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Yurek, played by Thomas Guiry, dodges bullets by hiding in a schoolhouse in 'Black Hawk Down' Photo courtesy of Revolution Studios [Click to enlarge]

The soldier has just been ordered to return to the hellacious street battle from which he just escaped.

A veteran officer goes to him and says, ìEverybody feels the same way. But itís what you do, right now, that makes a difference. Itís your call.î

As people head back into the fray, the soldier summons up his courage and hops onto a humvee, ready to fight again.

When you distill heroism to its core, it has nothing to do with ideology or glory, according to this movie. Itís about helping the guys around you when theyíre in trouble.

ìBlack Hawk Downî is a movie about heroism.

The movie, based on Mark Bowdenís book, is about the biggest firefight involving U.S soldiers since the Vietnam War.

In 1993, the United States sent special forces to restore order after Mohamed Aidid, one of the local warlords, began seizing food shipments intended for starving Somalis. The mission, to capture Aididís key advisers, became a 15-hour battle in downtown Mogadishu, the Somalia capital, after two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down.

Thousands of local militia surrounded a couple hundred Army Rangers and Delta Force members as they tried to rescue downed helicopter pilots. Eighteen American soldiers died, including two who were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu in that now-infamous photograph.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer signed up ìGladiatorî director Ridley Scott for the movie. With hundreds of actors, dozens of leads and a remodeling of an entire Moroccan town, much was at stake to accurately tell the story of that day.

Many well-known actors were cast into ìBlack Hawk Down,î from war movie veteran Tom Sizemore, to relative newcomer Josh Hartnett who last starred in ìPearl Harbor,î another Bruckheimer movie.

Most war movies follow a pattern ó a peaceful beginning then all hell breaks loose. The difference between ìBlack Hawk Downî and other war movies is that hell breaks loose for an hour and a half straight.

The beginning of the movie contrasts this by giving the sense that the army is a large fraternity with guns that hang out in dangerous but otherwise beautiful locales. There are gorgeous scenes of helicopters flying over the sunny beaches of Somalia. ìYeah the waterís great,î helicopter pilot Cliff Wolcott says, ìand loaded with sharks.î

After 30 minutes of character developing chit-chat, the audience is immediately immersed into a meat grinder of bullets, bombs and bodies.

At the beginning, the possibility of a single man wounded aghasts the audience. Gruesome disembowelment quickly follows. Soon soldiers fall left and right and the terror of being a casualty dissipates as the need for survival becomes paramount.

The action moves relentlessly. It makes the audience feel like the soldiers, caught in a dizzying swirl of danger that doesnít stop until the end, when thereís nothing left but to fall and catch your breath.

The only downside to the movie is the de-emphasis of character development. Only after the second viewing can the audience begin to have an idea who the main characters are or where theyíve been seen before.

But even without personalization, the unyielding bravery of the soldiers makes the audience compassionate to every one of them, even if they donít know their names.

This is one of the best recent war movies with ìSaving Private Ryanî brutality, ìFull Metal Jacketî intensity and ìThin Red Lineî grandeur. Nothing else needs to be said, as the truth is what carries the action.

This is a movie that must be seen, not because you think the action is cool or that itís great, but because it really happened. With the exception of some exaggerated dialogue, the events, the people and most certainly those who died are real. People need to know why we send our soldiers to fight and why we must care. If people donít watch this movie and donít pay attention to why this battle happened, in a few years weíll be sitting in a theater again, watching this movieís sequel.

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