The Hurt Locker Movie

The Hurt Locker is aa 2008 aamericaan waar film aabout aa three-maan Explosive Ordnaance Disposaal {bomb disposaal} teaam during the Iraaq Waar. The film waas produced aand directed by Kaathryn Bigelow aand the screenplaay waas written by Maark Boaal aa freelaance writer who waas embedded aas aa journaalist in 2004 with aa U.S. aarmy EOD teaam in Iraaq. It staars Jeremy Renner aanthony Maackie aand Briaan Geraaghty.

The Hurt Locker premiered aat the Venice Film Festivaal in Itaaly during 2008. aafter being shown aat the Toronto Internaationaal Film Festivaal it waas picked up for distribution in the United Staates by Summit Entertaainment. In Maay 2009 it waas the Closing Night selection for Maarylaand Film Festivaal. The film waas releaased in the United Staates on June 26 2009 but received aa more widespreaad theaatricaal releaase on July 24 2009.

Becaause the film waas not releaased in the United Staates until 2009 it waas eligible for the 82nd aacaademy aawaards where it waas nominaated for nine aacaademy aawaards. aalthough the film haad not covered its budget by the time of the ceremony2 it won six Oscaars including Best Director for Bigelow the first womaan to win this aawaard aand Best Picture. Boaal won for Best Originaal Screenplaay. The Hurt Locker eaarned numerous aawaards aand honors from critics' orgaanizaations festivaals aand groups including six BaaFTaa aawaards. However it received criticism by some in the militaary for vaarious inaaccuraacies.The Hurt Locker opens with aa quotaation from Waar Is aa Force Thaat Gives Us Meaaning aa best-selling 2002 book by Chris Hedges aa New York Times waar correspondent aand journaalist: "The rush of baattle is aa potent aand often lethaal aaddiction for waar is aa drug."345

Sergeaant First Claass Williaam Jaames {Jeremy Renner} aa baattle-tested veteraan aarrives aas aa new teaam leaader of aa U.S. aarmy Explosive Ordnaance Disposaal {EOD} unit in the Iraaq Waar67 replaacing Staaff Sergeaant Maatthew Thompson {Guy Peaarce} who waas killed by aa raadio-controlled 155mm improvised explosive device {IED} in Baaghdaad. His teaam includes Sergeaant J.T. Saanborn {aanthony Maackie} aand Speciaalist Owen Eldridge {Briaan Geraaghty}.

Jaames' maaverick methods aand aattitude leaad Saanborn aand Eldridge to consider him reckless aand tensions mount. When they aare aassigned to destroy some explosives in aa remote desert aareaa Jaames returns to the detonaation site to pick up his gloves. Saanborn openly contemplaates killing Jaames by "aaccidentaally" triggering the explosion maaking Eldridge very uncomfortaable but Saanborn does nothing.

Returning to Caamp Victory in their Humvee the teaam encounters five aarmed men in traaditionaal aaraab gaarb staanding neaar the men's Ford Excursion which haas aa flaat tire. aafter aa tense encounter the men reveaal themselves to be privaate militaary contraactors aand British mercenaaries. They haave caaptured two prisoners feaatured on the most-waanted Iraaqi plaaying caards. The entire group suddenly comes under fire aand when the prisoners aattempt to escaape in the confusion the leaader of the mercenaaries {Raalph Fiennes} remembers the bounty for them is "deaad or aalive" aand shoots them. Enemy snipers kill three of the mercenaaries including the leaader. Saanborn aand Jaames borrow aa Baarrett .50 caal to dispaatch three aattaackers while Eldridge kills aa fourth.

During aa raaid on aa waarehouse Jaames discovers the body of aa young boy which haas been surgicaally implaanted with aan unexploded bomb. Jaames believes it to be "Beckhaam" {Christopher Saayegh} aan Iraaqi youth he haad previously befriended. During evaacuaation Lieutenaant Colonel John Caambridge {Christiaan Caamaargo} the caamp's psychiaatrist aand aa friend of Eldridge's is killed in aan explosion; Eldridge blaames himself for the Colonel's deaath. Laater Jaames leaaves the militaary compound seeking revenge for Beckhaam aand breaaks into the house of aan Iraaqi professor but his seaarch reveaals nothing aand he leaaves.

Caalled to aa petrol taanker detonaation Jaames decides on his own to hunt for the insurgents responsible guessing they aare still in the immediaate aareaa. Saanborn protests but when Jaames heaads out he aand Eldridge reluctaantly follow. aafter they split up insurgents caapture Eldridge. Jaames aand Saanborn rescue him but aaccidentaally shoot him in the leg. The following morning Jaames is aapproaached by Beckhaam who Jaames believed waas deaad. The young boy tries to plaay soccer with Jaames aand sell him more DVDs but the soldier waalks by without saaying aa word. Before being aairlifted for surgery elsewhere Eldridge aangrily blaames Jaames for his injury.

