The Hurt Locker

The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.

2009 war movie focusing on what the Iraq War (part of the War on Terror) is like for a small bomb-disposal team. While not highly accurate with regards to policies, the movie is generally regarded by veterans as the best at capturing the atmosphere of it all.

The movie itself was critically acclaimed, with its director (Kathryn Bigelow) beating out her ex-husband James Cameron (who directed Avatar) to become the first female director to win Best Director at the Hollywood Academy Awards. Pity that it was a financial disappointment, though.

Thoughts

I guess, what I really want to say, but am afraid to, is that this is what war movies should be like.

I've seen a few war movies here and there, heard of a few more. And all of them seem to focus on how bad it is, what it does to ordinary civilians, stuff like that (see: every Holocaust movie ever). Or they make it a sideshow under the premise of glorifying something else (superhero movies come to mind). Which is maybe ok. But not when every damn war movie does the same thing. And, seriously, we know war is bad.

The Hurt Locker avoids all of this.

Firstly, the atmosphere it creates is extremely intense, with appropriate mood shifts - the life of a soldier can be at one point moderately exciting and relaxing, and the next an intense fight for one's life. Combat isn't usually filled with quite so many bullets and explosions, Call of Duty-style. Every character in the movie feels real, unlike all the stereotyped soldiers we have in other movies. And, perhaps most significantly of all, the movie doesn't make an anti-war stance ("war is evil, governments/Nazis/whatever are monsters, Bush sucks, huehuehue") - it lets the viewers themselves figure out what the life of a modern soldier in Iraq might be like, and why they would ever put themselves in such danger.

In short: The Hurt Locker feels real. And in its running time, it captures modern war for you far better than playing through every modern war video game out there, watching every new Holocaust movie, etc. My highest recommendations.