The year is drawing to a close, and many critics are racking their brains to put together their rankings for the best films released in 2025. Quentin Tarantino has also been reflecting, not just on the past year but on the past 25 years. The decorated director has compiled a list of his top 20 films of the 21st century and shared his picks via The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. His #1 pick is the gritty Ridley Scott war picture, Black Hawk Down.
The film fared well at the box office and with critics. In fact, it picked up four Oscar nominations, winning the awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound. If it were up to Tarantino, however, Black Hawk Down would have won all of the Oscars. In a typical stream-of-consciousness fashion, Tarantino shared his reverence for the film with Ellis, taking care to point out just how intense the picture gets.
Tarantino admits that it took him more than one viewing to truly appreciate the film, but once he paid it a repeat visit, it really clicked. “I liked it when I first saw it, but I actually think it was so intense that it stopped working for me, and I didn’t carry it with me the way that I should’ve,” Tarantino begins. “Since then, I’ve seen it a couple of times, not a bunch of times, but I think it’s a masterwork, and one of the things I love so much about it is […] this is the only movie that actually goes completely for an Apocalypse Now sense of purpose and visual effect and feeling, and I think it achieves it.
Black Hawk Down unfolds in 1993, as US soldiers attempt to destabilise the Somalian government while simultaneously offering aid to the natives. During those efforts, two Black Hawk helicopters are shot down, putting the soldiers in a dire situation that requires them to think on their feet if they hope to survive.
If you’re game to check the film out, you can currently catch it on physical media or as a digital rental. Stay tuned to Dread Central for more recommendations from your favorite heavy hitters in the genre space as we unearth them.
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