The Hurt Locker

The hurt locker. It is a good movie. Jeremy Renner is one of my favorite actors. Read more

Great mov Read more

This is an action packed film that kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire film. The characters are propelled from one risky situation to the next without much of a break between. The film is about a bomb removal or disposal unit who must deal with the vast proliferation of IEDs set by the insurgents for our young soldiers. The fact that these IEDs are produced using diverted military supplies is beyond tragic incompetence. Jeremy Renner is superb as Sergeant James, a fascinating character who seems driven for many reasons to take outrageous risks when dismantling IEDs. He is contrasted with Sergeant Sanborn, the voice of reason and experience, which is highly annoyed by excessive risk taking. Most viewers would identify with Sergeant Sanborn's common sense in the face of ever changing risks. A third fellow, Specialist Eldridge, is also a character with whom many may identify, for he knows that war in Iraq had become insane and he struggles to mentally hold himself together under the stress. I found this film to be highly entertaining with a compelling story and realistic characters in challenging situations. I loved Black Hawk Down and found this film to be as good a film. A year in the life of a bomb disposal unit would be a terrible year for each day presented new life threatening situations, often ambiguous signals, and ever changing risks. When I read the other reviews, particularly those folks who gave the film low marks, I found that most of the complaints were highly technical and detail oriented. In other words, for the film to get it right, every detail about military operations must be exactly portrayed. I am not sure I agree with this since the essence of the film, the messages conveyed, seemed authentic and fair. The American soldiers were portrayed with a sense of fair play and balance. I actually found some of the negative reviews to be educational, particularly those reviewers who have served in Iraq and who had detailed criticism of various aspects of the film. But these same reviewers rarely concerned themselves with the underlying character development and sequence of events that came together in this portrayal of one slice of the war in Iraq. The film does an excellent job of conveying the almost impossible task our soldiers faced in a country undergoing a civil war and filled with insurgency. In civil war horrors are inflicted on citizens by citizens, as gruesomely conveyed in scenes in this film. When dealing with insurgency, it is impossible to tell if the man smiling at you is about to kill you, again as this film perfectly portrayed. The film also stays away from politics and political statements and it does this by focusing on the Iraqi people and settings and the American soldiers and their predicaments. In actuality, this made more of a moral and ethical statement than any political statement could make. Read more

This is a very good movie, it was very well directed and the acting is outstanding. Filmed in Jordan, it is also extremely realistic looking in the portrayal of a mideastern city and the residents, although many Iraq veterans are critical of the film's depiction of how the army and the EOD teams actually operate. The movie centers entirely on the three members of the EOD ("bomb squad"), particularly the squad leader Sgt James, extremely well played by Jeremy Renner. In-between the bomb disarming scenes, the movie develops the relationships between the three men and especially explores the character Sgt James. The one thing this movie lacks is any actual storyline or plot as such. At the beginning of the movie Sgt James arrives; there are a bunch of individual action segments depicting disarming bombs or perhaps the squad being pinned down by a sniper; and then the movie ends with a segment that completes the portrait of Sgt James' character. The action segments are unrelated and in fact could be rearranged in almost any order with minor changes for continuity. There is no unfolding "story" that builds to a climax and then is resolved at the end. The only thing that is "built" throughout the movie is the relationships between the squad members and the character study of Sgt James, and in fact it is that character study which provides the movie's climax (in a scene between him and his toddler son, where we understand what ultimately drives him). Basically, this movie is NOT plot-driven but is more of a character study. With bombs. The bomb sequences provide most of the suspense for the movie, and they are very gritty, white-knuckle hold-your-breath scenes. Unless you find disarming-bomb-scenes to get a little old after a while, in which case you may find yourself patiently waiting through them. Even so, the other elements of the film - the realistic-looking portrayal of the environment, the extraordinary acting, the evolving of the relationship between the team members, and particularly the depiction of the character Sgt James - all add up to an excellent film. Read more

As an EOD soldier trained at Indianhead MD, back in 1972, I enjoyed seeing the differences in the current practices of the EOD squads. Although the tensions were different, they struck home. This is not as much about being a war movie as it is about dealing with emotions in a tense invironment. Yes, there’s combat and death as forces vie with each other, but this film goes deeper. Winning 6 Academy Awards is not the way to judge a film these days, but it’s a guide to be taken with a dash of salt. In this case, however, the film is very good (I am a bit biaszed) and is worth every cent. I recommend it! Read more