I also don't know how well this 2001 drama represents the events of October 3 and 4, 1993, though I can see that it represents them in a realist vein, referring to other war movies without becoming frivolous.

Black Hawk Down makes that point without preachment, in precise and pitiless imagery. And for that reason alone it takes its place on the very short list of the unforgettable movies about war and its ineradicable and immeasurable costs.

A relentless immersion in combat strikingly realized but none too pleasurable to sit through.

For the most part, the unflagging sound and fury make it impossible to identify with these characters as individuals, since their primary function seems to be to serve as anonymous slabs of American fortitude.