The Hurt Locker
by Kathryn Bigelow
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Jeremy Renner, Ralph FiennesDirector: Kathryn Bigelow
Brand: SUM
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 131 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2010-01-12
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- AC-3; Color; Dolby; Dubbed; DVD; NTSC; Subtitled; Widescreen
Movie Reviews of The Hurt Locker
Movie Review: A ballet of realism and delusion; a masterpiece!
Summary: 5 Stars
Every year there comes a little film that blows audience and critic alike out of their seat. These movies are often unheard of until a viewer sees the first theatrical trailer, or is told by a friend that they should give it a try.
For 2009 that little film was the Iraq set military drama entitled `The Hurt Locker' directed by Kathryn Bigelow (ex-spouse of the infamously hard-headed, yet incredibly profitable special effects director, James Cameron who this same year broke his own record set by Titanic in 1997 with his 3D eye candy Avatar). This film about a SSG William James (marvelously portrayed by Jeremy Renner) is a war film unlike any to be made before it.
Sergeant First Class William James is out of place in Iraq. He is a rebel in a system that requires precision as well as cooperation. Perceived as a lone wolf with a death wish James suits up each day and constantly berates the advice and orders of those around him. For William James this isn't a job: it's his life. He doesn't fear dying in a ball of flame because that's what gets him off. James has developed a truly unique addiction as his squad mates soon discover.
William James is addicted to adrenaline; the thrill of knowing that at any moment he could be scattered in a thousand different places.
Naturally this film contains multiple teeth chattering moments involving bomb diffusion, but I'm actually hesitant to call this masterpiece a "war film" because war surprisingly has little to do with the plot of the film. Never once does this film decide to preach about moral of troops, brotherhood amongst soldiers, or even the politics behind the controversial war in Iraq. `The Hurt Locker' is 100% self-contained and finely focused on its protagonist with Iraq being treated as the backdrop; no more, no less. In my opinion a "war film" will focus on those issues, but The Hurt Locker doesn't even seem to acknowledge those archetypes.
Bigelow directs the film in a manner that only a woman could possibly manage. Gritty and dark, yet on the same time lapsing into what is clearly fiction The Hurt Locker is a delicate ballet of a constantly changing perspective. While at times it strives for realism at others it will lapse into action movie style themes...but this is in no way a flaw with this movie. The way I see this is that William James is an addict to adrenaline and the army is his dealer. What the audience sees is war from the addict's point of view which of course makes war out almost as if it were a fantasy for James...except for the occasionally lapses in his addiction when he is forced to face the reality of his situation.
Needless to say, this talented woman has come a LONG way since working with Keeanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in Point Break.
The pacing of The Hurt Locker is almost like the beating of a heart, which meshes well with the nerve rattling subject matter. Bigelow pulls every string to make the style of this film mix with its subject material while at the same time allowing it to become an enjoyable action peace with some of the most suspenseful scenes in the history of cinema.
Already many people are complaining about the realism of this movie; choosing to compare it to films such as `Black Hawk Down', `Saving Private Ryan', and even `Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket'. Not surprisingly the people who try comparing The Hurt Locker to these Grade-A war films is like comparing apples to...watermelons. It is absurd to compare The Hurt Locker to actual war films because The Hurt Locker belongs in an entirely separate genre.
While those films are directly relating to war (politics, whether war is good or bad, brotherhood of soldiers, etc...) The Hurt Locker is a character study solely focused on a single individual who suffers from an addiction. The fact that he's a U.S. Soldier serving in Iraq is irrelevant to the heart of this film.
Face it folks, we won't see a war film that analyzes the nature of the Iraq war until U.S. troops have entirely pulled out because until then it's too hard to look over all the facts because things are still happening. Don't come in looking for the `Apocalypse Now' of Iraq films because you'll not find anything like it until the conflict has been resolved and we've had a few years to recollect on its events.
As it stands, The Hurt Locker is without a doubt the best film of 2009 with an amazing performance from Jeremy Renner and expert direction by Kathryn Bigelow. I feel that people may not understand it now, but much like Apocalypse Now, or any of Stanley Kubrick's films I believe that this will be a film that the public shall look back on as being something unforgettable.
Thankfully the Academy managed to see The Hurt Locker's value upon release instead of making a decision they would have regretted ten years from now.
Summary of The Hurt Locker
War is a drug. Nobody knows that better than Staff Sergeant James, head of an elite squad of soldiers tasked with disarming bombs in the heat of combat. To do this nerve-shredding job, it?s not enough to be the best: you have to thrive in a zone where the margin of error is zero, think as diabolically as a bomb-maker, and somehow survive with your body and soul intact. Powerfully realistic, action-packed, unrelenting and intense, The Hurt Locker has been hailed by critics as ?an adrenaline-soaked tour de force? (A.O. Scott, The New York Times) and ?one of the great war movies.? (Richard Corliss, Time)Similar DVD Movies
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