Corrected entry: When Gordon and Shughart go to the 2nd crash site and Gordon knocks on Durant's cockpit door, he asks him 'how bad' then fires his rifle. 2 cartridges are ejected but there is only one shot heard.
Corrected entry: When the armored convoy jeeps fire at the roofs as they drive down the street, when they show the two kids firing guns then getting shot down, look to the right at the pile of rocks that "explode" and you can see the wire used to knock them out of place. (00:50:48)
Correction: You see these people in an earlier shot from one of the Black Hawks. The cable actually runs across the building's roof and over the other side.
Yes, this entry should be deleted.
Corrected entry: In the scene when Blackburn is reporting for duty he states that his birthday is 2-27-75 and his age is typed in that he is 18. But in 1992, with that birth date he would only be 17 years old.
Correction: It's stated that the film takes place in October 1993. Where did you get 1992 from?
Corrected entry: In the scene where the American convoy is leaving and the two machine gunners are defending the chalk's position, one gunner says "Twombly, the convoy's leaving." Just before this you saw Twombly reload his machine gun, which would have equipped him with another 200 rounds. However, just after the convoy leaves he fires a few more rounds and goes to reload again.
Correction: I believe he was trying to clear a jam, not reload.
Corrected entry: Almost every member of Chalk 4 in the movie were actually from the different chalks.
Corrected entry: In the close up of the 249 SAW (5.56 machine gun), the charging handle is moving back and forth as the rounds are ejected from the weapon system. All charging handles are locked forward on all machine guns 249, 240b, etc. I carried a 249 for 2 years.
Correction: With the FN minimi designs if you fail to lock the cocking handle forward it can move backwards and forwards when the weapon is fired. Soldiers can make mistakes like this due to the pressure of combat.
Corrected entry: After Michael Durant lands his Black Hawk helicopter in hostile territory, he begins fending off his attackers from the seat of the helicopter with an MP5A3 sub-machine gun. In actuality, Black Hawk helicopter pilots in service in Somalia at the time the movie takes place were issued SP89 sub-machine guns, a similar, but much more compact weapon.
Correction: The MP5A3 was carried onboard most of the Helos used in Somalia.
Corrected entry: There were actually 19 aircraft involved in the raid, but there were only 8 were used in the film.
Correction: The movie's budget almost didn't allow for even one Black Hawk helicopter (they were considering using cheaper, older UH-1 Iroquois helicopters in their place). It was ultimately decided that the movie's namesake couldn't simply be omitted and several UH-60 Black Hawks were included in the film. Going from zero to eight Black Hawk helicopters should be considered a feat rather than a mistake.
Corrected entry: In the last battle sequence when the Americans are driving through Mogadishu to the stadium, there is a black soldier shooting at Somalis on the street. According to the book, there was not a single black or non-white person in the Delta Force or Ranger squads in Somalia.
Correction: Incorrect - there were two with the Rangers in Somalia. One, named Kurth, is interviewed on the Collector's Edition DVD.
Corrected entry: Throughout the movie you see machine gunners with M-60s. This is wrong because the M-60 was taken out of service before the events of this film, because of its poor reliability.
Correction: This was a VERY recent change. Only in the past 2 or 3 years was the M60 replaced by the M240b machine gun, except for very limited circumstances, due to them being labled "unreliable". However, the Mogadishu conflict depicted in the film took place in 1993, when the M60 was still in wide service in all branches of the military.
Corrected entry: In the scene where the two Delta snipers are defending Durant's crash site, a few sounds gets mixed up. When the boys first arrive they pull Durant out of the chopper and place him in a hut. Gordon runs back out and start to shoot. He is using his M4, but the sound is from Shugart's M21. When the two snipers are dead we see Durant fire off his last round when Somalis are over-running the chopper. The gun he used was Gordon's M4, but the sound was from his own MP5. (01:32:46)
Correction: Shughart uses an M14, not an M21, and Gordon uses a CAR-15, not an M4. Durant uses an MP5K. The actual difference in sound is negligible in this scene, the snap of the CAR-15 blends in with the crowd.
