The Hurt Locker (2008)

During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work.

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer:

Mark Boal

Stars:

Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty

Won 6 Oscars. Another 117 wins & 86 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeremy Renner	...	Sergeant First Class William James
Anthony Mackie	...	Sergeant JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty	...	Specialist Owen Eldridge
Guy Pearce	...	Staff Sergeant Matt Thompson
Ralph Fiennes	...	Contractor Team Leader
David Morse	...	Colonel Reed
Evangeline Lilly	...	Connie James
Christian Camargo	...	Colonel John Cambridge
Suhail Aldabbach	...	Black Suit Man (as Suhail Al-Dabbach)
Christopher Sayegh	...	Beckham
Nabil Koni	...	Professor Nabil
Sam Spruell	...	Contractor Charlie
Sam Redford	...	Contractor Jimmy
Feisal Sadoun	...	Contractor Feisal
Barrie Rice	...	Contractor Chris

Storyline

An intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader, the city explodes into chaos, and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever.

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Plot Keywords:

bomb | army | iraq | death | dangerous job | 

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Taglines:

You don't have to be a hero to do this job. But it helps.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller | War

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Arabic Turkish

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Démineur

Filming Locations:

British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£308,887 (UK) (28 August 2009)

Gross:

$15,700,000 (USA) (5 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Voltage Pictures, Grosvenor Park Media, Film Capital Europe Funds (FCEF )

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A production bus full of Iraqi refugees (hired as extras) overturned on a road heading to production. Nobody was seriously injured. A few people suffered bruises and one person was reported to have a broken nose.

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Goofs

In both the opening scene and the desert scene, the angle of the sun mysteriously changes from north, south, east and west to directly in front, to behind, low on the horizon, then directly overhead and suddenly no shadows at all (a slightly over cast day of shooting that part of the scene perhaps?).

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Quotes

Staff Sergeant William James: I want my five bucks back, buddy.
Beckham: Five dollars for what, man? You crazy now?
Staff Sergeant William James: Yeah. The DVD you sold me was crap.
Beckham: You crazy, man. That's impossible. It's Hollywood special effects.
Staff Sergeant William James: No. It was shaky. It was out of focus, buddy.
Beckham: What, you want donkey porn?
Staff Sergeant William James: It's crap.
Beckham: Girls on dog? Gay sex, man? Anything you want, you get. I hook you up, man.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, not even a title.

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Connections

Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 5 March 2010 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Fear (Is Big Business)
Written by Al Jourgensen (as Jourgensen) / Tommy Victor (as Victor) / Ministry
Performed by Ministry
Courtesy of 13th Planet Records, Inc.

User Reviews

A mind-blowing war drama, a must-see!

For some of my friends this was just a solid action movie, nothing else. I watched it yesterday and for me it was much more than just action, this movie was a deeply affecting series of shots that make truly feel the war in Iraq and make you see the sacrifice that's going on out there.

There are a few things that everyone must notice while watching the movie. There is some superb acting present throughout the whole movie, especially by Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie and I wouldn't be surprised to see one or more Oscar nominations for acting. There are also some pretty extreme editing achievements, that even I, an amateur movie-lover, could see. Cinematography and some other technical achievements are stunning as well. As far as technical part of the film goes, this movie is more than successful, it is to be expected that there will be some technical Oscar nominations as well. Writing is simple but that's the way it is and all my congratulations go to Mark Boal and Kathryn Bigelow for creating such a powerful war-drama that sticks with you even long after watching this film.

I honestly hope that the Academy members won't forget abut this phenomenal movie achievement. I recommend everyone to watch this "tool" that allows us to see what the word WAR really means.

Best regards from Slovenia