The Hurt Locker
Tags: mystery, realism, murder, violence, action, suspenseful

Plot synopsis:
Baghdad, in 2004, three soldiers of an Army bomb-disposal unit are investigating a report of an improvised explosive device (IED). They use a sophisticated robot drone to examine the device, which consists of several undetonated artillery shells wired together and hidden under plastic/fabric sheets. The unit, led by Sgt. Thompson, decides that they can detonate the IED using plastic explosives that they'll activate from a safe distance. Thompson also says that the explosion won't cause very much property damage and should result in no loss of life.A small cart is affixed to the back of the robot, which is then sent back into the blast zone. Before it can reach the IED, the trailer loses a wheel. Thompson dresses in a bulky bomb suit and walks down to the trailer. He picks it up and carries it to the IED, rigging it properly. As he walks back, his partners, Sgt. Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge, scan the immediate area for anyone they consider suspicious or who may be in the blast zone. When Thompson is about 25 meters from the bomb, but still in the kill zone, Eldridge notices a man running a butcher shop who is using a cellular phone. Eldridge yells to Sanborn and the specialist begins to run toward the man, ordering him to drop his phone. Sanborn tells Eldridge to shoot the man, who presses a sequence of numbers on the phone. The bomb detonates with Thompson still in the kill zone. The overpressure from the bomb kills Thompson despite the bomb suit; a large splash of blood hits the inside of the clear visor on his helmet.Thompson's body is packed into a coffin for shipment home, Sanborn supervises the procedure. He looks over Thompson's possessions for a few moments before the coffin is sealed. Back at the base, Eldridge is sitting in the rec room when the base psychologist, Lt. Col. Cambridge walks in and asks Eldridge how he's feeling (in the wake of Thompson's death). Eldridge is still clearly upset over the incident; he dry fires his rifle several times, suggesting that if he'd shot the man with the cell phone, Thompson might still be alive.A new leader for the team, Sgt. William James, arrives at the base. Sanborn meets him at his housing unit, where James is taking the plywood covers off his windows. When Sanborn suggests that James keep them on because of mortar shrapnel, James tells him that they won't be any good anyway if a mortar shell crashes in through the unit's roof.The next day the team responds to a report of another IED on a narrow street in the city. After the initial investigation, where they link up with the Army platoon that reported the bomb, James is dressed up in a suit similar to the one Thompson wore previously. As James approaches the bomb site, he tosses a smoke grenade, which agitates Sanborn, who can't see James to instruct him further. James also is uncommunicative with his team members, another factor that Sanborn does not appreciate. James finds an artillery shell buried under a small pile of trash. He disarms it easily, and then notices a secondary wire leading away from it. He uncovers the cable and finds it connects to a junction of six more cables. When James pulls on the junction connector, six more shells are uncovered. Another cable leads to a nearby building. James disarms the six new shells; as he does, he notices a man quickly leaving the building, presumably the bomber. James flashes one of the small detonators from one of the shells and smiles at the man, who vanishes from sight. Back at their Humvee, Sanborn tells James that he needs to communicate more during operations and not treat his duty as if it's a solo act. James brushes his teammate off. James does the same later when he and Sanborn talk while grooming themselves for another day's work in the latrine.The team is again called out for another bomb threat. This time, the bomb is in a car parked in front of a United Nations building. When the building is evacuated, James dons the bomb suit and walks toward the car, which suddenly becomes engulfed in flames. James uses a fire extinguisher to put out the fire and begins to examine the car while Eldridge and Sanborn take up their positions as lookouts. James opens the trunk and finds several of the same type of artillery shells he'd seen the day before. After a few moments, he takes his bomb suit off completely, knowing it won't protect him; there is enough explosive in the car to kill everyone nearby, including his teammates, even if they take cover. James disarms the shells and begins to search the car for the triggering device, a process that takes several minutes. At one point, when Sanborn tries to talk to him through a headset, James pulls it off and throws it aside. A few more very tense minutes pass as James searches the car. Sanborn and Eldridge notice several groups of Iraqis watching them from rooftops and from a minaret. They also see a man filming the incident with a video camera. At the car, James finally finds the triggering device and detaches it. When he returns to the