Black Hawk Down Quotes
123 elite U.S. soldiers drop into Somalia to capture two top lieutenants of a renegade warlord and find themselves in a desperate battle with a large force of heavily-armed Somalis.
"Hoot": When I go home people'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda war junkie?" You know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.
[voice-over, spoken with the credits]
Shughart: My love, stay strong and you will do well in life. I love you and my children deeply. Today and tomorrow let each day grow and grow. Keep smiling and never give up even when things get you down. So in closing my love, tonight tuck my children in bed warmly. Tell them I love them, then hug them for me and give them both a kiss goodnight for daddy.
Shughart: My love, stay strong and you will do well in life. I love you and my children deeply. Today and tomorrow let each day grow and grow. Keep smiling and never give up even when things get you down. So in closing my love, tonight tuck my children in bed warmly. Tell them I love them, then hug them for me and give them both a kiss goodnight for daddy.
Steele: Sergeant, what's the meaning of this?
[Thinking he's talking about the unauthorized pig picking]
"Hoot": Just a little aerial target practice, sir. Didn't want to leave 'em behind.
Steele: I'm talking about your weapon, soldier. Now Delta or no-Delta, that's still a hot weapon. Your safety should be on at all times.
"Hoot": This is my safety, sir.
[He holds up his index finger and bends motions as if squeezing a trigger and then walks off]
Sanderson: Let it alone, sir. He hasn't eaten in a few days.
[Thinking he's talking about the unauthorized pig picking]
"Hoot": Just a little aerial target practice, sir. Didn't want to leave 'em behind.
Steele: I'm talking about your weapon, soldier. Now Delta or no-Delta, that's still a hot weapon. Your safety should be on at all times.
"Hoot": This is my safety, sir.
[He holds up his index finger and bends motions as if squeezing a trigger and then walks off]
Sanderson: Let it alone, sir. He hasn't eaten in a few days.
[Durant and Wolcott talk over the intercom as they fly past each other in their helicopters]
Durant: Six-One, this is Six-Four, go to UHF secure. I've got some bad news.
Cliff Wolcott: Limo is a word, Durant. I don't want to hear about it.
Durant: It is not a word. It's an abbreviation of a word.
Cliff Wolcott: Limo is a word in common usage. That is the key phrase in scrabble, my friend, common usage.
Durant: No! If it's not in the dictionary, it doesn't count.
Cliff Wolcott: It doesn't have to be in the dictionary!
Durant: It does have to be in the dictionary! Listen, when we get back to base, it's coming off the board.
Cliff Wolcott: You touch my limo and I'll spank you, Night Stalker. You hear me?
Durant: Yeah. Promises.
Durant: Six-One, this is Six-Four, go to UHF secure. I've got some bad news.
Cliff Wolcott: Limo is a word, Durant. I don't want to hear about it.
Durant: It is not a word. It's an abbreviation of a word.
Cliff Wolcott: Limo is a word in common usage. That is the key phrase in scrabble, my friend, common usage.
Durant: No! If it's not in the dictionary, it doesn't count.
Cliff Wolcott: It doesn't have to be in the dictionary!
Durant: It does have to be in the dictionary! Listen, when we get back to base, it's coming off the board.
Cliff Wolcott: You touch my limo and I'll spank you, Night Stalker. You hear me?
Durant: Yeah. Promises.
[after the briefing]
Matthews: What's the matter Danny? Something you don't like?
McKnight: No Spectre gunships, daylight instead of night, late afternoon when they're all fucked up on Khat, only part of the city Aidid can mount a serious counter-attack on short notice...
[chuckles]
McKnight: What's not to like?
Harell: Life's imperfect.
McKnight: Yeah, for you two, circling above it at five hundred feet it's imperfect. Down in the street, it's unforgiving.
Matthews: What's the matter Danny? Something you don't like?
McKnight: No Spectre gunships, daylight instead of night, late afternoon when they're all fucked up on Khat, only part of the city Aidid can mount a serious counter-attack on short notice...
[chuckles]
McKnight: What's not to like?
Harell: Life's imperfect.
McKnight: Yeah, for you two, circling above it at five hundred feet it's imperfect. Down in the street, it's unforgiving.
[after Captain Steele caught Sgt. Pilla imitating him]
Steele: Quick word, Specialist.
Dominick Pilla: Sir.
[gives the middle finger to his fellow soldiers while walking with Steele]
Steele: Tell me, Pilla. You understand why we have a chain of command, don't you?
