Ridley Scott might be 83 years old, but he shows no signs of slowing down. Very few names in Hollywood can boast such an extensive and acclaimed back catalogue, with the filmmaker responsible for a litany of great movies dating back almost five decades.
He’s also been one of the most prolific, with the four-year gap between All the Money in the World and this year’s The Last Duel marking the longest wait between new Scott films in close to 30 years, and he’s already moved onto his next project with biopic House of Gucci shooting as we speak.
Alien, Blade Runner, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, American Gangster and The Martian are only a select few of the filmmaker’s biggest critical and commercial successes, but it’s Black Hawk Down that’s been finding a new lease of life on streaming, where it’s currently one of the ten most popular titles on iTunes.
The boots on the ground war drama was adapted from the non-fiction book of the same name by journalist Mark Bowden, telling the story of the U.S. military’s involvement in the Battle of Mogadishu. Black Hawk Down is much more of a technical masterclass than a character study, with the relentless set pieces holding your attention from start to finish, but when you’ve got such a stacked ensemble at your disposal, it’s easy to have audiences relate to and sympathize with the plight of the protagonists.
Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Tom Sizemore and Sam Shepard are just a few of the esteemed names found in Black Hawk Down, which also features minor roles for future stars like Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Dancy and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Suffice it to say, it’s well worth a watch and it’s nice to see that it’s now finding a whole new audience.