Hummer, he lights a cigarette and is promptly hit in the face by Sanborn, who is again angry that James refused to acknowledge him or any questions he had. James appears strangely unoffended, nor is he angry at Sanborn. A colonel on the scene approaches James and is clearly impressed with James steady nerves and ability to handle such a crisis. When he asks James how many bombs he's disposed of, James gives him an exact number. The colonel is further impressed.Back at the base perimeter, Sgt. James confronts an Iraqi kid who sells pirated DVDs to the soldiers. The boy, who kicks a soccer ball around and calls himself Beckham, had sold James a movie a few days before; James wants his $5 back because the DVD was poor in quality. When Beckham tries to hustle him further, James is amused and tells him he can keep the money if he's able to block a shot at the makeshift goal area Beckham has set up. Beckham blocks the shot and James agrees to buy another movie from him, mildly threatening him if it's defective.The team goes out to the desert to detonate some of the explosives they've collected on missions. As they prepare to explode another bomb, James stops Sanborn to briefly drive down to the blast zone to get the gloves he left there. While he's gone, Sanborn tells Eldridge that, with the dangerous nature of the explosives they detonate in the desert, it would be easy to "frag" him by exploding the bomb while James is down there and claiming it was accidental. Sanborn seems pretty intent on doing so but Eldridge convinces him not to.While heading back to the city, the team sees two SUVs parked on their route. They approach them and the occupants standing around as if they were any other threat. The men standing near the vehicles quickly obey Sanborn and his team, dropping their weapons. One of the men reveals himself to be a British commando and the bomb unit relaxes. The British man says they have a flat tire but have broken their jack handle. James offers them equipment from their Hummer. While one of the British men handles the flat tire, the Brit shows the bomb unit members the men he has captured (presumably high level Iraqi officials) to turn in for a reward. Suddenly, the man fixing the tire is hit by sniper fire and falls before the shot is actually heard. Everyone runs for cover; the British commando mercilessly shoots both of his prisoners as they run away; the reward for capture dead or alive is the same.The bomb unit and the Brits find themselves pinned down. One of the Brits is killed while manning the Hummer's .50 caliber machine gun. The British team leader takes up a sniper's position on a small, rocky hill and begins to return fire with a Barrett rifle, shooting at a distant stone building where the enemy sniper and a small group are hiding. While adjusting the Barrett's bipod, the man is hit in the chest by the enemy sniper and killed. Sanborn takes up the man's rifle and James spots for him using a powerful scope. They fire several shots back at their enemy and run out of ammunition for the rifle. James has Eldridge search the dead man's pouches and he finds a full magazine. However, the man's blood has leaked onto the rounds and they must be cleaned off to cycle through the Barrett rifle. James helps a queasy Eldridge clean off the rounds. Sanborn is able to continue targeting the building and its occupants and, with James spotting, they're able to kill all the enemy troops. Eldridge notices someone who may be another sniper lurking at a position behind James and Sanborn and he opens fire. Eldridge is unsure of how well he did, but the other man is hit and killed.The incident seems to form a stronger bond between James and his teammates. Having found that they can actually work well together as a team, they celebrate at James' housing unit, taking turns pounding each other in the chest and drinking. After discussing why James seems to be such a maverick teammate and how he got into their line of work, James shows them a box of parts he's collected from nearly every bomb he's disarmed. He says he keeps them as reminders of how dangerous his work is. Eldridge and Sanborn are a bit puzzled but now know, after the desert incident, that James is actually a team player.On their next mission, Colonel Cambridge accompanies the team when they patrol a building where bomb making material has been seen. Cambridge stays outside while the team searches the building. Inside, they find the bomb making supplies and evidence that the bomb makers had just left. James finds the body of a young boy whom appears to be Beckham. He orders Sanborn and Eldridge out of the building spots a large incision in the boy's chest. He opens it and finds several pounds of plastic explosive in the body's abdominal cavity. He carries the boy outside to the Humvee. Outside, Cambridge is trying to clear the locals from the street when another IED goes off, killing him. In the immediate aftermath, Eldridge cannot accept Cambridge's death and wanders the area looking for him. He also finds Cambridge's helmet lying in the blast area.Back at the base, James talks to a man who sells