The Hurt Locker (2008)

Director:

Kathryn Bigelow

Writer (WGA):

Mark Boal (written by)

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller | War

Tagline:

You'll know when you're in it.

Plot:

Iraq. Forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, an elite Army bomb squad unit must come together in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Army | Sergeant | Death | Soldier

Awards:

Won 6 Oscars. Another 72 wins & 46 nominations

US Showtimes:

Culver Plaza Theatres

12:00pm | 2:40 | 5:30 | 8:10

(personalize)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jeremy Renner	...	Staff Sergeant William James
Anthony Mackie	...	Sergeant JT Sanborn
Brian Geraghty	...	Specialist Owen Eldridge
Guy Pearce	...	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

MPAA:

Rated R for war violence and language.

Runtime:

131 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #45024) | Ireland:15A | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Germany:16 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Singapore:M18 | Argentina:16 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Finland:K-15 | Sweden:15 | Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Japan:PG12 | Hong Kong:IIB

Filming Locations:

Amman, Jordan

Company:

Voltage Pictures

Trivia:

Actor Jeremy Renner tripped and fell down some stairs while carrying an Iraqi boy on the film's set. Shooting was stopped for several days while Renner's ankle healed.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): SGT Sanborn says he "came over from Intelligence" before transferring to EOD, yet he wears a Combat Infantryman's Badge. He would not qualify for a CIB in either an Intel or an EOD assignment. It is an award strictly given to Infantry soldiers. Secondly, even if he did legitimately earn a CIB, it is properly worn above the EOD badge.

Quotes:

Opening Quote by Chris Hedges: The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Jay Leno Show: (#1.84)" (2010)

Soundtrack:

Fear (Is Big Business)

TIFF 2008: The Hurt Locker - World class war-action cinema

Simply put, action ace Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" is a near masterpiece of suspense and unrelenting intensity.

Her first film since 2002's "K-19: The Widowmaker," The Hurt Locker is definitely a return to form from the director of probably the greatest (in this man's humble opinion) surfer-action movie of all time "Point Break." The film follows Bravo company, a team of bomb technicians situated right in the heart of the Iraq war's modern IED warfare. Jeremy Renner, mostly known for impressive performances in "S.W.A.T" and "The Assassination of Jesse James," gives his most riveting performance yet as the lead, Staff Sergeant William James, a reckless but brilliant soldier who has taken down almost 850 bombs.

What separates this film from the bulk of mainstream cinema that has tackled the Iraqi situation is that it doesn't simply exist as a political polemic, or even a reminder of the humanitarian horrors that plague the Iraqi people.

Instead, Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal give us a story that transcends politics and can be seen as almost a straight up kick-ass action pic. The film is plotted by increasingly dangerous and fully realized defusion sequences, all of which were shot from beginning to end in single takes with DOP Barry Ackroyd's cameras continuously roving around set in order to create a tense realism that translates well to the screen.

Very elaborate attention to detail and mise-en-scene is in every frame of the pic, with Bigelow choosing to shoot in Jordan and locations being less than 10 KM away from the Iraqi border. And from a searing heat wave ranging up to 49C to actual Iraqi refugees used as extras to impeccable sound design and special guest cameos by Guy Pearce, David Morse and Ralph Fiennes, Bigelow has succeeded in creating an entirely memorable and visceral experience that will surely leave its mark in the pantheon of the very best war spectacles put to film.