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CNN Saturday Morning News

`Black Hawk Down' Puts Spotlight on U.S. Military

Aired January 19, 2002 - 09:37   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The movie "Black Hawk Down" is going to wide release this weekend. It focuses renewed attention on U.S. military action in Somalia.

CNN's Anna Hovind with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA HOVIND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Black Hawk Down" takes moviegoers right into the middle of the October 1993 battle of Mogadishu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "BLACK HAWK DOWN")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: They're shooting at us! General, they're shooting at us!

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well, shoot back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOVIND: U.S. Rangers and Delta Force soldiers battled for 18 hours with troops of a Somali warlord. Many of those portrayed in the film are now in Afghanistan.

RIDLEY SCOTT, DIRECTOR, "BLACK HAWK DOWN": It's going to put in perspective what these guys do for us. So in a way, the film is like a -- well, clearly it's an anti-war film, it's hardly a recruiting film. But at the same time, it's very pro-military, militia, and it's kind of in, you know, respect for what they do.

HOVIND: Producer Jerry Bruckheimer believes that current news events will keep interest in seeing the film.

JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, PRODUCER, "BLACK HAWK DOWN": I think it's really going to help it. I mean, this is the only opportunity you're going to get to see our special forces in action, what the Rangers and Delta actually do and how they do it, how good they are, the courage they have, the bravery.

HOVIND: But since the film portrays real events and real people, they felt a duty to get it right.

BRUCKHEIMER: You know, I love, you know, taking you behind the scenes of something that I'll never be a part of, the real process. And this gives you the experience of warfare, real experience of warfare. And based on the advisers who worked on our film and some of the ones who the film is about, who've seen the picture, say it's completely accurate.

HOVIND: The film, based on a book by journalist Mark Bowden, was shot with the cooperation of the Pentagon.

BRUCKHEIMER: Because the book is so graphic and so well told and so well researched, and since they were a fan of the book, we knew we'd have their cooperation, and also that we could film what was in the book. And that's exactly what we did. And, you know, it's not the kind of book that any public relations man for the Army would write. Yet they were very supportive, because they -- you know, they knew about the courage of their young men.

HOVIND: The battle of Mogadishu claimed the lives of 18 Americans and approximately 500 Somalis.

Anna Hovind reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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