the soldiers - and the somali citizens cheering on the soldiers as the ran from mogadishu to their compound - as an hallucination. such binaries, choas v. sophisticated civilization, speak of grander themes which were nevertheless not investigated more fully.

even still, scott does a good job in presenting action and chaos. again, i'd hazard that this movie is not a good one, but it is a very watchable one.