DVDs at the perimeter. James asks the man if he knows Beckham, however the man's English isn't very good and he tells him nothing. James asks the nearby sergeant if the man checks out & the sergeant tells him the man is cleared. Later, when the man packs up his merchandise and leaves, James jumps in his truck and forces him to take him to Beckham's house. James enters the house and finds another man in the kitchen who is scared but surprisingly hospitable. James demands to know where Beckham is at gunpoint, but the man doesn't know. James realizes he's mistakenly entered the wrong home and turns to leave when the man's wife appears and begins to yell and throw things at him. James makes his way back through the city to the base, passing hundreds of angry-looking locals. At the main gate, he announces he's a US soldier and is forcibly arrested. When the duty sergeant demands an explanation for his being off the base at night, James says he was at a whorehouse. The sergeant slyly asks him where it is.The team responds to a call at night to check out a bomb blast zone. When they get there, they find that a bomb, possibly from a suicide bomber, went off near an oil tanker truck, causing a huge blast radius. James scouts the perimeter of the blast area and theorizes that the bomber didn't commit suicide but stood outside the perimeter and triggered the blast from there. James is furious and vows to find the bomber by ordering Sanborn and Eldridge to search the nearby streets. The three split up; shots are heard and Sanborn and James reconnect, however, they spot Eldridge being dragged off by two unidentified men. The two open fire, killing Eldridge's kidnappers but James hits Eldridge in the leg. James becomes severely upset at wounding his comrade and nearly breaks down in the shower, fully clothed.The next day, James and Sanborn go to meet Eldridge at the helicopter that will evacuate him. As he approaches their Humvee, Beckham, unexpectedly alive, appears and tries to talk to him, but James ignores him. At the helicopter, Eldridge is bitter with James for shooting him, saying his femur has been shattered and recovery will take months. He also berates James for taking them into a danger zone to satisfy his adrenaline rush. Eldridge is flown off.Sanborn and James respond to another bomb report and find a man standing alone in the middle of a large plaza. James has the translator order the man to his knees and he suits up and walks to him. When the man opens his coat, James sees he's wearing several pounds of C-4 attached to several steel bars which are locked together with large padlocks. The man pleads for his life, saying he has a family. With only two minutes left on the bomb's timer, James frantically tries to cut the locks, however there are too many and James must leave the man behind. Seconds later, the bomb goes off, killing the man and throwing James in his bomb suit out of the blast area. Sanborn rushes to him, thinking he's been killed like Thompson was. James is only stunned and wakes up. As they head back to the base, Sanborn, still shaken by the incident, tells James that he fears he will die in Iraq, having never had a wife or children. James tries to comfort him and convince his friend he'll make it back home and start a family.The team's rotation ends and James goes back to his home and family. While shopping in a store, he is overwhelmed by the cereal aisle, which has too many products for him to comprehend. He also is unable to adjust to home life and his relationship with his wife and daughter becomes increasingly strained. James decides to return to Iraq and he does. The final scene of the movie shows him beginning a new rotation and approaching another bomb site in his suit.======================During the early months of the post-invasion period in Iraq, Sergeant First Class William James becomes the new team leader of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit with the U.S. Army's Bravo Company, replacing Staff Sergeant Thompson, who was killed by a remote-detonated improvised explosive device (IED) in Baghdad. He joins Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge, whose jobs are to communicate with their team leader via radio inside his bombsuit, and provide him with rifle cover while he examines an IED. James's insistence on approaching a suspected IED without first sending in a bomb disposal robot during their first mission together lead Sanborn and Eldridge to consider him "reckless". Back at Camp Victory, James befriends Beckham, a young Iraqi boy who works for a local merchant operating at the base, selling pirated DVD movies to the soldiers. The team is next called out to the United Nations building in Baghdad, where a parked car has a large bomb in the trunk. While James intensively studies the intricate bomb, Sanborn and Eldridge provide him with cover. Sanborn becomes increasingly concerned about three men watching them from a minaret and another filming them from a nearby rooftop. With the building evacuated, he suggests to James that the they pull out and let a team of engineers come disarm the