OT - The Hurt Locker

[Targan]

Just watched The Hurt Locker the other day (its only just been released here). I liked it. I felt bad for the non-insane members of the EOD team in the film, their clearly unhinged team leader was obviously regularly putting them all at risk with his cowboy antics. I thought the British and other international mercenaries/bounty hunters that the team met were pretty funny.

Anyone else seen this film? Thoughts?

[WonderGoon]

I've not seen it, as yet. Still waiting on Netflix to deliver it.

Regards,
Goon

[headquarters]

A really good film imho.
Works as an action movie and a more mature warmovie etc .

Awesome theme - and the EOD work is pretty nerveracking as well as heartbreaking.

Yep.

Definently a fav in the genre so far .(Still waiting to see "the PAcific " though -if it comes close to "Band of Brothers" I will enslave myself to HBO for joy.)

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Targan

Anyone else seen this film? Thoughts?

SPOILERS AHEAD.

Just watched it. Not bad, IMHO. A bit disjointed, though. Seemed like a series of loosely related vignettes tied together by the "theme" of EOD. The bit with the SAS or Brit PMCs had nothing to do with EOD. Thought it was weird the insurgent sniper got the Brit but couldn't hit the Americans even though they were in the exact same place.

Lots of tense bits, though. Very suspenseful. Just sort of incoherent. Felt bad for the main guy's family.

Interesting film, overall.

[Webstral]

I watched The Hurt Locker over the weekend. The film resonated with me very intensely. I understand why some feel the story is a collection of vignettes. For me, the vignettes are the story; they reflect the contents of a tour. For me, nothing happened the way that it does for the characters, but the vignettes capture the essence of what goes on. There is an Apocalypse Now aspect to the film that I appreciate as being perfectly applicable. We had a guy who came straight from Afghanistan to our unit, then to Iraq. He tried civilian life and just couldn't hang. Last I knew, he'd found another Guard unit to take him back to Afghanistan. There but for the grace of God...

Unfortunately, my wife has just watched it, too. All sorts of bad juju has just been dredged up. I'm going to be living with her anger over my deployment and unfavorable comparisons with my pre-Iraq self until death do us part. I'm beginning to feel like no man should marry until he's forty and has endured all of the manhood experiences he needs to endure (and, preferably, has already made his fortune). If my wife hadn't known me before Iraq, I wouldn't have to hear about all of the things I used to be but am not anymore or all the things I am today but didn't used to be.

Webstral

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by Raellus

The bit with the SAS or Brit PMCs had nothing to do with EOD.

Absolutely the worst part of the movie in my opinion.

I liked it otherwise though.

[Webstral]

I can't say whether the encounter with the British contractors fits in a literary sense. I'm too close to the subject. I can say that the piece makes perfect sense to me in the context of showing the war in Iraq. The contractors are everywhere. We're all on the same side, but the relationship isn't formalized--or at least it didn't used to be. The scene shows the ambiguity of the whole business. EOD doing its business in the desert somewhere might have strayed across contractors, or EOD might not have strayed across a group of contractors. I interpret this scene as showing the chaos and fog of war in the particular circumstances of Iraq with the types of players one might encounter. Again, I'm too close to the subject to offer an objective opinion. To me, the bit with the Brits was real--in essence, if not in the particulars.

Webstral

[Dog 6]

I got it on dvd, It's ok, but not great imo

[HorseSoldier]

I really like it -- visually brilliant, felt more authentic than most Hollywood stabs at military films, and EOD guys doing the Long Walk and such is a great subject for drama (especially in the current conflict). Main drawback was the Hollywood sort of moments to it, like the resolution of the encounter with the contractors and the impromptu personnel recovery mission.

[Fusilier]

Originally Posted by Webstral

I can't say whether the encounter with the British contractors fits in a literary sense. I'm too close to the subject. I can say that the piece makes perfect sense to me in the context of showing the war in Iraq. The contractors are everywhere. We're all on the same side, but the relationship isn't formalized--or at least it didn't used to be. The scene shows the ambiguity of the whole business. EOD doing its business in the desert somewhere might have strayed across contractors, or EOD might not have strayed across a group of contractors. I interpret this scene as showing the chaos and fog of war in the particular circumstances of Iraq with the types of players one might encounter. Again, I'm too close to the subject to offer an objective opinion. To me, the bit with the Brits was real--in essence, if not in the particulars.

Webstral

I meant in a cinematic sense... as in it was poorly written and carried through.

[HorseSoldier]

Yeah, without delving too deeply into the events depicted and spoilers and such, I'd agree that there are better ways they could have approached the vignette involving the contractors.