Dominick Pilla: Roger that, sir.
Steele: 'Cause if I ever see you undermining it again, you'll be cleaning latrines with your tongue til you can't taste the difference between shit and French fries. Are we clear?
Dominick Pilla: Hoo-ah, sir.
Steele: Quick word, Specialist.
Dominick Pilla: Sir.
[gives the middle finger to his fellow soldiers while walking with Steele]
Steele: Tell me, Pilla. You understand why we have a chain of command, don't you?
Dominick Pilla: Roger that, sir.
Steele: 'Cause if I ever see you undermining it again, you'll be cleaning latrines with your tongue til you can't taste the difference between shit and French fries. Are we clear?
Dominick Pilla: Hoo-ah, sir.
Busch: Three guys with RPGs! Coming up on your side! Now!
[Somalis fire the RPG, striking Super 6-1's tail rotor. 6-1 is now spinning out of control]
Cliff Wolcott: Stay with it!
Cliff Wolcott: [on radio] This is 6-1. I'm hit. I'm hit.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is hit. He is hit. Wolcott's bird is hit.
Cliff Wolcott: Hey Bull, you want to pull those PCLs offline or what?
Briley: Right, babe.
[6-1 is still spinning wildly]
Cliff Wolcott: 6-1 going down, 6-1 going down.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is going down. He is going down.
[Various radio chatter repeating "6-1 going down", showing the Rangers on the ground looking up in disbelief at the spiraling chopper]
Cliff Wolcott: Hold on!
[6-1's crew are bracing for impact]
Cliff Wolcott: [Chopper strikes a building] Ahhh!
[6-1 crashes, blades flying everywhere]
Harell: We've got a Black Hawk down, we've got a Black Hawk down.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is down. We've got a bird down in the city.
[Somalis fire the RPG, striking Super 6-1's tail rotor. 6-1 is now spinning out of control]
Cliff Wolcott: Stay with it!
Cliff Wolcott: [on radio] This is 6-1. I'm hit. I'm hit.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is hit. He is hit. Wolcott's bird is hit.
Cliff Wolcott: Hey Bull, you want to pull those PCLs offline or what?
Briley: Right, babe.
[6-1 is still spinning wildly]
Cliff Wolcott: 6-1 going down, 6-1 going down.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is going down. He is going down.
[Various radio chatter repeating "6-1 going down", showing the Rangers on the ground looking up in disbelief at the spiraling chopper]
Cliff Wolcott: Hold on!
[6-1's crew are bracing for impact]
Cliff Wolcott: [Chopper strikes a building] Ahhh!
[6-1 crashes, blades flying everywhere]
Harell: We've got a Black Hawk down, we've got a Black Hawk down.
Matthews: Super 6-1 is down. We've got a bird down in the city.
[first title card]
Title Card: BASED ON AN ACTUAL EVENT
[second title card]
Title Card: Only the dead have seen the end of war.
Title Card: Plato
[third title card]
Title Card: SOMALIA - EAST AFRICA
Title Card: 1992
[fourth title card]
Title Card: Years of warfare among rival clans causes famine on a biblical scale.
[fifth title card]
Title Card: 300,000 civilians die of starvation.
[sixth title card]
Title Card: Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the most powerful of the warlords, rules the capital Mogadishu.
[seventh title card]
Title Card: He seizes international food shipments at the ports. Hunger is his weapon.
[eighth title card]
Title Card: The world responds. Behind a force of 20,000 U.S. Marines, food is delivered and order is restored.
[ninth title card]
Title Card: April 1993
Title Card: Aidid waits until the Marines withdraw, and then declares war on the remaining U.N. peacekeepers.
[tenth title card]
Title Card: In June, Aidid's militia ambush and slaughter 24 Pakistani soldiers, and begin targeting American personnel.
Title Card: BASED ON AN ACTUAL EVENT
[second title card]
Title Card: Only the dead have seen the end of war.
Title Card: Plato
[third title card]
Title Card: SOMALIA - EAST AFRICA
Title Card: 1992
[fourth title card]
Title Card: Years of warfare among rival clans causes famine on a biblical scale.
[fifth title card]
Title Card: 300,000 civilians die of starvation.
[sixth title card]
Title Card: Mohamed Farrah Aidid, the most powerful of the warlords, rules the capital Mogadishu.
