Netflix viewers are ‘appalled’ after new doc gives totally new perspective on classic war film

Viewers have been shown a new side to a 2001 war film following the release of a new Netflix documentary - and it's left some feeling ‘appalled’.

True stories being made into films is a tricky art, with directors and writers having to balance telling a great story with what actually happened.

In the case of war films based on true stories, this is even more accentuated, because you want to root for one side completely - but it isn’t always that simple.

Ewan McGregor is one of the many stars to appear in the film (Columbia Pictures)

That is the case for Black Hawk Down, the Ridley Scott film that won two Oscars from four nominations and is considered by many to be one of the best war movies ever.

Netflix’s newest documentary, however, looks at the ‘real’ story behind it, called Surviving Black Hawk Down. The film follows a group of American soldiers who are shot down in Somalia as they try and capture a group of warlords.

The film has an unreal cast too, with Ewan McGregor, Tom Hardy, Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Jason Isaacs, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, and Orlando Bloom all appearing, with the stars all at varying levels of the fame they now possess.

Black Hawk Down is based on a real military event in which a Black Hawk helicopter flying over Somalia was shot down during the ‘Battle of Mogadishu’.

Netflix’s new documentary looks at both sides of things, including interviews with soldiers who were there. You can watch the trailer here:

The takeaway many are leaving with, however, is that they are ‘appalled’ at realising how Somali people were portrayed in the film, and the contrast to what actually happened.

One viewer tweeted expressed their belief that America had committed war crimes in Somalia, writing: “Just finished watching the black hawk down documentary on Netflix and I’m honestly infuriated and appalled at the sheer audacity of these Americans.

“They committed war crimes, shooting and killing innocent civilians on sight but have the cheek to question the humanity of Somalis?”

While America has never been tried for any war crimes from the Battle of Mogadishu, the documentary led to a great deal of criticism for their actions in the interventionist battle.

One of the interviewees is a Somali photographer 'Five' who captured the conflict (Netflix)

Another said: “I'm watching that Black Hawk Down documentary on Netflix and there are Americans calling the Somalis cruel for how they treated the bodies of the dead American soldiers.

“It's amazing that their own cruelties to Somalia never occurs to them. That or they just don't care.”

A third said: “Black Hawk Down just shows how much Americans don’t know how to MIND THEIR OWN F***ING BUSINESS."

Others praised the film’s alternate perspective on what happened, with one tweeting: “Another Black Hawk Down film but at least I appreciate the Somali perspective this time, Especially through the lenses of the Somali camera man that reported the 1993 incident.”

While another said more docuseries like Surviving Black Hawk Down were needed to 'help us understand major historical events better'.

The incident was filmed by a young cameraman called Ahmed 'Five’, who speaks in the doc about filming the famous interrogation video of US pilot Mike Durant.

Surviving Black Hawk Down is on Netflix now.