Matthew had not seen the film before this, nor did he know what the finished product would look like. He only guessed that a renowned director like Ridley Scott would certainly not film strictly according to the original work, and would inevitably incorporate his own unique elements.
This proved to be true; Ridley Scott clearly had his own perspective in the film, which was the "camaraderie" repeatedly emphasized throughout the movie.
The American troops had originally launched a raid during this operation to capture militia leader Aidid, but due to inaccurate intelligence, they were instead surrounded by Somali militia. The American side's tactical blunders led to a continuously increasing number of soldiers needing rescue.
Ridley Scott essentially cut out the overall tactical problems and naturally did not show the perspective of the Somali militia. The focus was primarily on how American Soldiers, in a hail of bullets, disregarded their own safety to rush towards the besieged units, and how everyone, from the highest command to the frontline soldiers, firmly held the belief that "no comrade will ever be left behind"—even if it was just a body that needed retrieving.
Of course, this could also be the work of Jerry Bruckheimer, since Ridley Scott did not have final cut authority, and given the current social climate, this kind of content would be maximally acceptable to the public.
Matthew was just an ordinary actor in the Crew, far removed from the Crew's decision-making level. These were just his speculations based on watching the film and considering the current socio-political environment.
What the truth actually was, perhaps only Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer knew.
As the film came to an end, Matthew saw his character having a very serious conversation with Josh Hartnett.
"We fight for our brothers, it's that simple!"
This line spoken by Sergeant Hoot once again highlighted the theme of the entire film.
This was not an anti-war film; at least, after watching it, Matthew did not consider it to be the so-called anti-war film.
"Looking at it this way..." He muttered to himself while watching the close-up of Sergeant Hoot, the character he played, on the screen, "My acting isn't bad after all!"
The numerous retakes (NGs) required to shoot this scene were automatically ignored by him.
The end credits appeared on the screen. Matthew briefly recalled that compared to the thousands of shots Ridley Scott had filmed, only a small portion was used in the movie, and the scenes where Sergeant Hoot and the other Delta Force Members returned to the battlefield were completely cut.
The film plot ended when the rescue forces reached the stadium, but the script and the original novel did not end there.
In particular, the original novel detailed the subsequent events: Somali militia captured Black Hawk Helicopter pilot Mike Durant and planned to exchange him for captured Somali prisoners. However, while they were preparing to take Mike Durant to their village, they were ambushed by local bandits, who stole Mike Durant and demanded a ransom for him.
Mike Durant was taken to a house, interrogated, and slapped in front of a video camera. This tape, along with another tape showing Somalis insulting American military corpses, was later sent to CNN and broadcast in the US, causing an uproar that forced the Clinton Administration to withdraw troops.
On the Somali militia side, after Aidid paid the ransom for Mike Durant, Mike Durant was transferred to the residence of Aidid's Propaganda Minister. Five days later, he received a visit from a representative of the International Red Cross and interviews with British and French journalists. Ten days after that, he was exchanged for Aidid officials captured by the US military, returning home to a Hero's welcome.
The plot of the original novel finally concluded here.
However, Matthew also knew that film differs from text; it is impossible to cram too much content in, so Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer certainly had to make choices.
Mark Bowden's original novel also interviewed many Somalis, and much of the content viewed the battle from the Somali perspective, but all of this was discarded.
Ultimately, this was an American film, and furthermore, a war film that received assistance from The Pentagon.
Warm applause erupted in the screening room. Matthew stood up along with the rest of the Crew and clapped. Setting aside the messy background and current political issues, purely from a cinematic perspective, he believed it was an extremely exciting war film.
If he were to judge it himself, he felt it could be classified as a classic, even though the standards for judging classics were often based more on popcorn films.
Following this, numerous guests, media reporters, and film critics came to the front row for a brief discussion with the Crew.
Naturally, Matthew was not among those participating in the discussion; he mostly stood by and watched. He didn't even attend the subsequent screening press conference. Only Josh Hartnett and William Fichtner attended as actors; even Jonny Lee Miller and Orlando Bloom did not enter the press room.
This was related to the film's style. After watching the movie, even though Matthew's professional level wasn't particularly high, he could tell that the presence of the actors and characters was extremely low.
