Plot

The story of 160 elite U.S. soldiers who dropped into Mogadishu in October 1993 to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord, but found themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily armed Somalis.

Action/war drama based on the best-selling book detailing a near-disastrous mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993. On this date nearly 100 U.S. Army Rangers, commanded by Capt. Mike Steele, were dropped by helicopter deep into the capital city of Mogadishu to capture two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. This led to a large and drawn-out firefight between the Army Rangers, US Special Forces, and hundreds of Somali gunmen, resulting in the destruction of two U.S. Black Hawk helicopters. The film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get to the downed helicopters, centering on SSG Eversmann, leading the Ranger unit Chalk Four to the first crash site, Chief Warrant Officer Durant who was captured after being the only survivor of the second crash, as well as many others who were involved.—matt-282 and Corbin L.

The film takes place in 1993 when the U.S. sent special forces into Somalia to destabilize the corrupt government and bring food and humanitarian aid to the starving population. Using Black Hawk helicopters to lower the soldiers onto the ground, an unexpected attack by Somalian forces brings two of the helicopters down immediately. From there, the U.S. soldiers must struggle to regain their balance while enduring heavy gunfire.—Jwelch5742

In Somalia, 1992, famine and civil war have gripped the country, resulting in over 300,000 civilian deaths due to starvation, and a huge United Nations peacekeeping operation of 20,000 soldiers. Mohammed Farrah Aidid, self-proclaimed president of the country. Aidid and his forces capture food shipments at the borders and uses hunger as a weapon against his own population.

In April 1993, with the bulk of the peacekeepers withdrawn, the Somali militia have declared war on the remaining UN personnel. In June Aidid's forces slaughter 24 Pakistani soldiers and begin targeting American personnel. In response, in Aug 1993, United States Army Rangers, Delta Force, and 160th SOAR (code name Nightstalkers) is deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia to capture Mohammed Farrah Aidid. The mission was to take 3 weeks, but 6 weeks later, Washington is getting impatient. Aidid has his base in Bakara market in Mogadishu.

Outside Mogadishu, Rangers and Delta Force operatives capture Osman Ali Atto (George Harris), a warlord selling arms to the militia of Aidid. Atto tells General Garrison that US is meddling in a Somalian civil war, which is an internal matter. The US Army is stationed at the Mogadishu airport. Captain Steele of the rangers considers Delta boys such SFC Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), Gibson and MSG Chris Wex (Kim Coates) as undisciplined cowboys with no regards to rules and protocol.

The US forces include experienced men as well as new recruits, including PFC Todd Blackburn (Orlando Bloom). When his LT John Beales (Ioan Gruffudd) is removed from duty as the result of a seizure, Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann (Josh Hartnett) is placed in command of Ranger Chalk Four, his first command. Beales is put on a flight back home.

SFC Norm "Hoot" Gibson (Eric Bana) is working deep undercover in Mogadishu to provide intel for the US forces to plan their missions. Shortly thereafter, a mission is planned to capture Omar Salad Elmi and Abdi Hassan Awale Qeybdiid, two of Aidid's top advisers. Garrison receives confirmation from 3 sources that Elmi and Awale are in Bakara market area on October 3rd 1993. Garrison requests light armored helicopters for the mission, but they are considered too high profile targets and the team is assigned Black Hawks and AH-6J Little Birds for air cover. COL Thomas Matthews (Glenn Morshower) will lead the entire air assault team. Danny McKnight knows that this is an ill planned mission, conducted in day light, without proper air cover. But Garrison argues that he does not choose the time and location of the enemies meetings.

Eversmann prepares his squad including SPC John "Grimesey" Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk clerk going on his first mission as replacement for an injured gunner, SPC Shawn Nelson (Ewen Bremner), and so on. Grimes is told not to take water or night vision equipment as it is a day mission, that is expected to last only 30 minutes. One soldier removes their bullet proof back plate armor to lighten their load, other loads up on ammunition. One soldier tapes their blood type to their boots. SFC Randy Shughart (Johnny Strong) calls home before leaving for the mission. The target area is 3 miles from the airport.

