For those who don't know, The Hurt Locker is a movie about a team of US Army soldiers who make up a bomb defusing squad. The whole movie, with the exception of two scenes takes place in Iraq (I think Baghdad).

I saw it yesterday and my God that was a good ****ing movie. It was incredibly tense when it wanted to be, funny at times and also very sad in a couple scenes that brought a tear to my eye. It's so emotionally engaging that I would recommend seeing it in a nearly empty theatre to avoid people cheering/booing too much.

I won't even put anything in spoiler tags because this movie is just too good to even chance ruining it for anybody.

How good it is: on par with, if not better than Schindler's List.

hey thanks now i have something to watch tomorrow!

man I feel like an old-timey priest who just converted a godless savage to the loving ways of jesus

EDIT:

no offense

EDIT:

savage

I've not gotten an opportunity to see it yet, but hopefully I will soon. It looks really good.

I've been meaning to see it for quite awhile, but it has yet to come to Fargo.

I had heard many good things about the movie.

I couldn't even watch the entire film. Other than the realistic scenery (I hear it was filmed in Jordan) the movie was the most unrealistic and idiotic "serious" portrayal of the US Army I have ever seen. If you enjoy the film fine but please don't come away from it thinking there is anything remotely accurate about its portrayal of the US Army and Explosive Ordinance Disposal.

You might be better off downloading and playing Full Spectrum Warrior. It's a free download and the acting is a tad better than The Hurt Locker. Link is at wikipedia.

And Wookie just echoed what I heard about the movie.

FSW is free now? sweet!

i was thinking of going to see that movie but now i probably wait for it to come to dvd.

um, all i see is a game

dude he was TALKING about a game.

One of the best movies I've seen this year, absolutely fantastic.

The funny thing with your comment is it is the exact same thing that would be said around here except that it would either a) be sarcasm or b) be a setup to get somebody pumped to watch it and then seriously let down. A lot of the guys were saying the same thing about the Uwe Boll movie Tunnel Rats. "Dude, this is the most realistic movie ever! You have to see it!"

So, for those of you that actually think it is a good film, can you expound on why? I really can't think of even a handful of movies that I thought were so bad I couldn't finish it and this was one of them.

It was incredibly suspenseful, well acted, amazingly shot movie. If you get caught up in whether or not the movie was hyper realistic, you're just dumb. It's a movie.

I'm not wrapped up in hyper-realism. I can forgive every technical short coming in the film because it was made by people that really don't know much about the military. I found the scenery and, by extension, the locals in the movie to be very good. I found the story and acting to be terrible. Again, I didn't bare through it to the end.

If it wasn't based on our army and this war then I could forgive all of its shortcomings but then, of course, it would have simply been relegated to the b-movie shelf, where it belongs, and nobody would be talking about it. I appreciate the fact that the filmaker doesn't seem to have the same anti-American agenda that most of her contemporaries have had with their failed movies and I wish her well as I liked Point Break.

Like I said, if people like the film I don't care. It does bother me that they might assume that it actually depicts anything other than vague similarities to the actual war or the Army.

Please list some recent American movies that people have usually heard about that had anti-American agendas.

Well, I could have said more specifically movies dealing with the war on terror that paint the war, military, and/or America in a negative light. The reason I even mentioned it is because that is what The Hurt Locker is specifically billed not to be and for that I give the director some credit.

I can't promise that many here have heard of the following movies as they all essentially flopped but some of the movies on my mind when I made that statement were Valley of Elah, Lambs for Lions, and Rendition.

Perhaps because it is negative. Just a crazy, outlandish thought.

Well, sure, but, for example, so was the incident that the film and book Black Hawk Down was based on but the film does a fine job of portraying the event without trashing the military and the soldiers involved.

I will at least agree that Black Hawk Down is one fine film.

If I want hyper realism I'll just rewatch Generation Kill.

I've only seen bits and pieces of Generation Kill. My former company commander's statement sums up my impression better than I ever could have stated it. He said he thought it was a pretty good representation of how the lower enlisted view things. He was not saying it in a condescending way, if it reads like that.

The absolute best and most hyper-realistic movie I've seen based on the current war would probably be Taking Chance. I could not recommend that movie more and I don't know anyone that has seen it that hasn't liked it. I do know soldiers that have seen it and don't desire to see it again due to the emotions it brings up.