Even during the intense battle scenes and throughout the streets and alleys of Mogadishu, one could only see fully armed American Soldiers, making it impossible to distinguish who was who.
Although Ridley Scott specifically instructed the prop master to label the character names on the corresponding helmets during filming, those labels were no easier to recognize than the actors' faces obscured by smoke and camouflage.
"Fortunately..." Matthew remarked with emotion as he left the Pasadena Theater, "My face was quite clear in that final close-up shot."
But he faintly sensed that this might not matter much. The narrative style decided upon by Ridley Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer clearly focused on the event rather than the individual, aiming to present the entire process of the incident in a relatively comprehensive manner without focusing on the development of specific internal characters. Although the main body of every American unit in the film had at least one key character, such as Sergeant Hoot whom he played, the personalities and backgrounds of these characters were not heavily emphasized.
To be precise, this was a war film that showcased the US military as a whole while relatively neglecting the individual.
Perhaps having become accustomed to observing others' performances through videotapes for so long, Matthew found it difficult to watch movies with the eyes of a pure audience member anymore; he unconsciously started analyzing, even though he knew these so-called analyses were superficial.
There was nothing he could do; his professional level was still very limited at the moment.
After returning home, Matthew immediately updated his blog, writing a post about the film, attaching a few character posters of Sergeant Hoot (the role he played), and uploading them to his personal blog.
His blog still had less than ten thousand followers, so its promotional effect was relatively limited. Most of the followers came because of the film.
Matthew wasn't anxious; he knew that the current environment was different from the future. Fans on this kind of social media needed to be accumulated slowly, and when the time was right, there might be a big explosion.
In the following period, he attended several media conferences, test screenings, and limited screenings. He also accepted interviews from several reporters and appeared in some newspapers. In particular, the final close-up of Sergeant Hoot looking thoughtful was frequently used by media websites, allowing him to gain quite a bit of publicity.
Universal Pictures and the Crew also seized this opportunity to launch a round of publicity, frequently linking posters for the scorpion king with images of Sergeant Hoot.
Matthew moved back and forth between the two Crews, managing to secure some space in the media.
On the other hand, his idea of trying to gain publicity by attending the other film's Crew did not materialize. Orlando Bloom called to inform him that he hadn't managed to get him a premiere invitation.
Matthew didn't take it to heart; if he could leverage that publicity, great, but if not, so be it.
In comparison, he paid more attention to the films he had starred in.
The film was undergoing post-production. As far as he knew, the post-production editing had begun, but it was impossible for him to interfere with post-production. Not only him, but even the director Chuck Russell was not involved in the post-production process.
Meanwhile, the film began limited screenings in five theaters in Los Angeles. Due to the limited release scale, the attendance rate was quite impressive, but even more notable than the attendance rate was the professional critique of the film.
Whether from film critics or professional media, the reviews for the film were overwhelmingly positive.
Matthew saw a large number of positive reviews in newspapers and magazines.
"This is not merely an anti-war film; Ridley Scott has directed it like a documentary, truly recreating the long day and night in Mogadishu, Somalia. Whether it's the various mentalities of the American Soldiers facing desperation or the close-ups of urban armed violence, its appalling authenticity and the profound significance it reveals are destined to make this a unique war film in cinematic history!"
The film's relatively excellent reputation also prompted Sony Columbia Pictures to heavily promote it; their plan to push this film for Oscar contention was very obvious.
Some film critics even suggested that television stations' History Channels should use this film instead of related documentaries, believing that its depiction was more accurate and detailed in comparison.
Compared to the film itself, the actors received far less attention. Not only Matthew, a supporting actor who wasn't highly ranked, but even the lead actor, Josh Hartnett, didn't receive much praise from the media.
The plot of this film completely overshadowed the actors.
Perhaps film critics and many audience members liked to see this situation, but for actors like Matthew, this was not a good sign.
Fortunately, even if the characters were relatively flat, achieving success at the box office and the Oscar ceremony would still become a brilliant credential for the many main actors.
Especially for Matthew, substantial credentials would be beneficial for him when competing for certain roles.