May be to the War on Terror what Apocalypse Now is to Vietnam, and it's almost as hallucinatory a vision.
The Hurt Locker (2009)
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Reviews Counted:195
Fresh:189
Rotten:6
Average Rating:8.4/10
Consensus: A well-acted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is thus far the best of the recent dramatizations of the Iraq War.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for war violence and language.
Runtime: 2 hrs 11 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release:Jun 26, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $12,402,612
Synopsis:
The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s most unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who volunteer to challenge the odds and...
The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s most unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives in one of the world’s most dangerous places. Three members of the Army’s elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle insurgents and each other as they seek out and disarm a wave of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad -- in order to try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans alike. Their mission is clear - protect and save - but it’s anything but easy, for the margin of error on a war-zone bomb is zero. A thrilling and heart-thumping look at the effects of combat and danger on the human psyche, The Hurt Lockeris based on the first-hand observations of journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special bomb unit in Iraq.
Visionary director Kathryn Bigelow brings together groundbreaking realistic action and intimate human drama in a gripping film starring Jeremy Renner (Dahmer, The Assassination of Jesse James), Anthony Mackie (Half Nelson, We Are Marshall) and Brian Geraghty (We Are Marshall, Jarhead), with cameo appearances by Ralph Fiennes (The Reader), David Morse (“John Adams”), Evangeline Lilly (“Lost”) and Guy Pearce (Memento). The Hurt Locker is produced by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Greg Shapiro and Nicolas Chartier. The screenplay is written by Mark Boal (In the Valley of Elah, story). Barry Ackroyd, BSC (United 93, The Wind That Shakes the Barley) is director of photography. Production designer is Karl Juliusson (K19: The Widowmaker, Breaking the Waves). Editors are Bob Murawski (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3) and Chris Innis. Costume designer is George Little (Jarhead, Crimson Tide). Music is by Academy Award Nominee Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders (3:10 to Yuma), and sound design by Academy Award Nominee Paul N.J. Ottosson (Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3).
In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) of Bravo Company are at the volatile center of the war, part of a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that account for more than half of American hostile deaths and have killed thousands of Iraqis. A high-pressure, high-stakes assignment, the job leaves no room for mistakes, as they learn when they lose their team leader on a mission.
When Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) takes over the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are never reliable for long. Is James really a swaggering cowboy who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the margin of error is zero or is he a consummate professional who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision? As the fiery chaos of Baghdad swirls around them, the men struggle to understand and contain their new leader long enough for them to make it home. They have only 38 days left in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time before disaster will strike.
With a visual and emotional intensity that makes audiences feel like they have been transported to Iraq¹s dizzying, 24-hour turmoil, The Hurt Locker is both a tense portrayal of real-life sacrifice and heroism, and a probing look at the soul-numbing rigors and potent allure of the modern battlefield. --© Summit Entertainment
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Bryan Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly
Starring: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Bryan Geraghty, Evangeline Lilly, David Morse, Ralph Fiennes, Guy Pearce
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Screenwriter: Mark Boal
Producer: Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro
Composer: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
Studio: Summit Entertainment
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Reviews for The Hurt Locker
While Kathryn Bigelow's taut direction is Academy Award-worthy, Mark Boal's script doesn't get far enough beneath the characters' skin.
2009 Oscars: Have I got a bet for you. Bet the house. Bet the dog. Bet your husband's insurance. There is a lock Oscar winner this year. And it will make history.
Succeeds where so many others have failed, by crafting a compelling Iraq war film.
A must-see film with gripping performances and vivid evocation of urban warfare in Iraq.
With politics and philosophy largely absent from James's tour of extreme duty, it settles into a somewhat comforting pattern of danger and mild relief, which can diffuse the knots in your stomach.
Beautifully shot, well acted, and completely unfocused to the point of, well, what was the point? ... don't be fooled.
The film hurts like hell as we sit on the edge of our seats enveloped in tension
The fact that Bigelow could make such a realistic war movie without the actual combat experience that directors like William Wellman had makes this even more remarkable.
Salta de uma seqüência a outra com fluidez, mantendo o espectador sempre inquieto graças aos obstáculos cada vez mais ameaçadores enfrentados por aqueles homens.
Equivalente cinematográfico de una bomba de tiempo, la película luce como un thriller de suspenso extremo ambientado en la guerra de Irak. Adrenalina pura, sin cuestionamientos morales y con excelente elenco.
A tough war picture in the tabloid journalist tradition of Sam Fuller, The Hurt Locker avoids most of the sentimentalizing and editorializing of other recent films about Iraq.
The film opens with a quote from Chris Hedges saying that war is a drug. ... The film makes that quite clear, but I am not sure it says a whole lot more than that.
The script's authenticity and director Kathryn Bigelow's cinema verité style pull us into the film with a mixture of awe and terror.
The Hurt Locker is a frequently gripping film that contains some terrifically detailed sequences; not only depicting the process of defusing bombs but also depicting just how complex the act of targeting and firing a gun can be.
[R]iveting but not 'exciting,' not in the sense that action movies have taught us to get turned on by the foreplay of countdowns and the climax of explosions...
With such an able cast and crew, director Kathryn Bigelow had everything she needed to come up with a defining war movie for the 21st century.
What the great Kathryn's film accomplishes in its own starkly intelligent way, however, is to make the token war is hell argument, but through the filtered lens of a superior B action movie, her forte.
most startling of all the film's accomplishments is how it approximates the soldiers' feeling of utter anxiety as they fight a war on foreign soil
Obligatoria. Dura y capaz de tenernos con el estómago encogido en la butaca durante casi toda la película, se trata de una de esas que nadie debería perderse.
Latest News for The Hurt Locker
March 09, 2010:
Where Does The Hurt Locker Rank Among the All-Time Best Pictures?
The Hurt Locker cleaned up on Oscar night, taking home six trophies, including Best Director for Kathryn Bigelow (the first woman to win the award) and Best Picture. The Academy... More...
March 05, 2010:
RT Editors Predict the Academy Award Winners
Is there anyone on the planet that doesn't claim to know who will win big on Oscar night? Still, despite the clutter of prediction and prognostication, we at RT got together to... More...
March 01, 2010:
RT Covers the 82nd Annual Academy Awards!
As moviegoers worldwide prepare for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, we at RT will be getting you ready for the awards all week long as we gear up for our LIVE coverage of this... More...
February 21, 2010:
Awards Tour: BAFTA Winners Announced
The Hurt Locker led the pack at this year's Orange British Academy Film Awards winning six awards including Best Picture and Best Director at the star-studded awards show in... More...
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