bomb. James ignores and angers Sanborn by removing his radio headset and his bomb suit, and remains with the car until he disarms the device.While returning from detonating bombs in the desert, the EOD team encounter a British private military company. They soon come under enemy attack, and three of the British mercenaries are killed in the ensuing firefight, which ends after Sanborn and James shoot the last of the insurgent snipers. For their next mission, the team heads to a warehouse to retrieve unexploded ordnance. While securing the warehouse, James discovers the dead body of a young boy who has been surgically implanted with an unexploded bomb. James is sure that it is Beckham, while Sanborn and Eldridge are not entirely certain. That night, James forces the merchant for whom Beckham worked to drive him to Beckham's house. Upon entering the house to which he is brought, James encounters an Iraqi professor and demands to know who was responsible for turning Beckham into a "body bomb". The professor thinks James is a CIA agent and calmly invites him to sit down as a guest of his household. A confused James is then forced out of the house by the man's wife, and sneaks back into Camp Victory with the help of a sympathetic guard. That same night, Eldridge is accidentally shot in the leg during a mission in which the EOD team successfully tracks down and kills two bomb makers. The next morning, James is approached by Beckham, who is alive and well. Much to Beckham's confusion, he is completely ignored by James. Eldridge blames James for his injury, claiming James unnecessarily put his life at risk just so that he could have an "adrenaline fix", referring to Sanborn's suggestion that the mission, which James had ordered, would be better suited for an infantry platoon.With only two days left on their current tour, James and Sanborn are called in to assist in a situation where a man was forced to wander into a military checkpoint with a time-bomb strapped to his chest. James cannot remove the bomb nor disarm it in time, and is forced to flee before the bomb goes off. On the ride back to the base, Sanborn becomes emotional and confesses to James that he can no longer cope with the pressure of being in EOD, and relishes the prospect of finally leaving Iraq and starting a family. James is next seen back at home with his wife and child, visibly bored with civilian life. One night he has an internal monologue in the form of speaking aloud to his infant son, where he says that there is only "one thing" that he knows he loves. He is next seen back in Iraq, ready to serve another year as part of an EOD team with Delta Company.

Review: I think SOME of the bad reviews are the Avatar Fanboys who are just angry Avatar didn't win Best Picture.Please don't just go along with the bad reviews this film has gotten from IMDb. Just try and watch this film.The Hurt Locker is a war epic, that I hope it becomes appreciative as time passes.
And that's where you'll see the real difference.The film introduces a seemingly new and unique idea by following a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) team as they go around defusing potential bombs all around town– a concept that allows the typical fast-action war theme to take a backseat to the dramatic intensity of the three team members' escapades and arguments.
It seems that, for some, this might be a turn-off, but personally, I believe those who complain about shaky cam need to take a closer look at its purpose and realize that it's far more effective in establishing a documentary-like feel for raw and engaging films such as this one.The interaction between the soldiers is a key point of the film and the entire project is clearly intended to be largely character-driven.
More than just observing a character's breakdown at the scene of war such as in films like Jarhead, The Hurt Locker immerses the viewer in the world of the characters themselves and practically forces you to care for them– and I mean that in the best way possible.
Further down the billing, Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes also give solid performances worth mentioning.Overall, The Hurt Locker is a movie that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through and packs a visual and cinematographic punch without the over-the-top Hollywood action scenes and special effects.
Although he praised Kathryn Bigelow, he said things like "I don't tell her how to direct and she doesn't tell me how to act" Watching the film I felt that childish arrogance belonged to the character by his personal appearance showed it belonged to the actor.
The Hurt Locker is a serious character study and a taut, suspenseful action thriller at once.The subject matter itself - the work of a bomb expert, possibly one of the most nerve-racking jobs on the planet - yields most of the suspense but Bigelow manages to squeeze out every bit of tension of the premise.This film to me was very apolitical - though set in Iraq, it is distinguished from most of the Iraq-themed war films in that it concentrates much more on the job itself than the political environment.
