Anyone seen "The Hurt Locker"?

jhs1969 · #1 01-31-10, 19:24

I see it has good reviews on PPV but I would like some opinions before I rent it. I don't want to be drawn into another movie trying to make a political statement. So what is the concensus, good? bad? rent or not?

rdc0000 · #2 01-31-10, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhs1969

I see it has good reviews on PPV but I would like some opinions before I rent it. I don't want to be drawn into another movie trying to make a political statement. So what is the concensus, good? bad? rent or not?

Redbox $1

A1para · #3 01-31-10, 19:32

Hello

I liked the movie. I don't think there was a political message. To me it was about how a soldier can get caught up in his job. I suppose he had a hard time re-connecting with the family and the "real world".

I could relate to it.

Sim

Scrounger · #4 01-31-10, 19:33

I would say rent it...it is definitely worth the $1 from redbox. I personally liked it. I watched with a friend who had been to Iraq a couple times...he liked it overall and said the background stuff(iraquis and crap) were all pretty accurate. The main characters though were definitely unrealisticly out of control in their TTPs for EOD. I would give it a 7/10 for entertainment value though. YMMV...hope you like it.

CMFG · #5 01-31-10, 19:45

Oh jeez... ok, I can't steer clear of this one.

I'm an Army EOD Tech. 10+ years in the field, 4 deployments so far. I know the guy upon whom this movie was LOOSELY based (first covered in the 2005 Playboy article).

For entertainment purposes, I suppose this movie's fine. But watching it as a bomb tech had me cringing continuously throughout the whole movie. In fact, if you want to know what a bomb tech would really do in any situation in that movie, listen to what the Sergeant on his team keeps suggesting he do (and is then ignored). Had a bomb tech really done what the main character in that movie did, his life expectancy in Iraq at that time would have been approx. 12 hours. Essentially, were you to go to a bar frequented by bomb techs and write down the wildly exaggerated drunken stories laced with blatent bullshit, you'd have the script for that movie.

There's one firm piece of truth in that movie though. The last five minutes of the film succinctly define what keeps a lot of us going back.

standsalone · #6 01-31-10, 20:08

I liked it. I found it interesting and relevant to move beyond some of the obvious hollywood items added to enhance the plot.

Scrounger · #7 01-31-10, 20:11

Yeah, I agree...I really didn't like the ending...I really don't think that non-military Americans really understand what a big sacrifice these guys make which is played out in the last 5mins of the movie. That was the depressing part of the movie for me. The other thing was how do you keep yourself from shooting the guy with the video camera...I really wanted to shoot him and all the other (bad)guys staring them down

. The main character was definitley a cowboy and not even close to being believable as a real EOD character to me. He was just too careless. It certainly gives you some appreciation of how tough that job is though. Thanks for your Service EOD.

GermanSynergy · #8 01-31-10, 20:21

It was okay.

Some glaring mistakes regarding uniforms (circa 2004), optics, comms, etc. Also, the Barrett scene wasn't that believable either (I won't spoil the scene for those that haven't seen the movie).

I could tell that this movie was filmed in Jordan, the ending scene being the giveaway. Those of you that have been there will know what I'm talking about (Marka Civil Airport).

Overall, it wasn't bad. I liked the fact that it wasn't political, or try to convey a leftist political message.

Honu · #9 01-31-10, 21:32

was curious if it was going to be good or a anti type flick ? so thanks all for the thoughts on it time to put it in the list to rent

geminidglocker · #10 01-31-10, 21:41

I saw it, but I did'nt like it. It would have been good if the main character did'nt try to be Rambo. No sane person would ever go outside the wire alone.

Gutshot John · #11 01-31-10, 21:43

All in all I want that two hours of my life back.

It's not that it's anti...it's just dumb.

GermanSynergy · #12 01-31-10, 21:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by geminidglocker

I saw it, but I did'nt like it. It would have been good if the main character did'nt try to be Rambo. No sane person would ever go outside the wire alone.

I figure that in reality he would have been relieved of duty early on. Alot of what the main character did was simply reckless and placed the lives of his team in needless danger.

geminidglocker · #13 01-31-10, 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by GermanSynergy

I figure that in reality he would have been relieved of duty early on. Alot of what the main character did was simply reckless and placed the lives of his team in needless danger.

Exactly!

mhanna91 · #14 01-31-10, 22:58

"Theres enough sh*t in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die comfortable."

Volucris · #15 01-31-10, 23:07

Ok movie but several parts bled goofs like a severed jugular. Not to mention really boring at times.

E.G.
Insurgent using PSL to snipe allied characters hitting the PMCs with no trouble OFFHAND FROM A WINDOW probably 800+ meters away.

Then once the major supporting character is on the gun the insurgents are magically incapable of repeating the same feat and you're exposed to this dragged out sniping scene where the emotionally compromised kid can't clear blood out of a magazine that wouldn't have been affected by it to begin with.

variablebinary · #16 01-31-10, 23:34

Good movie. I enjoyed it.

If you want the harsh reality of war, that is what deployments are for. Better than any movie, because that is all it is...a movie.

Belmont31R · #17 01-31-10, 23:46

I thought it was one of the dumbest movies Ive ever seen.

Im no EOD tech but have gone on a few EOD escort missions so I have a basic understanding of how they operate. This movie was so far from reality its not even worth watching. Everything from them rolling around in one truck by themselves through the city, the sniper scene, douche running through the city by himself, out of control team leader, numerous scenes of their 3 man team clearing buildings by themselves with no support in sight, and then wondering off in the middle of the night with their guy getting captured. Seriously?

Seems like every "Iraq" movie Ive seen consists of a barrage of the most far fetched situations that could possibly ever happen, and then packing that into 2hrs of crappy acting, poor scripting, and shitty camera work. They portray Iraq as a situation where people drop like flies on every mission, every convoy gets ambushed multiple times, IED's every single time, etc.

caelumatra · #18 02-01-10, 10:47

The setting was really accurate IMO but as everyone stated the things they would do were beyond....stupidity

However, the last 5 minutes....made the movie for me. Cereal aisle scene