Yousuf Dahir Mo'Alim (Razaaq Adoti) is the main commander of Aidid's militia. His informants told him about the attack the minute the helicopters took off from the airport. He prepares his army for the attack. By the time the helicopters reach the target area, Mo'Alim's militia are ready for an ambush. The first US troops hit the ground at 3:42 PM. The operation is launched, and Delta Force successfully captures Aidid's advisers inside the target building, but the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground-extraction convoy take heavy fire, while SGT Eversmann's Chalk Four is dropped a block away by mistake. When Blackburn is severely injured after falling from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, three Humvees led by SGT Jeff Struecker (Brian Van Holt) are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn and the captured advisers to the UN-held Mogadishu Airport.

SGT Dominick Pilla (Danny Hoch) (a gunner on the Humvee) is shot and killed just as Struecker's column gets underway. Shortly thereafter Black Hawk Super-Six One, piloted by CWO Clifton "Elvis" Wolcott (Jeremy Piven), is shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) and crashes deep within the city. The call "Black Hawk Down" goes over all the radio frequencies connecting the teams.

Both pilots are killed, the two crew chiefs are wounded, and one Delta sniper on board escapes in another Helo that makes it back to base. Eversmann and his squad are ordered to reach the Super-Six One crash site and set up a defensive perimeter around the helicopter. The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site. The Humvees transfer the prisoners to a transport truck and the armed forces head to the Super-Six One site. The Somali militia throw up roadblocks, causing LTC Danny McKnight's (Tom Sizemore) Humvee column to lose its way, while sustaining heavy casualties. The transport trucks in the convoy with the Humvees are also struck by RPG fire and many of the prisoners are killed.

Meanwhile, two Ranger Chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach. Super-Six One's crash site, setting up a defensive perimeter to await evacuation with the two wounded men and the fallen pilots. Super-Six Eight manages to drop some reinforcements over the Super-Sex One crash site and barely escapes a RPG attack. United States Air Force Pararescue TSgt Timothy A. Wilkinson (Ty Burrell), and Pararescue MSgt Scott C. Fales (Dan Woods) get into Super-Six One and determine that moving the injured is going to be fatal. In the interim, Super-Six Four, piloted by CWO Michael Durant (Ron Eldard) is also shot down by an RPG, crashing several blocks away.

With CPT Mike Steele's (Jason Isaacs) Rangers pinned down and sustaining heavy casualties, no ground forces can reach Super Six Four's crash site, nor reinforce the Rangers defending Super Six One. Delta's Sanderson has serious disagreements with Steele's battle situation awareness and his leadership on the ground. Sanderson takes control of the unit from Steele and makes a plan to get them to safety. Two Delta snipers, SFC Randy Shughart (Johnny Strong) and MSG Gary Gordon (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) are inserted by helicopter to Super Six Four's crash site, where they find Durant still alive. The Delta snipers were told that the ground relief column might take a lot of time to reach them. Gibson's Humvee column back at the base is sent back into town to the Super-Six Four crash site. The crash site is eventually overrun, Gordon and Shughart are killed, and Durant is captured and taken to Aidid.

Meanwhile Nelson and SPC Lance Twombly (Tom Hardy) were left behind at the original target building, but after a while they feel they have been forgotten. They fight their way to Super-Six One. They find SPC Mike Kurth (Gabriel Casseus) on the way. Sanderson leads a team of Delta's to Super-Six One's crash site.

McKnight's column gives up the attempt to reach Six-One's crash site and returns to base with their surviving prisoners and the casualties at 4:54 PM. The men prepare to go back to extract the pinned down Rangers and the fallen pilots. MG Garrison (Sam Shepard) orders the 10th Mountain Division, including Malaysian and Pakistani forces (with their Tanks and their APCs), to mobilize as a relief column. Gibson exits the relief Humvee's as their routes are blocked and proceeds to Super-Six One site on foot with a few other soldiers. Nelson, Twombly and Kurth reach the Super-Six One site and link up with Eversmann.

As night falls the Somali militia launch a sustained assault on the trapped Americans at Super Six One's crash site. The militia is held off throughout the night by strafing runs and rocket attacks from AH-6J Little Bird helicopter gunships of the Nightstalkers, until the 10th Mountain Division's relief column is able to reach the site. The wounded and casualties are evacuated in the vehicles, but a handful of remaining Army Rangers and Delta Force operatives are forced to run from the crash site back to the stadium, in the UN Safe Zone.

The closing credits detail the results of the raid: 19 American soldiers were killed, with over 1,000 Somalis dead. Durant was released after 11 days of captivity. Delta snipers Gordon and Shughart were the first soldiers to be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. On August 2, 1996, Aidid was killed in a battle with a rival clan. General Garrison retired the following day.