Jeremy Renner gives an incredibly powerful performance as an EOD officer completely hooked on adrenaline stemming from his everyday close shaves with death.All aspects of film-making are top-notch, from the brilliantly subversive screenplay through vivid cinematography, masterful directing and perfectly paced editing.In its storytelling the filmmakers wisely break with traditional Hollywood narrative techniques.
Everyone in the field knows he may die at any moment, and how they manage to hold up in the searing heat of Iraq in a war they aren't asked to understand may be the main point of this film, if indeed it has any point other than War is Hell and the Iraqi War is a particularly terrible slice of Hell.Kathryn Bigelow deserves every award she won for "The Hurt Locker." It is completely unsentimentalized.
Simply put, action ace Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" is a near masterpiece of suspense and unrelenting intensity.Her first film since 2002's "K-19: The Widowmaker," The Hurt Locker is definitely a return to form from the director of probably the greatest (in this man's humble opinion) surfer-action movie of all time "Point Break." The film follows Bravo company, a team of bomb technicians situated right in the heart of the Iraq war's modern IED warfare.
Jeremy Renner, mostly known for impressive performances in "S.W.A.T" and "The Assassination of Jesse James," gives his most riveting performance yet as the lead, Staff Sergeant William James, a reckless but brilliant soldier who has taken down almost 850 bombs.What separates this film from the bulk of mainstream cinema that has tackled the Iraqi situation is that it doesn't simply exist as a political polemic, or even a reminder of the humanitarian horrors that plague the Iraqi people.Instead, Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal give us a story that transcends politics and can be seen as almost a straight up kick-ass action pic.
The film is plotted by increasingly dangerous and fully realized defusion sequences, all of which were shot from beginning to end in single takes with DOP Barry Ackroyd's cameras continuously roving around set in order to create a tense realism that translates well to the screen.Very elaborate attention to detail and mise-en-scene is in every frame of the pic, with Bigelow choosing to shoot in Jordan and locations being less than 10 KM away from the Iraqi border.
And from a searing heat wave ranging up to 49C to actual Iraqi refugees used as extras to impeccable sound design and special guest cameos by Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes, Bigelow has succeeded in creating an entirely memorable and visceral experience that will surely leave its mark in the pantheon of the very best war spectacles put to film..
Writing is simple but that's the way it is and all my congratulations go to Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow for creating such a powerful war-drama that sticks with you even long after watching this film.I honestly hope that the Academy members won't forget abut this phenomenal movie achievement.
But nothing spectacular either, I might add.I have no particular views on "The Hurt Locker" winning the Academy Award for Best Movie, considering that 2009 was a spectacularly dull movie going year (don't even get me started with Pocahontas-cum-Smurfs!)This movie hides behind a thin veneer of "war is hell", but never for one second - like most American war movies - veer from the "support the troops" discourse (in fact, the people in the US armed forces are described as "superheroes" in the supplemental material on the DVD).
In this movie Iraqis fulfill the same function as the Somalis in "Black Hawk Down" - a faceless crowd of bad guys ready to be gunned down in scores (except for one token character; most likely a result of liberal guilt).In the DVD extras, Bigelow claims to want to "put the audience into the soldier's shoes".
It's probably one of those instances when Hollywood attempts to be political, and the only reason the 'Hurt Locker' got any awards is because it is the first majorly distributed film portraying the "dark-sides" of the War in Iraq since Obama took office...Personally, I found Chicken Little more suspenseful...
Lieutenants and Captains don't call Colonels by their first names, and no one would ever wear a class-B wool sweater into a jungle at night, just to name two examples I've actually seen on screen in recent years."The Hurt Locker" slips up a bit, too, but to my surprise, I was able to forgive those missteps almost completely, because the movie on the whole is the most compelling war movie in many years, and just a great movie, period: terrifically acted, brilliantly conceived and directed, a work of true cinematic art.
Like the committed professionals that it portrays, "The Hurt Locker" as a movie shows what movies are capable of when knowledgeable, experienced professionals are on top of their game."Saving Private Ryan" is generally regarded as THE modern war classic, and just about any picture set in war is going to draw at least a peripheral comparison to Steven Spielberg's flawed masterpiece, thanks to the still-detonating power of that film's master-class opening sequence, which took filmed combat to levels of never-before-seen verisimilitude.
