Blooper

When the sharpshooter takes out the Land Rover carrying Atto, the vehicle changes from a Defender model to a Discovery in the close ups and distance shots.

When Chalk 4 are pinned down by a .50 caliber machine gun, a Little Bird is waiting above. In the shot from the top, it is a Bell Huey, then when it fires at the gunner it is a Little Bird again.

The position of Durant's Black Hawk in the satellite images after it crashes. This is presumably because one is the real satellite image. (Several were used in making the movie.)

In the satellite image, the helicopter hovering over the city is a Bell UH-1 "Huey" but in the regular aerial shots, it is a UH-60 Black Hawk.

In one shot, a Black Hawk helicopter is flying over the ocean; soldiers can been in its cabin with their legs hanging out over the sides. In the next the shot(s), the same helicopter cabin is empty.

The relief forces (10th Mountain, Pakistanis, etc) were actually informed of the raid and had scrambled the minute both crashes were announced. The reason for their long delay was because of the roadblocks and ambushes the Somalis had set up, which forced them to go all the way around the entire city.

When his Black Hawk crashes, Michael Durant is shown to be the only survivor, whereas in reality the entire crew survived the initial crash. They later died defending themselves at the crash site, with Durant being the only survivor.

When the muezzin (who recites Azan (Muslim call for prayer)) calls for the morning prayer on the minaret, we can see that the sun had already risen. Which means the time for morning prayer is already over. The muezzin should have recited the call for prayer at least an hour earlier (which is done all over in the Muslim countries).

Durant uses an MP5A5 when defending his helicopter. Pilots really used MP5K's, which are significantly smaller.

At the end of the movie, it is stated that Mohamed Farrah Aidid was killed on August 2, 1996 -- without mentioning by whom. He actually died of a heart attack on that date. He had been wounded on 7/24 during a battle with former allies, not American or UN forces. He suffered the heart attack as a result of the surgery to treat his injury.

Before the mission starts, such as when he is making impressions of Captain Steele, Pilla is referred to as "Specialist" (E-4) and wears the corresponding rank. However, during the mission when he is manning the turret in a Humvee, Pilla is referred to several times as "Sergeant" (E-5). This is, in fact, historically accurate, as Pilla was promoted to Sergeant on the very day of the mission; the scene where Pilla is mocking Steele takes place before the day of the mission.

The uniforms worn are 3-color desert combat uniforms (DCU) with 6-color "chocolate chip" desert Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) helmet covers. This is correct. The new DCUs adopted in 1992 (after Desert Storm) had entered the supply chain by 1993 and had begun to be issued before the Somalia incident. Elite formations like the Rangers and Special Forces are usually the first to receive new equipment, and were so equipped in Mogadishu in October 1993. The reason they still wore the older camouflaged helmet covers was due to the fact that the covers had not been issued yet. It is has been historically quite common for US helmet covers and other camouflage accessories to lag behind in the distribution of new patterned uniforms.

As with any "based on a true story" movie, especially one involving complex military operations, there are many ways in which the plot of the movie differs from the actual events. The exigencies of dramatic storytelling also require that certain practices and procedures are not accurately portrayed. Though, technically, these might be thought of as goofs, it's a movie, not a documentary.

Cartridges and empty casings seen throughout the movie are not blanks. Cartridges and casings that are seen in some scenes are, in fact, "dummy" rounds. Dummy cartridges are generally "live" rounds with the gunpowder grains removed and a non-working primer installed. Blank rounds are characterized by the crimping of the casing where the projectile normally is and are painted on the end to distinguish them from live and dummy rounds. Blank rounds will "pop" when fired like actual live rounds unlike dummy rounds which don't have any powder at all.

When the two Delta snipers are approaching the second downed Black Hawk, a Somalian man in a white shirt is shown from behind. Clearly visible is a pack on his back. A few seconds later he is shot by one of the snipers in that exact spot. It's a blood pack.

The .50 caliber machine guns on some of the Humvees are dummy guns whose barrels flop about as the vehicles drive over rough terrain, such as when Blackburn goes to the shooting range to meet Eversmann.

When Gordon is defending the second crash site he switches from his sound-suppressed M4 sniper rifle to his Colt M1911A1 pistol. The first time he uses his 1911 pistol, he fires 7 shots rapidly to kill charging Somalians. The first shot locks the slide back but the next six are clearly added in because the shells don't fly out and the gun still fires despite the slide being locked back. The next six muzzle flashes must have been added in post-production.

When Blackburn gives his Military I.D (which consists of only numbers) to Grimes, you can clearly see that when he types it into the database he uses the letter keys all over the keypad, and not the top line of number keys only.

During the entire movie, when the soldier's are talking on the AN/PRC-119A radios they are able to talk and receive transmissions. However the radio is on "Stand By" and there is no RF cable attached to the antenna connector. So even if the radio was on they would not be able to talk on those radios.

Just after the task force takes off from the airfield, they pass over a kid with a cell phone who call's the militia leader to warn him. The militia leader is told, "Ma-alint" which has come to mean "Rangers" in the language of modern Somalia. But that is really an abbreviation of "Ma-alinti Rangers" which is a National Holiday in Somalia celebrated on the anniversary of the battle, October 3rd. The phrase did not exist until the year after the battle.

