It is based on the eponymous non-fiction book by journalist Mark Bowden , about the crew of a Black Hawk helicopter that was shot down during the Battle of Mogadishu. Black Hawk Down had a limited release on December 28, , and went into the public on January 18, The film received positive reviews from film critics, although it was criticized for inaccuracies.
The cut contains an additional eight minutes of footage, increasing the running time to minutes. This extended cut was released on Blu-ray and in 4K on May 7, In a famine in southern Somalia induced by the civil war leads the United Nations Security Council to authorize a military operation with a peacekeeping mandate.
In response, U. Aidid's militia attacks a Red Cross food distribution shipment and steals the aid, but the Rangers are unable to respond due to the rules of engagement. The U. Prior to the mission, Staff Sergeant Matthew Eversmann receives his first command of Ranger Chalk Four after his lieutenant has a seizure. Delta Force operators capture Aidid's advisers inside the target building while the Rangers and helicopters escorting the ground convoy take heavy fire from the rallying militia. Blackburn is severely injured when he falls from one of the Black Hawk helicopters, so three Humvees led by Staff Sergeant Jeff Struecker are detached from the convoy to return Blackburn to the UN-held Mogadishu Airport.
Grimes is separated from Eversmann's chalk after surviving an RPG explosion. Wolcott and his co-pilot are killed, two crew chiefs are wounded, and two Delta Force snipers on board escape in an MH-6 Little Bird helicopter.
The ground forces are rerouted to converge on the crash site. The militia erects roadblocks preventing Lieutenant Colonel Danny McKnight's Humvee column from reaching the area, and inflicts heavy casualties. Meanwhile, two Ranger chalks, including Eversmann's unit, reach the crash site and set up a defensive perimeter, while another helicopter, Super Six-Four piloted by Chief Warrant Officer Michael Durant , is also shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade and crashes several blocks away.