There are at least three of these sequences in "The Hurt Locker," all done in their own pace without dragging, all expertly performed, all showing a face of war that we haven't seen on film before.There are bit roles from recognizable actors like David Morse (brilliant in his few moments on screen), Guy Pearce, and Ralph Finnes, but the majority of the acting load is shouldered by lesser-knowns Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie; they're both excellent.
In a just world, this movie would be earning four hundred million in the US, not "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen." But while the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has pulled plenty of "say what?" moment in the past ("Crash," really?!?), they still have a chance to do right by this film and quality cinema in general: Best Picture nomination, a Best Director nod for Kathryn Bigelow, Best Screenplay (of some sort; this is based on journalism by the writer, Mark Boal, which may qualify it as "adapted" work), and acting nominations for Renner and Mackie.
But any movie that's going to top "The Hurt Locker" as my favorite of 2009 certainly has its work cut out for it.BONUS POINTS: Unlike so many lesser films ("Crash," again looking in your direction), "The Hurt Locker" feels no need to explain its title on screen.
Already celebrated for its breathtaking realism in depicting soldiers and explosions, The Hurt Locker is being called "the best Iraq war movie," with the qualification that the genre has been weak and the public response weaker.
Bigelow wisely chose Jeremy Renner, an unknown and unglamorous actor, for this pleasingly enigmatic role of a man who may be closer to bombs and timers than to his own comrades.The Hurt Locker (soldier slang for a real bad place) gives you immediacy and vérité soldier life, with the shaky digital camera and in-and-out zooms of the genre (the action is so good, we soon forget them, while in Brian De Palms's crude 2007 Redacted, they grate all through).
All of this is staged with stunning accomplishment and a strong focus on character and the interactions, intense even when alienated, of these three men.The movie takes no political stand, other than Hedges' "war is a drug." This is like the point of view of Andrew Swoford used for Sam Mendes' 2005 Jarhead, which, however unsuccessful in some aspects and poorly received, conveys that soldiers don't question war because they're too busy doing dangerous jobs, or waiting and hoping to do them, and trying to stay alive till, God willing, their tour ends.The Hurt Locker is episodic and cyclical.
Despite all the acclamation poured into The Hurt Locker, I started watching it with pretty much skepticism, because I think the Irak war has already been examined in cinema from all the possible angles, not to mention that the protests against it feel increasingly tiring and irrelevant (even though they are right).However, The Hurt Locker ended up being a fascinating experience because of its innovative subject, lack of dull ideology, excellent performances and specially, because of Kathryn Bigelow's intense direction.One of the things I most liked in The Hurt Locker is that it does not pretend to instruct us about the failed reasons of the incursion in Irak, or repeating oil conspiracies or complaining about the lies about the weapons of mass destruction.It is simply focused on the experience from three soldiers specialized in disabling bombs, and it leaves us to interpret the situations from our points of view.And it also shows us brilliant scenes of action and war suspense.During the first seconds of The Hurt Locker, screenwriter Mark Boal establishes the message from the film: "War is a drug".And during the rest of the film, he shows us the effects of that addiction, making a realistic portrait of the dehumanization provoked by the uncertainty of combat, the impersonal management of the soldiers in the army and the psychological afflictions provoked by the horrible life conditions during war.But all those messages are set in the background from the movie, assimilating themselves to the spectator's point of view.On that way, the main attractions are the incredibly tense missions from the soldiers and the brilliant performances from the cast who interprets them.Jeremy Renner brings a very detailed development, which lets us see his character as a likable and competent man, but who is truly devastated in his soul.Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty are also excellent, since they completely become on their characters.By the way, the marketing from The Hurt Locker emphasizes the presence in the cast from Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce and Evangeline Lilly, but their roles are so short that they could be considered as cameos.I understand that strategy, because the main actors from this film are relatively unknown, and in order to raise the profile from this movie, they hired famous names; however that could disappoint the spectators who expect to see Fiennes or Pearce as the centre of attention, when reality is very different.But really...the performances from Renner, Mackie and Geraghty are so powerful that I barely noticed the stars on their fleeting appearances.What takes me to the real star from this film: Bigelow.The filmography from this director includes some of my favourite movies (Near Dark, Strange Days and Point Break).However, in early 2000s, her career declined with two mediocre movies: The Weight of Water and K-19: The Widowmaker.However, after that low period in her career, Bigelow makes her return to glory with The Hurt Locker, at the same time she created precise, energetic and very exciting action scenes in this movie.However, I have to make clear that the action of The Hurt Locker is not based on massive battles, confusing shootouts or heroic displays of machismo.Compared with the excesses from directors like Michael Bay or Stephen Sommers, Bigelow's action seems slow and methodic...but it is infinitely more striking because of the emotional weight from this film.Besides, Bigelow creates an appropriate sensation of anguish on the action scenes, which perfectly shows the nightmare of being at war.The only complain I have against this film is that it has a few irrelevant moments.But that does not avoid me from giving a very enthusiastic recommendation to this excellent movie, which is absolutely worthy of the acclamation it is receiving..