The sunglasses worn by SFC Hooten are Oakley Juliets. Throughout the film Oakley is one of the very few brand names mentioned (when Pilla is impersonating Captain Steele - "If Delta wants to wear Oakleys, that's their business...I don't wanna see them on again, hooah..?"). The company does have a Standard Issue range that is intended for military use and the brand itself is highly popular with servicemen. The appearance of Hoots sunglasses is chronologically incorrect though, the events depicted in the film took place in 1993 and Oakley did not start marketing the specific sunglasses he wears until 1999.

In several scenes, such as in the lunch line when Steele is getting onto Hoot about his weapon, it is possible to see the knobs on the carry handles, revealing them to be M4A1s. These were not developed until 1994.

While flying into Mogadishu one soldier holds a paperback edition of John Grisham's novel "The Client". In October 1993, this book was only available in hardcover; the paperback was not published until March 1994.

At the start of the film, most of the pilots were shown with SPH-4A/B flight helmets, but a few are wearing newer HGU-56/P helmets. The movie takes place in October 1993, but the Army did not begin fielding the HGU-56's until 1995.

Numerous times in the film when any helicopter lands, we hear the familiar chirp-chirp-chirp sound. This is characteristic only of the famous Bell H-13G (the MASH chopper), and then only of the rubber drive belt disengaging from the rotor column.

When PFC Blackburn and SSG Eversmann first meet, PFC Blackburn's subtitles incorrectly show him as saying, "Yes sir, you want me to shoot?" when he actually says, "Yes sarn't, you want me to shoot?" The distinction between the two is very important as in the United States Army, Sergeants are never referred to as "Sir". Only commissioned or warrant officers are referred to as "Sir". "Sarn't" is a common shortening of "sergeant".

While evacuating prisoners, McKnight's mouth appears to be saying something completely different from what is heard.

While running the "Mogadishu Mile" at the very end, there is a close-up shot where a Delta unit lifts his rifle, it recoils against his shoulder, and we hear several shots, but he doesn't pull the trigger - his finger lies flat against the trigger guard

When Mr. Atto leaves Mogadishu in the Land Rover convoy, the last Rover clearly squeals its tires on a dusty dirt road.

During the Mogadishu Mile, Rangers and Delta are being left behind by the UN. In the high shot where the vehicles go downhill then the soldiers appear, there are two crewmembers wearing blue shirts on the roof of the top right building.

A white-shirted cameraman is visible, crouching over a camera in the back of a Humvee when it stops to let the old man past.

When the city forces take over the second black hawk helicopter, a shot from the point of view of the wounded soldier reveals a camera and crane on the right-hand side of the screen.

When Garrison says," Good luck boys, and be careful. No one gets left behind," briefly in the hangar you see two white shirted crew members and the camera.

When Eversmann and his men are running back to the their base, he dodges some gun fire and squats behind an old car for cover. As he does so, his "mark" is visible on the road at the spot where he stops running and dodges behind the car.

In the first few scenes of the movie, Muslims are shown praying towards the east, proved by the sunrise they are facing. But the holy city of Mecca would be to the north, northwest of Somalia, not to the east as it is from in North America.

When the boy runs to drop the telephone down to the militia leader, a bay can be seen in the background. The coast off Mogadishu is straight and there are no bays. Secondly, a cliff to the left is visible, as well as in the scenes with the helicopters flying towards the city; there are no seaside-cliffs near Mogadishu. This is a view of the filming location in Morocco.

Somalia in the early 1990s was a pretty desolate place. Most of the buildings were mostly mud constructions of one or two stories according to Col. Larry Perino in an interview by Modern War Institute. Very few four/five stories. The roads were also very narrow & entirely dirt roads. That's why all the rangers had to rope down in in Black hawks. The Black Hawks couldn't land because that would have created a brown out.

When the soldiers are waiting for the mission to get underway they are discussing the details while shooting baskets, in the background there is a group of farm houses set in a green field.

In at least one scene depicting the US Base, and shows a C-130 Hercules transport in the background, you can see the country symbol on it (round and red) that shows it to be a Moroccan Air Force Hercules, which is where the movie was filmed.

When a Ranger throws out a frag grenade, Sgt. Eversman warns his men by yelling "Grenade!" Proper designation would be to yell "Frag out!" as yelling "Grenade!" warns the men of an incoming grenade, not an outgoing one.

When Grimes is inputting Blackburn's information into the computer, he asks for his service number. The Army stopped using service numbers in 1969. Grimes should have asked for his social security number or, more commonly, just his social.

When the soldier has a seizure while watching TV, the soldiers around him hold him down and someone yells out to put something in his mouth. Both of these actions are wrong. You neither hold down or put anything in the mouth of someone having a seizure. The soldiers should know this as they all go through basic first aid in training.

When Eversmann's team proceeds to the first crash site, the supervisor reports: "Hostiles advancing parallel west your position." This would be misleading as the enemy is actually east of the team, according to the direction of the shadows as well as the fact that the scene takes place in the afternoon, well after 03:45 PM. It is questionable if the mission supervisor would use this kind of orientation, instead of rather saying something like "enemies at 9 o' clock".

When Wolcott and Durant are talking about the word "limo," Durant says it's not in the dictionary, but it is in the Official Scrabble Dictionary.