There were a number of movies about the U.S. war in Iraq none of which really worked. The Hurt Locker was the first one that really succeeded. It focuses upon Jeremy Renner as Sergeant William James who works in bomb disposal unit. James is an adrenaline junkie who thrives off of the danger of disarming bombs. That leads to a number of harrowing experiences which endangers his team of Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). Their first day out together for example, they receive word of an improvised explosive device (IED) in the middle of a street and Sgt James decides to investigate it by himself rather then send a drone down to look at it which was the usual modus operandi. While walking towards the site a taxi cab runs through the U.S. perimeter and almost runs over James. He pulls out his revolver leading to a stand off in an already tense situation. When James finally finds the IED it turns out to be 7 artillery shells all connected together, which provides a really dramatic shot as he pulls the shells from the ground.

The reason why Hurt Locker worked was because it didn’t try to comment on the causes of the war. It wasn’t a moral tale about the conflict. Rather it simply focused upon the comradery, conflicts, and danger the three soldiers faced.

That being said there are some elements that are really horrible. For instance, James believes an Iraqi boy he met was killed by insurgents. He gets so upset he goes into Baghdad seeking revenge. This is where he meets an Iraqi family which is supposed to provide the Iraqi perspective. He then runs back to his base. Baghdad is a city of 7 million people. The situation is just completely unbelievable.

Even with the problems Hurt Locker was still a good war movie overall.
C

All those giving this a 1 are nothing more than COD vets, nothing more. You criticize the movie, yet have ZERO inclination as to the story of the movie. It's your low scores and ignorant comments which exemplify this elementary fact. You're nothing but videogame heroes who couldn't make it through Basic. This movie is about what war does to a soldier. It's about the comradery of those who are in the military, serving under these conditions. You've nothing in your life to compare it to except when you log into some game. To even begin to think about attempting to try to consider you pathetic would be a compliment of the highest order. Those of us who served, and still serve know beyond a shadow of a doubt what this movie portrays. Run along children. Nothing for you here.

It was very revealing to watch what soldiers really go through, physically, emotionally and spiritually-just the tip of the iceberg for us watching. Watching this movie really made both my husband and I feel the tension and stress of the nightmares of battles that soldiers go through. Electrifying. I pray for our military every day, but after watching this movie, I will pray harder for God's protection over them, and for healing for those wounded.

The suspense and tension grips you and refuses to let go. Throughout every situation in the whole movie, the American soldiers struggle to fight back because they make an honest effort to only kill hostiles and keep the innocent civilians alive. It is impossible to tell who is a real threat (especially with a language barrier) until it is too late and chaos breaks loose.

I'm a fan of black hawk down, saving private ryan etc. great war movies. This is so un-realistic and filled with supposed to be funny one liners. I could have made it through the movie if it wasn't shot so horribly. The camera bounces constantly to make it seem like the cameraman is running or filming secretly from afar. Horrible movie.

What did I dislike? The situation. The war and violence and the ignorance, religion and politics that caused them. What did I like? The movie. What about it? Everything. The stories and characters. Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie were both utterly believable and watchable as good humans - good men - and compelling characters. I was putty in their hands; in Kathryn Bigelow's hands - Jeremy Renner's especially.... but Anthony Mackie's especially, too! The movie always leave me sobbing, triggered by Mackie's final lines.

I did not find the supposedly main character appealing, interesting, or educational. I wasn't rooting for him I was just watching his reckless actions one after the other. He makes stupid decisions that put his unit at risk and he damn near got killed himself. It just seems fake and like who would ever work with him or not frag him before he gets them all killed. It just didn't make sense to me.
I am just picturing real EOD guys laughing at these scenes

The real cost of war to individuals, and individual members of the family affected. Beautifully told, but never thought that PTSD would result in someone actually going back. Would actually like a film that realistically describe how he eventually did come home, and, the hows and whys.