perfect except for the **cking ending : damn it...it was in the directors hands : like all people who do not know where the ending is : she went to far it was wrapped with a nice satin ribbon and Hollywood bow tie : *hitthe end is the 4rd scene from the end : grocery shoppingcamera pans down the cereal isle one way : pans the other : cut to black : end of filmsee : i called it a film, not a movie : but, it got movie-izedthe superb lines from the 3rd to last scene:sergeant james talking to his baby boy (paraphrased) "As you get older, the things you love fall away.
Shot in documentary style using hand-held cameras, it is a movie that is focused on putting us in the shoes of the people at war, and that is why we care about them – because they can die at any second.The movie, written from a script by Mark Boal that is loosely based on his real life experience following a bomb squad, focuses on three people that work within a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) unit disarming bombs in Iraq.
"War is a drug," declares the caption on the opening scene of Kathryn Bigelow's masterpiece "The Hurt Locker", and this phrase (written by an American soldier in Iraq corresponding with the New York Times), in its four-word simplicity, summarizes perfectly and shockingly the premise behind this astounding film.
Simply stated, "The Hurt Locker" is THE film about the Iraq war we've all been waiting for.The film follows Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner, in a possible Academy Award-winning performance) who specializes in defusing bombs as he completes his mission period in Iraq, walking alongside his two specialist companions (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty) in a hostile land where everyone is an enemy and where everything might be a bomb.
And, once again, as much as i love "Avatar" - "The Hurt Locker" is the best edited film of this year (and one of the best ever).I'm not an American,and i don't really know all the aspects of war in Iraq.
But this movie is SO much more than just politic, it's a spectacular character study (almost as good as we saw in "The Thin Red Line").Watch this film, because it's a "small" masterpiece in almost every possible way.
Kathryn Bigelow, in my opinion, deserves the Oscar due to a wonderful development of her job as film director and, i probably think this should also be the best film winner too(i have no problem with Avatar or James Cameron, i do think they deserve the best special effects academy award, among others...).Jeremy Renner is another pretty amazing discovery, i can't make up my mind between him or Colin Firth(A single man)on who should win the best actor academy award..
THE HURT LOCKER hits you like a depth charge in your stomach from the first frames of the film with a tension and suspense that makes you grip the arms of your theater seat with fear and terror as you feel the Iraq war really come home and deliver a picture of a war that our soldiers have lived every day.
I'm happy that Kathryn Bigelow got the Best Director award because she was the first woman to get it, but I think James Cameron truly deserved it.The Hurt Locker is a good movie.
I keep comparing this to Avatar, but with Avatar and with a lot of past Best Picture winners (or movies that should have won it..) you get the feeling that people behind the camera love what they're doing and it brings something more to the film.
I personally liked it and I think it fit the movie but I understand that not everyone will like it.In the end The Hurt Locker is a good film and I'm not sorry that I bought the DVD.
I have watched so called The hurt locker .Its a good movie but not enough to win an Oscar.