The Hurt Locker (2008)

• Year: 2008
• Released: 31 Jul 2009
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 6 Oscars. 125 wins & 130 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/The_Hurt_Locker
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-hurt-locker
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 2160p
• Language: English, Arabic
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
• Runtime: 131 min
• Writer: Mark Boal
• Director: Kathryn Bigelow
• Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty
• Keywords: woman director, soldier, rescue, terrorism, us army,

	7.5/10
	95/100
	97% – Critics
	84% – Audience

The Hurt Locker Storyline

The Bravo Company’s bomb disposal unit, currently stationed in Baghdad, comprises US Army Sergeant First Class Will James, Sergeant JT Sanborn, and Specialist Owen Eldridge. James, the new tech team leader, arrives on the scene when Bravo Company has just thirty-nine days left on its current deployment. It will be a long thirty-nine days for Sanborn and Eldridge, whose styles do not mesh with their new leader (a renegade for whom the thrill of the dismantlement seems to be the ultimate goal, regardless of safety for his fellow team members, for others on the scene, or for himself). By contrast, Sanborn is all by the books, knowing his place and duty and trusting others in the army to carry out their assignments just as well as he does. Eldridge, on the other hand, is an insecure soldier constantly worried that an error or misjudgment on his part will lead to the death of an innocent civilian or a military colleague. While the three members face their own internal issues, they have to be aware of any person at the bomb sites, some of whom may be bombers themselves.

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The Hurt Locker Movie Reviews

The only thing more stupid than this film is the artificially high IMDb rating

I love a good war film and I fall into the “been there, done that” category. So I would like to think my review is an accurate one (IMHO). Having just watched this film on DVD I can safely say that it was a pile of rubbish. There is no way I can recommend this film to you.

It started off with me shouting at the TV saying “you wouldn’t do that” etc…but I soon realised that having a bit of job experience would be a hindrance so I chilled a bit. But on the opening scene when the trailer wheel fell off I got a nasty feeling that this film would be a predictable dud…I was right.

There simply wasn’t any logic to the EOD scenes. I just know that the army team had some of the most patient insurgents ever at the other end of the command wire or remote trigger. So much so I was left scratching my head all the time. Then just when you think you know where the story is going the guys in the Humvee are off out on their own driving around the desert. One of the most valuable assets in theatre out on a jolly bumping into some SAS wannabe contractors.

The sniper scene was just so laughable. It just made no sense at all and made me want to switch off there and then. Then for them to drag it out so long really did test my patience.It started with the “Contact Right” and went down hill fast. If you had a Brit accent then you got shot but if you were part of the EOD team then suddenly you were a great shot and saved the day. Then just as you thought it was over it stretched on for an inexplicably long period without adding anything to the story at all. You are just left watching and asking why hasn’t it ended yet?

Then we had the booze scene where they just hit each other for a laugh..another scene where you just wanted it to end. It added nothing to the film.

Then just as my life seemed very dull the main star went outside the wire to hunt someone down. This most be the most ridiculous scene I have ever watched. It defied all logic and ability to write a good storyline…it was senseless and awful. I still don’t understand why they wasted time on it. Then to watch him just jog through the busy streets heading back to camp had me rolling on the floor with laughter. Pure comedy 🙂

The sad fact is that this storyline is all over the show without really deciding what it wants to be. I thought it was going to be stupid illogical EOD scenes but then it kept going off on tangents trying to be something different. But as hard as it tried it just bored me to death. All I wanted was for it to end. It was a messy compilation of stupid scenes mixed into a batch of stupid, senseless, action(ish) scenes.

There is no way I can recommend this. Maybe my work experience compromised the enjoyability but even the naive must realise this just doesn’t make sense. The only thing more stupid than this film is the artificially high IMDb rating…which must be the 24/7 work of the box office PR team who seem to use this website as a way of making everyone think it is good. Sorry folks…it just ain’t!

Not recommended…it will just bore you.

A Movie to See — Not to Enjoy

Except for the first few minutes of “Saving Private Ryan,” no film I’ve ever seen comes closer than “The Hurt Locker” to portraying the randomness, senselessness, brutality and — yes — the excitement of battle. With the exception of Ralph Fiennes who makes a brief appearance early in the movie, there are no stars and few recognizable actors in this story about a small group of men whose mission is to defuse improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Iraq. Frequently under surveillance, though not always certain whether it is by curious bystanders or enemies in civilian clothing, these men are at risk every moment they are in the field.

The principal character, Sgt. First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) is one of those who seem to get an adrenaline rush in the face of danger. His colleagues, Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackle) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geaghty), see no glamor in their task. Sanborn is a workman-like soldier, trying to do his duty in as safe a manner as possible. Eldridge is in a near-constant state of panic, eager to be somewhere else, any place else. They are not presented as stereotypes, however, nor is anyone else in this absorbing movie. 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. There is no moral drawn, except what the viewer concludes based on the judgments he or she brought to the movie and the impact of the story on those judgments. Of its type, it is far and away the best war movie I’ve ever seen.

Over-hyped

Best Picture of 2009, according to the Academy. It also won best director and best original screenplay out of the so called Big Five.

I don’t see it. I have no idea why this movie got so many awards, so many recommendations, so much critical praise. Is it a bad film? No, not at all. It’s in fact rather good film, fully capturing the intensity of a bomb squad. I just wouldn’t call it the best picture of the year, not even close.

Still, it does some things very well. As stated, it is very intense from time to time. Every time one of the characters has to don on the bomb suit, the atmosphere picks up instantly. You can feel the claustrophobia, the detachment from the outside world, and I enjoyed those scenes very much. Most of the bomb situations are also creative and different enough to be interesting and I have to applaud the choice to film near actual war zone as it does add to the setting. It’s a fine-looking film and the two sound-related Academy Awards were well-earned in my opinion.

My biggest issues with this film lie with its characters. Director Kathryn Bigelow clearly tried to show us the detachment from reality that plagues these bomb squad members even outside their suits, but unfortunately I ended up being detached from them as well. I managed to form no connection with them, because none of them acted like a normal human being – at least in my opinion. They were there to illustrate a point, to act out the story and because they needed to be there, but they felt hollow and empty. At the end of the story I could say that I had enjoyed the scenery and some of the action scenes, but that I hadn’t really learned anything new about war or its conditions.

But perhaps that’s just my failing as a viewer. Still, reviews are meant to illustrate the experiences of a particular viewer, and this one is mine. I don’t particularly like this film. I can admire its vision and its professionalism, but it’s not a film I would see twice or recommend to anyone.