Black Hawk Down" was inspired by Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mark Bowden's 1999 bestseller, "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War," a meticulously researched account of the raid, based on interviews with the soldiers who took part in what has been called America's fiercest fire fight since the Vietnam War.

When producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("Armageddon", "The Rock", "Pearl Harbor") read Bowden's book in galley form in 1997, he envisioned not the typical Bruckheimer action film, but an inspirational and realistic war film. "It certainly had a lot of noise, violence and confusion, the book was serious, dark and disturbing," says Bowden.

Bruckheimer told Bowden that he thought it was an important story, he wanted to make the movie and wanted Bowden to stay involved from beginning to end. Though Bowden was contracted to write an original adaptation, Bruckheimer warned him that "five or six" screenwriters would ultimately work on the project, so he should not become too protective of his own version.

"With his help and encouragement, I did produce a script, but the bulk of the task ultimately fell to Ken Nolan." Says Bowden.

"I found Nolan to be a young man with boundless enthusiasm and obsessive work habits. I prefer to write on a regular schedule, usually before the keyboard for several hours each morning. Nolan is a procrastinator. He will agonise over a project for weeks without writing a word, then lock himself in his office, put on movie music to set the mood, and write in a marathon burst of energy, often through several nights and days."

Nolan worked from a copy of Bowden's book that he eventually turned black with fingerprints, underlining and notations.

"Nolan produced a script that was far more faithful to it than my script had been," says Bowden. "Nolan was one of those stealth successes, writers who make a good living but whose scripts never seem to actually become films."

Nolan lives in a house directly behind A-list director Ridley Scott ("Blade Runner", "Alien", "Gladiator", "Hannibal"), who was recruited to direct the film. Nolan could actually watch as the messenger knocked on Scott's door and the director accepted the package.

After Nolan completed his draft, the script went through many drafts. It was reworked by Oscar-winning screenwriters Steve Zailian ("Schindler's List") and Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump"); prize-winning playwright-actor Sam Shepard (who also plays the American commander, Maj. Gen. William F. Garrison in the film) reworked some of the scenes; and director Ridley Scott even resurrected some of the scenes and dialogue from Bowden's original script.

When Bowden met Scott in Bruckenheimer's office, the director peppered him with questions about the battle itself. Scott read Bowden's screenplay and wanted to resurrect some of the scenes he had written. "He spent the better part of a weekend chewing me like the end of one of his cigars," says Bowden.

"We all agreed that the movie, like the book, was primarily a story about American soldiers told through their eyes, but Scott was determined to convey that the enemy they faced that day was sophisticated and smart, and had legitimate motivations of its own."

On Bowden's next trip to L.A. two months later, Scott had already picked a neighbourhood in Rabat, Morocco, in which to shoot the film, and the art director Arthur Max was already constructing models of the sets.

Before lending support, the Pentagon requested its usual early script review. The Army was already familiar with Bowden's book, which is often used as a special Forces training text.

Four months after Bowden met Scott they were ready to shoot the film. The Defense Department delivered on its promise to deploy real Army Rangers and pilots from the 160^th Special Operations Aviation Regiment to assist with the stunts.

"I had spent years working to re-create in words the raid these units had made on the target in Mogadishu and I had a vivid picture of it in my mind. In Morocco I was able for the first time to actually witness it," says Bowden. "It was just as I had imagined it, only more sudden, violent and loud."

Bowden first saw the film on October 3, 2001. coincidentally on the eighth anniversary of the battle. He sat with Scott, Bruckenheimer and producers of Revolution Films.

"For such an established director, he is surprisingly open to reactions and suggestions," says Bowden. "He showed me a sequence of scenes days before I saw the whole movie, and, chatting with him about them afterwards, I said I thought it might be interesting to reverse the order - it might have more impact. Scott promptly asked his editor, Pietro Scalia, to try it. We watched again, and Scott announced that he liked the reverse scenes better. I was alarmed. I thought, don't listen to me, you're Ridley Scott."

"For me, the project has been nothing short of astonishing," says Bowden. "Few things could feel more satisfying than to witness so many talented people, so much intelligence and energy, invested in a project that, for me, began with an idea in my kitchen in rural Pennsylvania six years ago. The experience has been lucrative, creatively rewarding and it has given me more opportunities to work in Hollywood. To some extent it has demystified the process of filmmaking."

"But I still haven't completely shaken the voice inside my head that reminds me from time to time, with the wide-eyed enthusiasm of a true fan, 'You're sitting here working on scenes with Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott.'

"I hope it doesn't show too much, but I hope I never lose it."

At the time of the release of "Black Hawk Down", Mark Bowden was working on a screenplay based on his latest book, "Killing Pablo", about the U.S.-assisted campaign to track down and kill Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, and a new book about the Iran hostage crisis.

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