The Hurt Locker

[bush_cheney2004]

Now here is a film that prides itself on a strong dose of reality. Has that Jarhead kind of touch.

This joint is a 2009 favorite for the usual movie critics, but did not get wide release. Recommended for anyone with a DVD player that can handle it.

[Gabriel]

I really really really liked this movie. Anyone who liked military movies will dig this. It's not as broad and all encompassing as Oliver Stone epics or something like Apocalypse Now, it's a much narrower storyline without broad themes. But it's believable, realistic, and fantastic. Apparently the director is a female, too.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Gabriel

[bush_cheney2004]

....But it's believable, realistic, and fantastic. Apparently the director is a female, too.

I agree...it is so real, you can taste it. Nominated today for Best Picture.

[Smallc]

But it's believable, realistic, and fantastic. Apparently the director is a female, too.

James Cameron's Canadian x wife, in fact.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Smallc

[Gabriel]

James Cameron's Canadian x wife, in fact.

Wow, that's quite a cool factoid in a semi-ironic way given our recent chit chat about Avatar.

[fellowtraveller]

This is a much, much better movie than the tedious Jarhead.

I like that it does not flagwave, and the focus is on the warrior and not the war.

Not the best movie of 2009, but one of the best.

It is a pretty weak year.

[bush_cheney2004]

James Cameron's Canadian x wife, in fact.

Really...she must have renounced her US citizenship, eh? Kathryn Bigelow was born in San Carlos, California, USA.

[Smallc]

I was just going by what I heard on the radio. I didn't bother to look into it any further. They must have made a mistake.

[M.Dancer]

I was just going by what I heard on the radio. I didn't bother to look into it any further. They must have made a mistake.

Syntax error....Canadian director's ex wife...

pfff...candadian director...I checked the imbd site and cameron is no where to be found on The Littlest Hobo, Beachecombers or Degrassi ...

[Smallc]

yes, whoever it was saying it must have said Canadian in the wrong place.

[M.Dancer]

yes, whoever it was saying it must have said Canadian in the wrong place.

Or you heard it and processed it incorrectly. My wife does that all the time..

[Smallc]

I doubt it. I very rarely hear things wrong.

[M.Dancer]

I doubt it. I very rarely hear things wrong.

How would you know without me beside you to correct you?

[Smallc]

Well, because I spend enough time (in the real world) showing other people that they in fact heard wrong...when I didn't.

[bush_cheney2004]

Well, because I spend enough time (in the real world) showing other people that they in fact heard wrong...when I didn't.

Maybe you are right....anybody who marries a Canadian citizen often becomes a Canadian citizen by design!

[Smallc]

No, it seems that I was wrong in this case, but I'm quite sure of what I heard. I thought that she was just his wife, until I heard them say Canadian wife.

[bloodyminded]

This is really good movie, much better than the average war film.

But why do people keep saying its apolitical? It's intrinsically political.

[August1991]

I agree...it is so real, you can taste it. Nominated today for Best Picture.

I just rented this movie and I didn't know quite what to think of it. I was suspicious of its realism because first, it used the artifices of a shaky camera, POV and close-ups to imitate the documentary look. And second, while I have only passing acquiantance with the military, well-organized systems rarely allow the individual behaviour shown in this movie.

So, after watching it, I realized that if you take away the realism, what does the movie have? Very little. There's no plot to speak of. There are a series of scenes of rising tension (with dramatic music). I suppose it was a character study/buddy movie but other movies have done that better. (In a military setting, The Last Detail comes to mind.) There is also the "adrenalin junkie" angle but I think that's a Hollywood-style insight into the people who do this job.

And then I went to a few websites where the comments of US military people were roundly negative. The movie is completely unrealistic and does not portray accurately how bomb detonation units operate.

[incidentally, a movie that gets high marks for realism is We Were Soldiers.]

-----

The movie was filmed in and around Amman, Jordan. (I was happy they didn't use Morocco or Tunisia because then they would have lost all credibility. Amman is a suitable stand-in for Baghdad.) I lived in this area of the world for several years and I can simply note that the movie does not portray well the beauty of the landscape nor in particular the changing colours throughout the day.

There was one scene I liked - when the soldier returns home and is shopping for cereal. But this scene has been done before (Moscow on the Hudson, for example) and in fact is a lazy way to juxtapose.

[bush_cheney2004]

I just rented this movie and I didn't know quite what to think of it. I was suspicious of its realism because first, it used the artifices of a shaky camera, POV and close-ups to imitate the documentary look. And second, while I have only passing acquiantance with the military, well-organized systems rarely allow the individual behaviour shown in this movie.

Sure....but "well organized systems" were regulary getting their asses blown up by chaotic IEDs in 2004 Iraq. Sometimes individual behaviours are preferred for survival....your mileage may vary.

So, after watching it, I realized that if you take away the realism, what does the movie have? Very little. There's no plot to speak of. There are a series of scenes of rising tension (with dramatic music). I suppose it was a character study/buddy movie but other movies have done that better. (In a military setting, The Last Detail comes to mind.) There is also the "adrenalin junkie" angle but I think that's a Hollywood-style insight into the people who do this job.

That's really all Bigelow wanted to do....focus on each moment with "hyperbolic tension". If it was typical Hollywood schlock, there would have been bright red LED countdown timers a la "24".

And then I went to a few websites where the comments of US military people were roundly negative. The movie is completely unrealistic and does not portray accurately how bomb detonation units operate.

Obviously the pace and risk taking were amped up for this film, but US Army EOD was involved from Mark Boal's script born of embedding in a bomb squad and Renner's training for his role. In real life, just as it is for Alaskan bush pilots, there are "old" EOD specialists, and "bold" EOD specialists...but there are no "old bold" EOD specialists.

The screenwriter and director couldn't sell many tickets to the sterile reality:

The movie was filmed in and around Amman, Jordan. (I was happy they didn't use Morocco or Tunisia because then they would have lost all credibility. Amman is a suitable stand-in for Baghdad.) I lived in this area of the world for several years and I can simply note that the movie does not portray well the beauty of the landscape nor in particular the changing colours throughout the day.

A secondary consideration no doubt....leave that to NatGeo.

There was one scene I liked - when the soldier returns home and is shopping for cereal. But this scene has been done before (Moscow on the Hudson, for example) and in fact is a lazy way to juxtapose.

Soldiers, sailors, airman, and marines still come home and welcome such a simple opportunity at normalcy....especially going to MacDonalds.

[wyly]

very good movie, loved it...

[bush_cheney2004]

Congratulations to Ms. Bigelow and company for winning Best Picture / Director. Very classy of her to thank the people of Jordan and the US armed forces in her Oscar acceptance speech.

[Wilber]

Wow, I thought director and movie would be a split. Well done Ms. Bigelow and co.

[wyly]

Wow, I thought director and movie would be a split. Well done Ms. Bigelow and co.

it was already rumored because of the new voting system that Avatar would not win...which brings up the question what are the awards for the best artsie fartsie movie or best entertainment?...Hurt Locker was an excellent movie it's already in my personal library but more entertaining than Avatar? no...

[bush_cheney2004]

....Hurt Locker was an excellent movie it's already in my personal library but more entertaining than Avatar? no...

Avatar is a splendid CGI cartoon, and was rewarded in the appropriate categories: cinematography, art direction and visual effects.

[msj]

Congrats to Bigelow et al.

Haven't seen the movie yet - going to wait and rent it with The Messenger as it seems that the two should accompany each other nicely.

Got lucky once - rented I Heart Huckabees and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and watched them one after the other. Quite the experience.

Hmmm, maybe we should start a thread on movie accompaniment?