The Hurt Locker is a military drama that follows members of a bomb squad in Iraq. At the time when this movie came out it was praised for its storytelling, editing and cinematography. It also won the 2010 Academy Award for best picture and best director, which was a big deal, because the director, Kathryn Bigelow, was the first female in history to accomplish that feat.
At the time Jeremy Renner who played, Sergeant First Class William James, and Anthony Mackie who played, Sergeant J. T. Sanborn, were relatively unknown. The roles they played in this film were compelling. They did a great job of really bringing you into their reality. Showcasing the intensity, stress and fear that is wrapped into their job. The film is 8 years old but still very relevant today. Roger Ebert said it best "a great film, an intelligent film, a film shot clearly so that we know exactly who everybody is and where they are and what they're doing and why. The camera work is at the service of the story. Bigelow knows that you can't build suspense with shots lasting one or two seconds. And you can't tell a story that way, either -- not one that deals with the mystery of why a man like James seems to depend on risking his life.”
What I don’t necessarily agree with was the movie winning an Academy Award for best picture. Although the cinematography provided for a very realistic feeling, personal and gritty film there were times when the movie moved too slowly for me. Additionally, even though I knew by that point why the William James character was making reckless decisions it didn’t make sense to me why he was able to get away with so many poor decisions, thus causing me some frustration. So because of those couple of things, I would say that, it was a good movie but not one what I would seek out to see again.
Audie Murphy has no place in the Locker, except for its unfitting end. The bomb disposal niche coupled watch swiss army man online free with the personal feel created by the indie origin of this movie help separate it from the many 'hero story'...'political statement generated tragedy'...and 'go America' war flicks in existence.
ReplyDeleteThe ending of this movie seems like it has a behind the scenes story involving studio executives, timing, and the makers selling options proposed to studios/distributors. The ending could have been so much more and it actually does not fit in with some of the body of the picture. To try and put a rah rah...support our troops ending on a movie that spent over an hour creating a totally different feel was awkward. Even the music in the last minute did not fit. The last time I watched this movie I stopped it before the last few scenes/45-60 seconds and it was much improved.
This is a good movie, but not `Best Picture good'. It won Best Picture because of luck. It was released in the worst year for movies in my lifetime. If you want a `Best Picture Good' war movie, just watch `Platoon'. Even though Hurt Locker watch32 movies is over-rated, it is a cool movie and I obviously chose to add this Blu-ray to my collection.