Sunday 10 January 2010

The Hurt Locker Review


It can be forgotten that political decisions result in life changing events for many. Such as the decision to go to war in Iraq. The film The Hurt Locker demonstrate how hard it can be to carry out the wishes of general and politicians. This film comes across as non-political but is infact has political overtones its just not overtly political.

Director Kathryn Bigelow's (who directed Point Break) has done a brilliant job of converting the wartime experiences of journalist Mark Boal into a engaging and absorbing account of an American Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. I was gripped from the beginning as you can feel the constant threat of death and the fear flowing over the film.

This film is not just about bomb disposal but the interaction between the replacement bomb technician and his crew. Showing the why you have to work within the rules and what can happen if you don't. Many of the events have an attempt to gain control but you can see how they soon become uncontrollable.

The Hurt Locker has so many situations within it, there's blow-by-blow account of defusing IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices), snipers and attempted hostage taking as well as a unwilling suicide bomber and bomb investigation. Infact this made me wonder how many attacks are by suicide bombers as many in the firm were infact remote detonation bombs.

The film is entirely convincing (shot not far in Jordan) The explosion feel very real and there is good use of slow scenes with faster placed scenes and story telling.

The Hurt Locker is in my opinion one of the best modern war movies made. I found this film gripping and interesting and highly recommend it to anyone who can face watching a film with some very horrific scenes of war. I Think this is one of those must see films.

The Hurt Locker stars Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Finnes and is now out on DVD and Blue Ray to both Rent and buy.

December 09 was the first month since the Iraq war begun that not a single US solider was killed in action for that month, a statistic I hope can continue (I hope that one day soon the Iraq casualties also stop). The total of the coalition forces casualties for both Iraq and Afganistan can be viewed here http://icasualties.org/


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