February 2, 2010
The Hurt Locker is Finally Available
I've said before that The Hurt Locker
If you haven't yet seen it, I strongly recommend renting it or even buying it
Posted by Michael J. Totten at February 2, 2010 8:40 PM
Comments
It's a great movie. It's honest about how shitty war is, which is fine with me. The characters are complex, and the scenes are wonderfully shot. There's no jerky cam or any other gimmicks.
Posted by: John Lynch at February 2, 2010 10:31 pm
At first I thought you meant all the other Oscar contenders were terrible - which is certainly not true. "Up" is a lot of fun, "Up in the Air" has great performances and "A Simple Man" is a lot deeper than critics seem to realize.
Posted by: Ivan N at February 3, 2010 6:29 am
The Hurt Locker is set in Iraq -- filmed in Jordan, I believe -- but it's not really about the current Iraq war. It's really about one man's addiction to the war and his inability to fit in to either the army way of doing things or of civilian life.
It could be about just about any war in the same way that Jarhead could be about any number of different wars. The Hurt Locker is not really a movie about the current Iraq war, at least in my opinion.
I saw it, it was good, but it dragged in a couple places (the wrestling scenes in the barracks, the main character's trip to the grocery store when he goes on leave.) and I thought it could have been 30 minutes longer. Personally, I liked Up and Up in the Air better. I don't think I have seen any of the other nominees.
Posted by: scott baxter at February 3, 2010 6:41 am
It could be about just about any war in the same way that Jarhead could be about any number of different wars. The Hurt Locker is not really a movie about the current Iraq war, at least in my opinion.
I saw it, it was good, but it dragged in a couple places (the wrestling scenes in the barracks, the main character's trip to the grocery store when he goes on leave.) and I thought it could have been 30 minutes longer. Personally, I liked Up and Up in the Air better. I don't think I have seen any of the other nominees.
I saw the film on PPV and immediately thought of The Illiad.
"Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing sooner than of war."
Homer, the Illiad
Posted by: Pat Patterson at February 3, 2010 8:28 am
"Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing sooner than of war."
Homer, the Illiad
The Hurt Locker is a pure war movie with no politicizing that mar other movies about Iraq. It's a movie about soldiers. Pure and simple. Highly recommended.
Posted by: Niraj at February 3, 2010 1:25 pm
I agree, it's a very good movie. It's the most non-political war movie I've ever seen. Which is as it should be since the average troopie doesn't really give a damn about politics and is much more concerned with what's going on his day to day, just like everyone else on the planet. I was really surprised, because after reading the description of it I expected it to be another "OMG how can we do this to the poor soldiers why in the hell are we sending them to war!" movies where we depict US military personnel as either pathetic victims of circumstance or mentally unhinged and dangerous, or both.
Posted by: Craig at February 3, 2010 2:13 pm
It's really about one man's addiction to the war and his inability to fit in to either the army way of doing things or of civilian life.
Scott, I got the impression he was addicted to risk-taking, which explains why his compadres had a problem with him at first :)
Posted by: Craig at February 3, 2010 2:21 pm
Scott, I got the impression he was addicted to risk-taking, which explains why his compadres had a problem with him at first :)
Some Amazon reviewers who say they have EOD experience have criticisms worth reading for perspective. But Hollywood isn't reality anyway (unless you're bankrolling it); just depends on how far you're willing to suspend disbelief, I guess, particularly for those few who've walked in those shoes.
As one reviewer said, if an entirely accurate movie was made about military life it would be titled "Hurry Up And Wait", and nobody would watch it.
Posted by: Paul S. at February 3, 2010 2:23 pm
As one reviewer said, if an entirely accurate movie was made about military life it would be titled "Hurry Up And Wait", and nobody would watch it.
Jarhead was a realistic military movie. It was also boring.
Posted by: John Lynch at February 3, 2010 9:57 pm
I will watch this.
On Jardhead's realism: see the Onion's take: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare
Posted by: Ombrageux at February 4, 2010 1:58 pm
On Jardhead's realism: see the Onion's take: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/ultra_realistic_modern_warfare
That explains a lot, that Ombrageaux gets his facts from the Onion.
Posted by: Gary Rosen at February 4, 2010 11:21 pm
I saw "The Hurt Locker" last night. What a disappointment! I guess my being a former US Army infantryman (before Iraq) was a liability: the stupidly unrealistic scenes were just too much. One implausible scene after another.
Excerpts from a review by an Iraq vet:
"I don't typically write book or movie reviews, but after this weekend, I really felt compelled to. This movie just stuck in my craw. But take heed: This is a review for military people. So if you've never been in the military or never been to Iraq, just stop reading this. Because if you keep reading, I'll probably ruin what could be a pretty good action flick for you. ... if you know anything about the Army, or about operations or life in Iraq, you'll be so distracted by the nonsensical sequences and plot twists that it will ruin the movie for you. It certainly did for me. To say that the scenes in this movie were "tactically unrealistic" wouldn't even begin to describe it. ..."
For the whole thing, go to:
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2975
Posted by: Kolya at February 6, 2010 1:30 pm
Excerpts from a review by an Iraq vet:
"I don't typically write book or movie reviews, but after this weekend, I really felt compelled to. This movie just stuck in my craw. But take heed: This is a review for military people. So if you've never been in the military or never been to Iraq, just stop reading this. Because if you keep reading, I'll probably ruin what could be a pretty good action flick for you. ... if you know anything about the Army, or about operations or life in Iraq, you'll be so distracted by the nonsensical sequences and plot twists that it will ruin the movie for you. It certainly did for me. To say that the scenes in this movie were "tactically unrealistic" wouldn't even begin to describe it. ..."
For the whole thing, go to:
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2975
For my money, Generation Kill is the best depiction of the current Iraq War.
Posted by: Lucas at February 7, 2010 3:10 pm
Agree w/ Kolya. Brandon's review is accurate to his experience with modern warfare and highlights the unrealistic scenarios presented in this movie. I am afraid that I am going to be disappointed by this movie expecting an accurate portrayal of the war in Iraq and be exposed to an action film instead.
Posted by: Aaron at February 7, 2010 3:40 pm
I agree with the "Generation Kill" comment.
As a Vietnam combat vet I found this film to be ludicrous. If you read the comments at Amazon or IMDB you'll find a lot of vets who feel the same way, and details of why.
So, does the director have an obligation to be more realistic, or to at least avoid the absurdities of this movie, which made me want to turn it off?
I think so. Otherwise it's just a fantasy, a parody of what war is really like and does us all a disservice.
Three thumbs down on this movie. The director phoned it in and we shouldn't settle for less than her best.
Posted by: Hugh M. Vandervoort at February 7, 2010 8:27 pm
As a Vietnam combat vet I found this film to be ludicrous. If you read the comments at Amazon or IMDB you'll find a lot of vets who feel the same way, and details of why.
So, does the director have an obligation to be more realistic, or to at least avoid the absurdities of this movie, which made me want to turn it off?
I think so. Otherwise it's just a fantasy, a parody of what war is really like and does us all a disservice.
Three thumbs down on this movie. The director phoned it in and we shouldn't settle for less than her best.
Relax heroes. I'm sure some hoplite thousands of years ago bitched that the Illiad was "tactically unrealistic bullshit", it's a story made accessible to the general public.
I think what Michael is saying is it accomplishes that.
Posted by: DonkeyKong at February 7, 2010 8:58 pm
I think what Michael is saying is it accomplishes that.
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