Correction: Also, the fact that the M4 has a suppressor on it will make it sound different.
Corrected entry: Near the beginning, where the helicopter picks up a guy with a bike from a sandy area, as it lands, a lot of sand is thrown up. When you see the shot from the inside if the helicopter of the guy with the bike, you can hear the helicopter is still running but no sand is thrown up behind him. (00:12:19)
Correction: The lack of sand flying around (the pickup on the beach of Hoot) is due to changing the pitch (angle of attack) of the rotor blade on the MH-60. When the aircraft is coming in the rotor still must provide lift for a smooth landing, once on the ground there is no need for lift until ready to take off. The pilot simply changed the pitch of the rotor to zero while Hoot loaded, hence, no blowing sand.
Corrected entry: Throughout the film, NCOs are referred to as 'Sir' (more obvious when subtitles are on), but only officers in the army are called 'Sir'. NCOs are referred to as 'Sergeant' up to 'Sergeant Major', never 'Sir'.
Correction: They are saying "Sarn't" which is a shortened way of saying "Sergeant," even though the captions say "Sir" some of the time.
Corrected entry: The injured pilot (Durant) is in the small room looking at the picture of his family and when the angry mob of Somalis start attacking him he is wearing a pair of gloves. Later in the scene you can see his hands - the gloves have disappeared.
Correction: Like the snipers the Somali's were taking his clothes and equipment you even see them grabbing that hand explaining the missing glove, hence no mistake.
Corrected entry: When the Humvees are driving through the Market of Bakara, there is a sign above a building which says, "Olympic." Why would an English sign be placed in a country where no English is spoken at all?
Correction: The Olympic hotel does exists in Mogadishu, it is not an mistake. It is near the target building and Mike Durant's crash site.
Corrected entry: In many parts of the movie, you see the APCs getting constantly riddled with bullets by Somalian rebels. However, in certain camera shots were you see the APCs rumbling back and forth from the base, they are completely free of bullet dents.
Correction: APCs are so well armored that when hit by bullets, virtually no mark is made.
Corrected entry: Early on, a Blackhawk with Delta troops on board flies out over the beach to pick up Eric Bana. A soldier on the chopper asks "How's the water?" and the pilot answers. When the camera faces the soldier who asked the question, it's Orlando Bloom, who doesn't report for duty till later.
Correction: They picked Orlando Bloom's character up, then picked up Eric Bana, then flew them both to the base. Bloom's character asks about the water since he's never been there before.
That's an inside joke, as the waters around The Mog were full of sharks and nobody would swim there.
Corrected entry: When Chalk 4 are walking up to the crash and about 50 Somalians are walking parallel east of them and they get shot at with a RPG, the wall that gets hit has no mark on it. (00:55:32)
Corrected entry: Early in the movie when Pilla is making fun of CPT Steele, he is referred to as 'Specialist' (E-4) by CPT Steele right before CPT Steele puts him in the headlock. However, later in the movie when he is shot while up in the turret, SGT Strucker refers to him as 'Sergeant' Pilla (E-5). E-5/SGT is denoted by 3 chevrons on the collar and E-4/SPC is denoted by the rank seen on his collar during his scene with CPT Steele.
Correction: Dominick Pilla was promoted to Sergeant just before the raid. He was still a Specialist during the earlier scenes, but pinned on his Sergeant chevrons prior to the raid itself.
Corrected entry: When Grimes is being told he is going to fight, "Creep" by Stone Temple Pilots is playing in the background. Though this song was recorded in 1992, it wasn't released until November of 1993. The events of the movie occurred on October 3rd and 4th of 1993, the song wasn't released for another month.
Correction: Incorrect. "Creep" may have been released as a single in 1993, but the album it is from, "Core", was released on September 29, 1992, which means the song was available to consumers for a full year before the events of the movie take place. As long as the troops were playing that album as opposed to listening to the radio, then there is no reason why the song could not have been playing in this scene. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_ (Stone_Temple_Pilots_album).
Correction: There are 2 shots in rapid succession.
Steve Kozak