[seventh title card]
Title Card: He seizes international food shipments at the ports. Hunger is his weapon.
[eighth title card]
Title Card: The world responds. Behind a force of 20,000 U.S. Marines, food is delivered and order is restored.
[ninth title card]
Title Card: April 1993
Title Card: Aidid waits until the Marines withdraw, and then declares war on the remaining U.N. peacekeepers.
[tenth title card]
Title Card: In June, Aidid's militia ambush and slaughter 24 Pakistani soldiers, and begin targeting American personnel.
McKnight: [over the radio] How are things going? Things okay there, Struecker?
Struecker: I don't wanna talk about it now, Colonel. I'm busy!
[Pilla is shot and falls into the humvee]
Thomas: Sergeant Pilla's hit! Christ, he's fucked up!
McKnight: Is anybody hit? Struecker, talk to me!
Struecker: It's Sergeant Pilla!
McKnight: What's his status? What's his status?
"Hoot": He's dead!
Struecker: He's dead. Pilla's dead, sir.
McKnight: C2, this is McKnight, we have a KIA: Dominick Pilla, over.
Harell: Roger that.
Struecker: Get on that fifty! Someone get on that fifty!
"Hoot": It's mine!
Struecker: I don't wanna talk about it now, Colonel. I'm busy!
[Pilla is shot and falls into the humvee]
Thomas: Sergeant Pilla's hit! Christ, he's fucked up!
McKnight: Is anybody hit? Struecker, talk to me!
Struecker: It's Sergeant Pilla!
McKnight: What's his status? What's his status?
"Hoot": He's dead!
Struecker: He's dead. Pilla's dead, sir.
McKnight: C2, this is McKnight, we have a KIA: Dominick Pilla, over.
Harell: Roger that.
Struecker: Get on that fifty! Someone get on that fifty!
"Hoot": It's mine!
Cliff Wolcott: Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Cliff "Elvis" Wolcott, I'll be your pilot this afternoon. Federal regulations designate this a "non-smoking" Black Hawk helicopter. For those of you who have the "Mogadishu Frequent Flyer" program, you'll be earning a hundred free credits this afternoon, and as always, the air sickness bags are located in the seat-back, in front of you.
Smith: I'm sorry.
Eversmann: You have nothing to be sorry about. You saved Twombly, you did it perfect.
Smith: You okay Twombs?
Twombly: Yeah, I'm okay, Jamie.
Eversmann: See, you did what you were trained to do. You should be proud of that, be proud of that.
Smith: Ev?
Eversmann: Yeah.
Smith: Do me a favor, okay? Tell my parents that I fought well today. And tell them that I... that I... that I fought hard.
Eversmann: You're gonna tell them yourself okay, Jamie?
Smith: Are... are the humvees here?
Eversmann: They're coming, Jamie. They're coming. You just gotta hold on for a little longer. Can you do that?
Smith: I can, I can. It's nothing. It's nothing.
Eversmann: You have nothing to be sorry about. You saved Twombly, you did it perfect.
Smith: You okay Twombs?
Twombly: Yeah, I'm okay, Jamie.
Eversmann: See, you did what you were trained to do. You should be proud of that, be proud of that.
Smith: Ev?
Eversmann: Yeah.
Smith: Do me a favor, okay? Tell my parents that I fought well today. And tell them that I... that I... that I fought hard.
Eversmann: You're gonna tell them yourself okay, Jamie?
Smith: Are... are the humvees here?
Eversmann: They're coming, Jamie. They're coming. You just gotta hold on for a little longer. Can you do that?
Smith: I can, I can. It's nothing. It's nothing.
Othic: [after Kowalewski had been killed by an RPG]
[to Mcknight]
Othic: There's a fucking rocket in him, sir!
McKnight: Othic, cool off! Goddamn it! There's live ordnance, now get out!
McKnight: [after pulling Kowalewski's body out of the humvee] Son of a bitch!
McKnight: [while helping to put Kowalewski into the back of the humvee] Lift him up! Easy, easy!
[to Mcknight]
Othic: There's a fucking rocket in him, sir!
McKnight: Othic, cool off! Goddamn it! There's live ordnance, now get out!
McKnight: [after pulling Kowalewski's body out of the humvee] Son of a bitch!
McKnight: [while helping to put Kowalewski into the back of the humvee] Lift him up! Easy, easy!
Eversmann: I was talking to Blackburn the other day, and he asked me "What changed? Why are we going home?" and I said "Nothing." That's not true either; I think everything's changed. I know I've changed.
