YMMV / Black Hawk Down

• Americans Hate Tingle: Perhaps naturally, Somalis absolutely despised this movie and local cinemas reported that audiences cheered and applauded whenever Americans were killed.
• Awesome Music: As usual, Hans Zimmer brings his A-Game with special credit going to the opening of the film.
• Broken Base:
  • Captain Steele comes across as the "Robot Ranger" disciplinarian, pedantically insisting his men stick to the rules and follow set military procedure. The Delta Force operators are the "fun uncles" for the young Ranger troops with loads of special training and experience, fancy gear and the freedom to do things their own way. Whilst the wider audience tends to side with the undeniably cooler Delta personnel most military viewers tend to sympathise with Steele, incidents such as Hoot leaving his safety off setting a terrible precedent for the Rangers (many of whom are barely out of their teens) who seek to follow the example of such elite soldiers.
  • While the movie does depict heroism on the part of most of the soldiers involved, it also shows war as being extremely unpleasant. However, this has the effect of implying there are wars that need to be fought regardless of how unpleasant they are. It can be safe to say this movie's stance towards war has a heated debate.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: For a film featuring many characters who happen to kick a lot of ass. It's only natural that a number of the more minor characters would end up as fan favorites.
  • Delta Force operative Norm "Hoot" Gibson is easily the most recognizable and popular character among viewers. Thanks in large part to his cool, stoic and saturnine demeanor that never lets up. Even when under fire. Many reviewers singled Eric Bana as the stand out of the film due to his charismatic performance.
  • Lance Twombly and Shawn Nelson both have their fair share of fandom. The former being played by an actor in his first film who would later become an acclaimed mega star certainly helps.
  • Randy Shughart and Gary Gordon are naturally very popular despite their extremely limited screen time, probably because their story is just so damn inspiring. Being the first Medal of Honor recipients since the Vietnam War helps. Gordon being played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of Game of Thrones fame also likely contributes to their popularity.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Despite the film's obvious limited appeal outside of the American marketplace, the film did manage to gain a small cult following in Japan of all places, receiving a few nods in Japanese video games like Resident Evil 5, and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • The American failure in Somalia in 1993 convinced Osama bin Laden that America's will could be broken, and as such he began ordering more direct attacks on American interests. This film was shot in the summer of 2001 and released in December of the same year.
  • "This ain't Iraq, it's much more complicated than that."
• Memetic Mutation: The Retroactive Recognition has become one of these. For example: Jaime Lannister, Kingslayer and Delta sniper◊.
• Narm: The shot of a Somali running toward the downed Black Hawk, arms flailing wildly, and shouting, assuming that all of its occupants are dead just as one of its occupants comes to and shoots him dead. It's funnier if you see it.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • All over the place, the movie is absolutely star-studded with actors who wouldn't be well known until much later. Examples include Orlando Bloom as Todd Blackburn, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Gary Gordon, and Tom Hardy as Lance Twombly.
  • Harry Potter film fans will recognize Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, while Trekkies will no doubt recognize him as Captain Gabriel Lorca, even using the same accent (in the US, military officers with aristocratic Deep South accents is a whole stereotype).
• Squick:
  • When Eversman and one of the medics have to reach into Smith's leg wound to try and clamp his femoral artery to stop his bleeding.
  • Delta operator Griz, having had his entire lower body blown off. Even more disturbing is when his comrade, Othic, pockets his severed hand.

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