So I was just reviewing a list of Iraq War films. Stop Loss. God, how could I have forgotten that one. Oh, duh. Anyway, The Hurt Locker is a masterpiece compared to that piece of garbage.

I've read similar reviews by other people who've actually been to Iraq. Is it idiotically unrealistic in the way that most action movies are? Or was it worse? Or was it's attempt at being "serious" what made it's unrealistic-ness so stupid?

what did you think of the mini-series 'over there' ?

I've not seen Over There.



I personally think it is a poorly acted and scripted film. Of course I do have the bias of being knowledgable of the subject matter. The film was not dumb in the manner that many "dumb" action movies are. It is a drama with dramatic action scenes and I wouldn't call it an action movie. I'll point out a few specific things that seperately will sound like nitpicking but if you look at it from my perspective in that it doesn't do much of anything right then you can see why they annoy me.

First, some things I can forgive about the film. The vehicles are wrong and Camp Victory is wrong. Now, for some serious concerns. Overall there is a sense that they are sort of in a every man for himself environment. So I said to myself, maybe it's set at the beginning of the war. Well, that can't be because they're wearing uniforms issued two years into it and there is a Camp Victory. EOD rolls in very secure convoys and these guys seem to be trekking all over the place by themselves. In one scene they roll up to a site and see no US Forces. After some exploring they find some soldiers hudled in an alcove. A lone EOD tech then goes trekking through the smoke. Nobody is pulling any real security. A moment later some guys actually pulling security don't fire on a car that runs a checkpoint and engages in a tense moment with our lone EOD tech. Actually, if I continue with this scene I'll recite the whole thing because the entire incident is so completely implausible. Later they find a vehicle rigged to explode and our lone EOD tech strips off his gear and goes digging for the detonator. Look, in real life you're lucky enough to get them out of the vehicles. They're simply going to haul some explosives up there with their little robot, that these guys seem completely inept with, and blow the damn thing up. I hear there are some more mundane scenes with snipers and special forces or something. I couldn't hang in there any longer.

The movie does have a good suspense to it and the visuals are good. Apparantly a lot of people came away from it with a good impression of soldiers and EOD and that's good. Ironic, though, since soldiers all seem to think it's stupid.

Outstanding movie.

I think I found the best way to sum up why I feel the way I do about the movie. You know how some people see a movie that is based on a book and then go on ripping the movie because it changed so much about the book and ruined it, even though most people like the movie? That's kind of how this movie is for us except that the "some people" are soldiers and the "book" is real life.

this sums up the end perfectly, except im not sure that ranger [hurt locker] is about the man

Wookie, if you want a really realistic portrayal of the war in Iraq you should watch Generation Kill. Very good and realistic to the smallest details. Based on a true story and everything. It's an 8 episode HBO miniseries by the way, not a movie.

That was a terrible show.

I've only seen bits and pieces of it. I wouldn't call it realistic to the smallest details. From what I've seen it is actually somewhat unrealistic but I'm sure it is still enjoyable. Again, my real complaint with The Hurt Locker is not that it is not realistic in every detail. It is that it is completely unrealistic in many details, despite claiming to be otherwise, with the exception of the setting. Then again, it's kind of hard to get much wrong with the setting when it is filmed in a neighboring middle eastern country and filled with middle easterners. I also disagree that the acting and story are particularly good but that is skewed by my knowledge of how soldiers actually act and how things tend to be in the Army and Iraq.

The most unrealistic details about GK are probably just what Wright didn't/couldn't make proper note of as he was bouncing down Iraqi highways half awake...like exact dialogue or alternate sides of a story...and some dramatic exaggerations.

If the vast majority of the unit gives it a thumbs up including at least two actually acting in it it, one of them playing themselves, it can't be too wrong can it?

To be honest it is not the type of show that interests me so I probably wouldn't watch it if given the choice anyway but considering that the vast majority of a unit is lower enlisted and that the impression I had of it was that it was a representation of how the lower enlisted view things, I can see why they would like it. I really don't have any concrete opinion of the show since I have only seen tidbits.

Has anybody here seen Taking Chance? I'm somewhat surprised if the answer is no. It is far from the types of films we are discussing here but it is by far the most realistic depiction of events related to the current war. Neither I, nor anyone I know, has even the slightest nitpick with the film. Perfect in all regards.

I shall "check it out" as you kids are saying these days.

hey uber, i liked the movie

added it to my netflix queue

Taking Chance was phenomenal. Absolutely moving.