An intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant, James, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, Sanborn and Eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat, behaving as if he's indifferent to death. The Hurt Locker is probably the most overrated and boring mess of a film i have ever seen in my life and unfortunately the good actors could not save it. (0/10)

This was not a movie that I really went out of my way to see and while I did notice the hype when it won an Oscar I still didn't try too hard to see it. Having said that The Hurt Locker really is a very good movie. It tells the story of a US Army bomb squad team in Iraq in 2004. The movie is very well acted and overall very good, even to the point of being fantastic. Unfortunately, it was filmed documentary style with hand held cameras. Something I am not fan of at all.Jeremy Renner is Sergeant James, a bomb technician and unlike his easy going predecessor, he is a wild man. He seems not only indifferent to the dangers of his job, he absolutely revels in the dangers. It is the ultimate in thrill seeking behaviour, getting that dopamine surge in his brain. Near the end of the movie, he gets accused of being an adrenaline junkie, but by then we know that the neurochemical at work here is dopamine. Bomb disposal is not just a job for him, it's his passion, his addiction, his reason for being in the Army. While watching The Hurt Locker, a scene from G.I. Jane comes to mind when Demi Moore's character is questioned about her motivations to continue to struggle through SEAL training. She responds by asking how males in the program answer the same question. The answer being "Cause I get to blow things up." In this movie, Jeremy Renner in the role of Sergeant James antes up by placing his very existence into the mix.A movie well worth seeing, but not one I would go back to over and over like I have done with G.I. Jane.

To be frank, I have never even heard of this movie until last year, or the year before. I had no idea who Kathryn Bigelow was. I had no idea what this movie was about. I had no idea who anyone involved was. However, I was kind of hooked on doing some Oscar research for the past ceremonies, and the 82nd ceremony, the year this movie competed for, popped out at me, and I was intrigued after seeing a clip of it. And when I finally got a copy, I watched it, and I loved it. I have seen so many movies in my life, and have called so many of them my favorites, but, The Hurt Locker tops off my list. I have tried to find other titles that could top it off, but I still think The Hurt Locker is still on top. I loved Kathryn Bigelow's direction, Mark Boal's script, the intensity within the movie, the realistic approaches of a Bomb Squad, and Barry Ackroyd's heart-pounding cinematography. I loved this movie from beginning to end. I loved every single scene. I love it all. Are there any negative aspects? No.

...but other films don't have 9,4 meta score! It has higher metascore than: Full Metal Jacket, Platoon, Battle of Britain, Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down and it TIED Apocalypse Now?! Unbelievable and strange. I like war movies a lot but couldn't survive through this one. It's trying very hard to be realistic and poetic at the same time. And it's not. Sometimes it's just boring. Bad editing tempo (cleaning bullets scene! - sniper is under fire (suddenly he's not?) and spotter is calling some guy for a very long time to look for bullets instead of just getting them himself, then they pick one clip... long and boring). If main themes are: You get addicted to adrenaline and You never come back from war... than is should be perfectly crafted. And it's far from it. It's even boring to talk about it, there's not much to talk... "Argo" all over again! :)