[sigh]
Eversmann: You know a friend of mine asked me before I got here; it's when we were all shipping out. He asked me "Why are you going to fight somebody else's war? What, do you think you're heroes?" I didn't know what to say at the time, but if he'd ask me again I'd say no. I'd say there's not way in hell. Nobody asks to be a hero.
[beat]
Eversmann: It just sometimes turns out that way.
[sigh]
Eversmann: You know a friend of mine asked me before I got here; it's when we were all shipping out. He asked me "Why are you going to fight somebody else's war? What, do you think you're heroes?" I didn't know what to say at the time, but if he'd ask me again I'd say no. I'd say there's not way in hell. Nobody asks to be a hero.
[beat]
Eversmann: It just sometimes turns out that way.
Grimes: It's all in the grind, Sizemore. Can't be too fine, can't be too coarse. This, my friend, is a science. I mean you're looking at the guy that believed all the commercials. You know, about the "be all you can be." I made coffee through Desert Storm. I made coffee through Panama while everyone else got to fight, got to be a Ranger. Now it's "Grimesy, black, one sugar" or "Grimesy, got a powdered anywhere?"
[after Nelson, Twombly, and Yurek grouped together; talking about equipment]
Twombly: Never mind. You brought NOD, right?
Yurek: No, I did not bring it. You know why? Because you said: "You won't need that dude, we'll be back in a half-hour."
Twombly: [feeling guilty] I wasn't exactly saying that to you.
Twombly: Never mind. You brought NOD, right?
Yurek: No, I did not bring it. You know why? Because you said: "You won't need that dude, we'll be back in a half-hour."
Twombly: [feeling guilty] I wasn't exactly saying that to you.
[eleventh title card]
Title Card: In late August, America's elite soldiers, Delta Force, Army Rangers and the 160th SOAR are sent to Mogadishu to remove Aidid and restore order.
[twelfth title card]
Title Card: The mission was to take three weeks, but six weeks later Washington was growing impatient.
Title Card: In late August, America's elite soldiers, Delta Force, Army Rangers and the 160th SOAR are sent to Mogadishu to remove Aidid and restore order.
[twelfth title card]
Title Card: The mission was to take three weeks, but six weeks later Washington was growing impatient.
[Durant is being interrogated]
Durant: My government will never negotiate for me.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Then perhaps you and I can negotiate, huh? Soldier to Soldier.
Durant: I am not in charge
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Course not, you have the power to kill, but not negotiate. In Somalia, Killing is Negotiation.
Durant: My government will never negotiate for me.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Then perhaps you and I can negotiate, huh? Soldier to Soldier.
Durant: I am not in charge
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Course not, you have the power to kill, but not negotiate. In Somalia, Killing is Negotiation.
[imitating Cpt. Steele]
Pilla: Think. We are at the ten yard line here, men, you understand? Can you count? One, two, ten. Where are my runningbacks?
Rangers: Hoo-ah!
Pilla: Where are my runningbacks?
Rangers: Hoo-ah!
Pilla: Hey. I didn't see you in church on Sunday solider. You had something more important to do? Not on Sunday you don't, not anymore. I will make you believe, you understand?
Pilla: Think. We are at the ten yard line here, men, you understand? Can you count? One, two, ten. Where are my runningbacks?
Rangers: Hoo-ah!
Pilla: Where are my runningbacks?
Rangers: Hoo-ah!
Pilla: Hey. I didn't see you in church on Sunday solider. You had something more important to do? Not on Sunday you don't, not anymore. I will make you believe, you understand?
CWO Dan Jollata: [Spots Somalis with RPGs and firearms] Art; I've got Skinnies with RPGS! Twelve o'clock!
Crew Chief: [to Medics roping down] Go! Go! Go!
Crew Chief: Roger; give me 90 degrees to the left.
[Black Hawk rotates 90 degrees to the left while minigun begins to fire; killing all the Somalis with weapons while one stray RPG shoots down and misses TSgt. Tim "Wilkie" Wilkinson by inches]
Crew Chief: [to Medics roping down] Go! Go! Go!
Crew Chief: Roger; give me 90 degrees to the left.
[Black Hawk rotates 90 degrees to the left while minigun begins to fire; killing all the Somalis with weapons while one stray RPG shoots down and misses TSgt. Tim "Wilkie" Wilkinson by inches]
