The Hurt Locker (with spoilers)
Discussion
Saw this last night...brilliant. Very authentic and tense depiction of bomb disposal in Iraq. Dark and unpredictable, uncomfortable viewing in places. One gripe; the US bomb disposal team come across a (presumably) SAS unit in the desert, who are promptly decimated by an insurgent sniper, whilst the yanks go on to save the day without loss to themselves....yeah right. Other than that 9 out of 10. One of the best films of the year I'd say.
After reading the rave reviews... I saw it last night. Hmmmm
(SPOILER ALERT)
IMO - Not worth all the hype. Bomb disposal and those that do it should be held in utmost respect, life on line and all that. Why was it that the characters in this film had very little charisma, no real substance. Bomb boy was a bit of a knob if you ask me. Realistic - a word that has been associated with The Hurt Locker. I thought some of the scripting was so far fetched it was laughable. The boy Beckham, going out the camp to his house, no relationship building, unprofessional and risky working. Too much Bravado and not enough feeling - I couldn't feel for Bomb boy, his pain and hurt - missing the street..
(SPOILER ALERT)
IMO - Not worth all the hype. Bomb disposal and those that do it should be held in utmost respect, life on line and all that. Why was it that the characters in this film had very little charisma, no real substance. Bomb boy was a bit of a knob if you ask me. Realistic - a word that has been associated with The Hurt Locker. I thought some of the scripting was so far fetched it was laughable. The boy Beckham, going out the camp to his house, no relationship building, unprofessional and risky working. Too much Bravado and not enough feeling - I couldn't feel for Bomb boy, his pain and hurt - missing the street..
Saw it tonight. Good film, and one of the best recent war movies, but plagued by a number of inaccuracies that you couldn't help notice (Spoliers ahead):
- The EOD team never go out with any accompaniment, they just seem to operate entirely on their own. I doubt that would happen, aren't they meant to be attached to particular units?
- No CO at all? Maybe the Colonel "Doc" was, but that wasn't clear. I'd have thought that there would be an officer within each team, or at least commanding them on the radio?
- The clearance of the bomb factory - again they wouldn't be doing that, they'd go in after it was cleared
- The iPod Touch didn't exist in 2004
- YouTube didn't exist in 2004
- Blood wouldn't cause an M82 to jam
- They loaded a single round into the M82 manually, shot it, you never saw or heard the mag get attached, then another shot, then a 3rd, then a view of the gun with mag attached.
- The EOD team never go out with any accompaniment, they just seem to operate entirely on their own. I doubt that would happen, aren't they meant to be attached to particular units?
- No CO at all? Maybe the Colonel "Doc" was, but that wasn't clear. I'd have thought that there would be an officer within each team, or at least commanding them on the radio?
- The clearance of the bomb factory - again they wouldn't be doing that, they'd go in after it was cleared
- The iPod Touch didn't exist in 2004
- YouTube didn't exist in 2004
- Blood wouldn't cause an M82 to jam
- They loaded a single round into the M82 manually, shot it, you never saw or heard the mag get attached, then another shot, then a 3rd, then a view of the gun with mag attached.
I enjoyed the film ,but took it for what it was and that is entertainment 
Its worth reading Eight lives down if you want a truer image of the bomb disposal guys out in Iraq
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eight-Lives-Down-Chris-Hun...
Its worth reading Eight lives down if you want a truer image of the bomb disposal guys out in Iraq
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eight-Lives-Down-Chris-Hun...
MrV said:
I enjoyed the film ,but took it for what it was and that is entertainment
Its worth reading Eight lives down if you want a truer image of the bomb disposal guys out in Iraq
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eight-Lives-Down-Chris-Hun...
Read that book when it came out and thought of it when I saw this film advertised the other night. Want to go and see this tonight hopefully. Not sure whether my missus will be interested but if we go and see something else too she may sit through this lol!Its worth reading Eight lives down if you want a truer image of the bomb disposal guys out in Iraq
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eight-Lives-Down-Chris-Hun...
Interesting comments above re the depiction of forces from other countries. The USA always save the day in their films lol!
t.Saw it the other night. It's right up there in terms of good Gulf War II movies, but I think that's as much to do with the lack of decent ones. Compared to other war films though, it's only slightly above average. So worth seeing, but not as good as some of the hype might lead you to believe.
Finally got round to watching this last night (last post on this was September last year, blimey!).
I enjoyed it but, as has been pointed out above, there did seem to be some oddities to this film.
spoilers-----------------
Sniper scene did annoy me a little in the sense that it made English mercs/operators seem really stupid. Also wondered how the enemy (probably with a Dragunov) managed to shoot the English chap on the Barrett, but then go on to miss the American chap who took over it. Also made me laugh when the chap was spotting for the Barrett sniper, he mentioned at one point that someone was out of range? The range on that rifle is monstrous!
Blood on bullets, odd. I also noticed the single round he loaded into the Barrett but then he went on to fire a few more off. And, I don't understand why the English chap on the Barrett missed so bad then just sat there arsing around with the rifle. Odd.
That scene did give a sense of tension though which was good. Although I did find it annoying that the Americans once again saved the day! 'They shot Chris'! ha ha.
Also, the EOD team moved in a team of three, with two chaps covering the ATO. That seemed odd as the book I have read about the British ATO (eight lives down) states there are cordons and other team members around.
Oh well, it was a good film, I'm just reading too much into it. I like the end bit though where you get the feeling that the ATO cannot really adjust to civilan life.
I enjoyed it but, as has been pointed out above, there did seem to be some oddities to this film.
spoilers-----------------
Sniper scene did annoy me a little in the sense that it made English mercs/operators seem really stupid. Also wondered how the enemy (probably with a Dragunov) managed to shoot the English chap on the Barrett, but then go on to miss the American chap who took over it. Also made me laugh when the chap was spotting for the Barrett sniper, he mentioned at one point that someone was out of range? The range on that rifle is monstrous!
Blood on bullets, odd. I also noticed the single round he loaded into the Barrett but then he went on to fire a few more off. And, I don't understand why the English chap on the Barrett missed so bad then just sat there arsing around with the rifle. Odd.
That scene did give a sense of tension though which was good. Although I did find it annoying that the Americans once again saved the day! 'They shot Chris'! ha ha
.Also, the EOD team moved in a team of three, with two chaps covering the ATO. That seemed odd as the book I have read about the British ATO (eight lives down) states there are cordons and other team members around.
Oh well, it was a good film, I'm just reading too much into it. I like the end bit though where you get the feeling that the ATO cannot really adjust to civilan life.
funkyrobot said:
Oakey said:
Hands up all those that realised the English guy on the Barrett was Ralph Fiennes...
No me neither.
Yep. Whoops, sorry No me neither.
.I also noticed that one of the surviving English chaps was actually Dr Jekyll out of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Or have I got that wrong?
And because yes I can look stuff up on the internet too.
The Contractors, apart from Fiennes, were Sam Spruell, Sam Redford, Feisal Sadoun, Barrie Rice. And know I don't know which one it is.
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