Comments on: Chris Hondros on “The Hurt Locker”

By: Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 00:24:55 +0000

I think MsJackson has it right. You can be “entertained” by it, somewhat intrigued and brought in, but still feel annoyed by the typically shallow/shabby character development of both the main Americans and the Iraqi characters.

At the risk of offending those who think most movie-goers are deeply philosophical, critical-thinkers,… most people need the complexities such as those MsJackson spelled out for them (e.g. a lot of our military leadership is typical imperfect humans to extreme narcissists; a lot of our frontline soldiering is done by immature or even emotionally-damaged — people who are the least best choice for handling interpersonal and global conflict).

Many viewers just seen bang-bang! boom! oooh-machismo! uggh! uggh. sad-face. boom. boom. cry.

By: The Hurt Locker SoundTrack

The Hurt Locker SoundTrack — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:49:09 +0000

Hey It is the one of fantastic movie I ever seen. here you will find out lot of action plus thriller. I have watched this movie last week and we people have lot of fun. There is lot of good scenes to watch..Overall..it is great movie.

By: jtfromBC

jtfromBC — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 17:57:34 +0000

thanks yg, I was aware of this, as I always check links.

By: yg

yg — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:40:29 +0000

within the article was linked an interesting interview with the screenwriter/journalist. he said consistent with his real life experiences in iraq he wanted to avoid the typical 3 act plot resolution and intentionally left plot threads hanging.

By: Ms Jackson

Ms Jackson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:00:21 +0000

I felt differently about it–the utter pointlessness of these scenes, and the inscrutability of the central character and his motivations was important. It turns out that this guy defuses bombs because he’s an adrenalin junkie. He’s a broken guy. He IS the American presence.
The whole time you’re watching the movie, you feel like “what the hell are they thinking? What’s the point of all this?” while feeling very, very afraid and un-moored. The script doesn’t give you resolution. None of the arcs go anywhere–the kid he thought was dead he tries to avenge and fails…and then finds out the kid’s not even dead. Half the time people we can’t see are aiming guns at him…or maybe they’re not even there? And he’s screwing up everybody’s life as he does it–his fellow soldiers, the Iraqis, everyone. Horrible stuff is happening and he’s not just caught up in it, he’s making it happen, even though he’s not an evil guy. I mean, he’s quite likeable!
I thought the movie really felt like a metaphor of the war. We went in there for reasons that to this day I can’t figure out, and it’s my damn government who decided to do it! And we bumbled and everything important was done half-assedly and by the seat of our pants, and the human cost was horrifying. And, you know, it’s still going on even though any semblance of plot left the whole endeavor years ago.
Anyway, I liked it.

By: jtfromBC

jtfromBC — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:50:56 +0000

FWIW
The Hurt Locker – CBC radio interview 20:00 min. July 15 2009
Six years after the war in Iraq began, barely a day goes by without a deadly bomb blast. Just today a suicide bomber killed six people including an Iraqi policeman. Earlier this week, seven U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi translator were wounded in another blast.
The explosions and carnage have become so commonplace –they typically don’t make headlines anymore. And that presents a challenge for anyone trying to understand how Iraqi civilians and Western soldiers go through their days knowing that their next step – could be their last.
Mark Boal is an American journalist who spent two weeks embedded with the members of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal Squad … the soldiers whose job it is to disable roadside bombs and other improvised explosive devices. Now, he has taken that experience and turned it into an action movie called, The Hurt Locker.
The film is now playing in Toronto. It opens this Friday in Vancouver and Montreal. And it will have a wider release across Canada on July 24th
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/2009/200907/20090715.html

By: yg

yg — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 20:23:05 +0000

but platoon and apocalypse now also had implausible scenarios. the latter especially could be described as having an "absurd and seemingly pointless misadventures" that you faulted hurt locker for being. perhaps that was the point being made. getting put in iraq was an absurd and pointless misadventure.

By: yg

yg — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:41:37 +0000

oh, you saw the trailer. well, that settles it then.

By: DennisQ

DennisQ — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:07:34 +0000

This film has been described as the definitive Iraq war film. And yet, I can tell from the trailer that it’s a cartoon and that it’s pro-American propaganda. This says a lot about the state of American film-making and a lot about American political values.
The point is not that the Americans are the focus of the action, but that Iraqis are simply bit players. They also have a sneaky underside to them – going around planting bombs that will kill school children. This is yet another white man’s burden argument for the war, presented as a cartoon.
We on the left should not be supporting films like this. From the looks of it, it’s as dishonest as Blackhawk Down, the difference being the greater number of Iraqi and American fatalities.

By: yg

yg — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:23:33 +0000

get a grip, how dare you suggest i’m a war pig. you don’t even know me.
i haven’t even seen the movie, i don’t think it’s out yet. i saw the director interviewed on charlie rose. how can you be so categorical in denouncing the film without having even seen it yet?
the main character is a bomb defuser. he’s trying to prevent the loss of life. there are other elements in the movie that suggest an anti-war message.