The Hurt Locker (2008)

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer (WGA):

Mark Boal (written by)

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

You'll know when you're in it.

Plot:

Iraq. Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Sergeant | Army | Death | Soldier

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Golden Globes. Another 27 wins & 26 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeremy Renner	...	SSgt. William James
Anthony Mackie	...	Sgt. JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty	...	Spc. Owen Eldridge
Guy Pearce	...	Sgt. Matt Thompson
Ralph Fiennes	...	Contractor Team Leader
David Morse	...	Colonel Reed
Evangeline Lilly	...	Connie James
Christian Camargo	...	Col. John Cambridge
Suhail Aldabbach	...	Black Suit Man (as Suhail Al-Dabbach)
Christopher Sayegh	...	Beckham
Nabil Koni	...	Professor Nabil
Sam Spruell	...	Contractor Charlie
Sam Redford	...	Contractor Jimmy
Feisal Sadoun	...	Contractor Feisal
Barrie Rice	...	Contractor Chris

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and language.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45024) | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:11 | Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Japan:PG12

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Company:

Voltage Pictures

Trivia:

Actor Jeremy Renner tripped and fell down some stairs while carrying an Iraqi boy on the film's set. Shooting was stopped for several days while Renner's ankle healed.

Goofs:

Continuity: When James initially hands Sanborn the Barrett M107 magazine, before Eldridge cleans it off, the rounds in the magazine have no bullets. In the next shot, when Sanborn receives the magazine, the rounds have bullets in them.

Quotes:

Colonel Reed: What's the best way to go about disarming one of these things?
Staff Sergeant William James: The way you don't die, sir.

Soundtrack:

Khyber Pass

The Hurt Locker Movie Review from The Massie Twins

A war film unlike any other, The Hurt Locker examines a group of Army bomb squad soldiers in Iraq and the extreme toll the horrors of war and the debilitating awareness of imminent death takes on their lives. Incredibly suspenseful from the start, the pressure and paranoia to get the job done never lets up, and though the balance between realism and personalized fiction seems to shift more towards the latter further into the turmoil, few films can boast war scenes of such a gloriously intense magnitude.

After the leader of an Army bomb squad unit in Iraq is tragically killed, brash-but-experienced bomb technician William James (Jeremy Renner) is brought in to replace his command. His new squad includes Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty); the trio must learn to trust each other through their various, always perilous missions, constantly coping with the daily reminders of the fragility of human life and the infinite dangers surrounding their every move.

"War is a drug" states the opening quote by author Chris Hedges. That idea isn't fully revisited until the conclusion when The Hurt Locker resorts to being a mouthpiece for soldier's mentalities, the regimentation of their lives and their inability to reinsert themselves back into the world they knew before. It seems an unnecessary effort, considering the incredible amount of raw suspense and nail-biting action that drives the majority of the film. It's a small dose of political agenda, leaving the rest to be solidly entertaining, proving once again that director Kathryn Bigelow can handle action movies like the best of them.

The Hurt Locker is partly a biopic of a fictionalized EOD specialist, and part pseudo-documentary about a tension-wrought Bravo Company 40 day rotation. Instead of focusing on a story arc that separates specific villains and related events, the film chronicles several unrelated bomb missions and the tolls they have on fellow soldiers, Iraqi citizens and James' beliefs and methodology. Without catching those responsible or even hunting specific terrorists, The Hurt Locker relies on tremendously powerful imagery, adrenaline-fix recklessness, mental stresses and an obsession with death, heart-stopping explosions, camaraderie, Full Metal Jacket-influenced commanding officer execution thoughts, and enough suspenseful intensity to level a movie theater. It's borderline humorous the way Bigelow toys with the audience, setting up extreme anticipation for the next detonation or ambush, pouncing on the viewer's senses like a horror film.

Being a bomb squad technician is like a roll of the dice, a high-pressure, high-stakes risk that demands a sound mind and a dizzyingly calm intelligence. There is no room for error, and actor Jeremy Renner provides a believable hero - one who demonstrates a daredevil disregard for protocol and safety that might just be a mask for a man whose perfectly-honed skills are the mark of an uncompromising professional. The supporting cast is superb, as are the sound effects and numbingly immersive camera-work. Witnessing a different side of the Iraqi war zone, a modern battlefield, coupled with real-life sacrifice and heroism is powerful, alluring, and eye-opening entertainment.

- The Massie Twins