Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
War is a drug!
MovieAddict - wrote on 02/22/2012
~Contains Spoilers~
"The Hurt Locker" is an exposition of the mindless addiction that war can turn into and of the horrors practiced in it. From the very intense opening, Kathryn Bigelow grabs the audience and does not let them go as she meticulously examines the complex realities of war, and the effects that war can have on the psyche of a soldier.
The central axis of the film is around Renner's character SSgt William James who has defused over 800 bombs and approaches the task with a bravado that terrifies his more conservative colleagues. He does NOT do things by the book and seems to take many unnecessary risks. In some ways, he seems like a man with a death wish but he always gets the job done in the most difficult of situations. James keeps little momentums ('signatures') …
Rating of
3/4
"The Hurt Locker" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 01/31/2012
A US army bomb disposal tec makes waves in his new unit because of his Gung Ho attitude. The Hurt Locker is an interesting war film, mainly because its indie sensibilities make it a very unusual treatment of this subject for a product of the US movie making industry. It's quite a reserved, unsentimental film about the impact of a "war" that has no visible enemy; not quite in the same way as Jarhead in which the soldiers just could not find an army to face, but because the enemy hides itself in plain sight amongst the innocent population. This obviously causes great conflict within the soldiers, always unsure whether to fire or not to fire and seemingly never able to punish the perpetrators of the atrocities they witness on a daily basis. It thankfully avoids heavy-handed patriotic …
Rating of
4/4
A Riveting Must-See
MovieMike - wrote on 12/22/2011
‘The Hurt Locker’ is a soldier’s eye view of the current war in Iraq and follows a team of U.S. Military bomb technicians in an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit as they serve out their final 40 days in that country. Director, Kathyrn Bigelow (‘K-19: Widow Maker’, ‘Point Break’, ‘Blue Steel’, and ‘Near Dark’) chose to film this in a cinéma vérité style; giving her work the look & feel of a documentary. This approach works much better here than the stylized special effects and slow motion sequences that have been routinely applied to other similar films. The result is a very graphic, in your face, presentation of conditions on the ground for the soldiers being depicted here.
According to author, Mark Boal (who was an embedded journalist in Iraq for two weeks in …
Rating of
3.5/4
The Hurt Locker review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 08/22/2011
A film that stars Jeremy Renner as Sergeant First Class William James, Anthony Mackie as Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Brian Geraghty as Specialist Owen Eldridge. Eldridge is the person responsible for bombsuits, James is the fearless veteran who disarms the bombs and Sanborn ensures proper protocols and cautious measures when performing a mission. They encounter several missions that would test the team’s cohesiveness and character. Some major setbacks are its accuracy in real life perceived by actual war old-timers. Some combat veterans view the film as inaccurate based on the ff: Inaccurate uniforms, misuse of communications, lead character’s irresponsibility to its team, and splitting up to cover more ground.
In my perception it has one of the best cinematography and …
Rating of
N/A
Fans of the Hurt Locker check out In Our Name
gzvc - wrote on 12/09/2010
Fans of the Hurt Locker should check out a brilliant new British film called ‘In Our Name’ opening this Friday 10th December in Curzon cinemas and countrywide via the new Curzon-On-Demand video streaming (https://www.curzoncinemas.com/film_on_demand/ - great for those of us who don’t live near an arthouse cinema!). It stars Joanne Froggett (Anna from Downton Abbey) who won a BIFA (British Independent Film Award) for her role as a soldier returning from a tour in Iraq and struggling to re-adjust to family life and cope with after effects of her experiences in a war-zone. It’s a really thought-provoking and tense, edge-of-your-seat drama; culturally significant, reminiscent of Ken Loach-style social realism, it is inspiring for filmmakers as it was made on a very low budget by …
Rating of
3.5/4
Deserves the nomination for the Academy Award.
mdtinney - wrote on 04/02/2010
US Army Staff Sergeant Will James is a tough renegade. His buddy, Sergeant JT Sanborn and others are about to spend the last few weeks in the sands of Iraq. James is not just a bomb defusing expert, but a man with an amazing gift of tackling the job with bravery and a matter- of-fact attitude that frustrates his comrades, but also impresses them as well. Few movies can capture the emotions and intensity of war the way The Hurt Locker does. The photography of this movie is stunning and mesmerizing. We move from one gut wrenching scene to another one and feel the anticipation of an IED explosion, hoping it never happens.
American soldiers went to Iraq and carried out their duties. No other movie has captured that until now. An instant war movie classic that in my opinion deserved at …
Rating of
4/4
The Hurt Locker Review
Nick - wrote on 03/21/2010
The Hurt Locker is the best Iraq War movie ever to come out. The scenes in The Hurt Locker are captivating. It is a adernaline fueled war movie about war. Jeremy Renner did amazing in The Hurt Locker nobody could have played that part better than him. I'm glad he got the part he deserved it since I seen him in 28 Weeks Later. The other cast Anthony Mackie did good he played a believable army officer. The cameos with David Morse and Guy Pearce Was Great captured great. I'm glad this movie won Best Picture it deserved it better than Avatar. The director was great props to her glad she won also. This movie deserved everything it got. I wish Jeremy Renner won Best Actor though he derseved that at least for what he did in this movie. The scenes where he disables bombs are very tense and …
Rating of
4/4
You are a genius Ms Bigelow
nyp09 - wrote on 03/06/2010
“The Hurt Locker” could well be the movie of the year and is definitely in contention for the academy’s grand prize. It is very rare for a film to come along in which it is a struggle to find no fault with, yet this is one of them. A movie that is climatic from the beginning till the end is indeed a rare find. “The Hurt Locker” shows the ugly and evil side of war, yet the film is so beautiful. The film is non-stop action and suspense from start to finish, extremely confronting and not for the faint hearted. In Iraq, a group of Americans participate in the bomb squad and are met daily with situations that could end their lives. Each day they are met with different dangerous situations and are faced with the concept of their own mortality.
The film itself does not have a …
