Tom Hardy is known for his gritty film and TV roles, with the star featuring in major hits like Peaky Blinders and the Venom franchise. The star has long been a titan of the genre, with many of his early credits being in films of a similar nature like Layer Cake or Flood.
Back in 2001, when Tom made his film debut, he starred in another gritty drama, with the actor appearing in Ridley Scott's war epic, Black Hawk Down. The Oscar-winning film was based on the 1999 book of the same name, which dealt with the downing of a Black Hawk military helicopter during the Battle of Mogadishu and the subsequent mission to rescue the crewmembers.
In the film, Tom plays a fictional soldier, SPC Lane Twombly, a member of the groundcrew during the Battle of Mogadishu. While the star is most known for his action hero roles, in the film, his character is a lot more inexperienced and can be seen exhibiting fear around the issues.
The star appeared alongside an ensemble cast, including the likes of Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Orlando Bloom, Ioan Gruffudd and Eric Bana.
Fans who are interested in seeing Tom at the start of his career, when he was just 24 years old, are in luck, as Amazon Prime have now added the film to its library!
Viewer and critical response
Black Hawk Down has continued to be an incredibly popular film since it was first released back in 2001. One fan wrote: "War is hell and this is a film of stark and haunting imagery of victims of famine, of mutilated soldiers and civilians. Both editing and cinematography are superb with many great scenes like the small stream of American soldiers walking up the street while on the other side of the houses a massive torrent of armed militiamen are walking in the same direction."
A second added: "In a genre that has brought out some of the best in directors and actors, Black Hawk Down is easily the best war movie ever made," while a third commented: "Black Hawk Down is first and foremost an immensely effective war film, but beyond that, it's one of the most subtly differently made war films ever."
Meanwhile, a fourth penned: "Black Hawk Down is a great movie that is both an eye opener that sticks to the facts as well as a quality film. I recommend this movie to any war-film fan, as well as anyone that likes watching movies in general."
Black Hawk Down was also well-received by critics, with the film winning Best Film Editing and Best Sound at the 2002 Academy Awards. It had also received nominations for Best Director, with Ridley Scott, and Best Cinematography. It lost out to A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard, and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in those respective categories.
In a four-star (out of a possible four stars) review, renowned critic, Roger Ebert wrote: "A brutal, hard-hitting, immersive, and touchingly human portrait of urban warfare and the men who fight it. An excellent film, made by a master."
Who stars in Black Hawk Down?
The film is famed for its ensemble cast, which contains many iconic Hollywood stars. These include Josh Hartnett (Oppenheimer), Ewan McGregor (Star Wars), Ewen Bremner (Trainspotting), Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), Orlando Bloom (The Pirates of the Caribbean), Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter), Eric Bana (Troy) and Ty Burrell (Modern Family).