I am very particular about my war films, and The Hurt Locker does it right. Set in Iraq, The Hurt Locker isn’t your typical war film with lots of huge battles, brutal combat, and longwinded speeches from Bill Pullman. It focuses on a bomb squad going around Iraq defusing bombs left on the side of the road, in cars, or anywhere and everywhere really. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some action going on. You can’t follow a bomb squad around in the middle of Iraq without any kind of action, but it’s on the lower end. The little battles that the soldiers face really bring you into the story and make you root for them. The Hurt Locker opens your eyes to what the soldiers in Iraq really do for us. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but this film is not about over the top action and I’m ok with that. It’s about telling a great story, and it’s intense, suspenseful, and engrossing. The film is directed by Kathryn Bigelow and stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty as yummy soldiers. See this one if you’re looking for a good war flick. It’s available on now on DVD.
Time Until Initial Action: ~ 9 minutes
Action Rating: 1 ½ Anti-Bomb Suits, out of 5.
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
shortened url = http://3.ly/Hurt or http://3.ly/HurtLocker
I haven’t had a chance to see th movie yet myself, but thought you might be interested to read this review from a veteran: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kate-hoit/the-hurt-locker-doesnt-ge_b_449043.html
Some of his criticisms are just technicalities (uniforms, military procedures, etc.) but he does make some valid points about the difference between a Hollywood action movie hero and the real-life heroes that serve every day. Given your great appreciation of both, I thought it was worth sharing.