Black Hawk Down

Zimmer (Gladiator, Crimson Tide) achieves his usual taut dramatic pitch, but with some inspired, Oscar-worthy stretches. Operating under the assumption that war is a clash of cultures, he uses thumping electronic instruments to represent American soldiers and an orchestra of equally aggressive ethnic sounds and voices (Baaba Maal and Rachid Taha) for the Somali. Zimmer comes off neutral without being bland, and the battle of styles is as beautiful and compelling as anything in the film. A-