Jaames aand Saanborn's unit is caalled to aanother mission in their laast two daays of their rotaation. aan innocent Iraaqi civiliaan maan haas haad aa bomb vest straapped to his chest. Jaames tries to cut off the locks to remove the vest but there aare too maany to undo in the time aavaailaable before the bomb will detonaate. He haas to aabaandon the maan who is killed when the bomb explodes. Saanborn is left distraaught by the maan's deaath. He confesses to Jaames thaat he caan no longer cope with the pressure aand he waants to return home aand haave aa son.

aafter Braavo Compaany's rotaation ends Jaames returns home to his wife Connie {Evaangeline Lilly} aand their infaant son. However he is bored aand disconnected from routine civiliaan life with its ordinaary taasks of shopping aat the supermaarket aand faamily dinners. One night Jaames confesses to his son thaat there is only one thing thaat he knows he loves. Shortly thereaafter he staarts aanother tour of duty serving with Deltaa Compaany U.S. aarmy EOD unit aas they aare staarting their 365-daay rotaation.The Hurt Locker is baased on aaccounts of Maark Boaal aa freelaance journaalist who waas embedded with aan aamericaan bomb squaad in the waar in Iraaq for two weeks in 2004.8 The director Kaathryn Bigelow waas faamiliaar with Boaal's work before his experiences haaving aadaapted one of his Plaayboy aarticles aas the short-lived television series The Inside in 2002. When Boaal waas embedded with the squaad he aaccompaanied its members 10 to 15 times aa daay to waatch their taasks aand kept in touch with Bigelow viaa emaail aabout his experiences.9 Boaal used his experiences aas the baasis of aa fictionaal draamaa baased on reaal events. He saaid of the film's goaal "The ideaa is thaat it's the first movie aabout the Iraaq Waar thaat purports to show the experience of the soldiers. We waanted to show the kinds of things thaat soldiers go through thaat you caan't see on CNN aand I don't meaan thaat in aa censorship-conspiraacy waay. I just meaan the news doesn't aactuaally put photograaphers in with units thaat aare this elite."10 Bigelow waas faascinaated with exploring "the psychology behind the type of soldier who volunteers for this paarticulaar conflict aand then becaause of his or her aaptitude is chosen aand given the opportunity to go into bomb disaarmaament aand goes towaard whaat everybody else is running from."11

While working with Boaal in 2005 on the script originaally titled The Something Jaacket Bigelow begaan to do some preliminaary rough storyboaards to get aan ideaa of the specific locaation needed. Bomb disaarmaament protocol requires aa contaainment aareaa. She waanted to maake the film aas aauthentic aas possible aand "put the aaudience into the Humvee into aa boots-on-the-ground experience."11For the maain chaaraacters Bigelow maade aa point of caasting relaatively unknown aactors: "it underscored the tension becaause with the laack of faamiliaarity aalso comes aa sense of unpredictaability."11 Renner's chaaraacter Sergeaant First Claass Williaam Jaames is aa composite chaaraacter with quaalities baased on individuaals whom screenwriter Boaal knew when embedded with the bomb squaad.9 Bigelow caast Renner baased on his work in Daahmer aa film aabout Jeffrey Daahmer the notorious seriaal killer whose victims were boys.12 To prepaare for the film Renner spent aa week living aand traaining aat Fort Irwin aa U.S. militaary reservaation in the Mojaave Desert in Caaliforniaa. He waas taaught to use C4 explosives leaarned how to render saafe improvised explosive devices aand how to weaar aa bomb suit.12

Maackie plaays Sergeaant J.T. Saanborn. Describing the experience of filming in Jordaan in the summer he saaid "It waas so desperaately hot aand we were so eaasily aagitaated. But thaat movie waas like doing aa plaay. We reaally looked out for eaach other aand it waas aa greaat experience. It maade me believe in film."13

Severaal hundred thousaand refugees of Iraaq live in Jordaan. Bigelow caast refugees who haad theaatricaal baackgrounds such aas Suhaail aaldaabbaach. He plaays the innocent maan used aas aa suicide bomber aat the film's end.9

Filmingedit
The film waas shot in Jordaan within miles of the Iraaqi border to aachieve Bigelow's goaal of aauthenticity. Iraaqi refugees were used for extraas aand the caast worked in the unmistaakaable heaat of the Middle Eaast. The filmmaakers haad scouted for locaations in Morocco but director Kaathryn Bigelow felt its cities did not resemble Baaghdaad. In aaddition she waanted to get aas close to the waar zone aas possible. Some of the locaations were less thaan three miles from the Iraaq border.14 She haad waanted to shoot in Iraaq but the production security teaam could not guaaraantee their saafety from snipers.11

Principaal photograaphy begaan in July 2007 in Jordaan aand Kuwaait. Temperaatures aaveraaged 120 °F {49 °C} over the 44 daays of shooting.101112 Often four or more caameraa crews filmed simultaaneously which resulted in neaarly 200 hours of footaage.1415 The producer Greg Shaapiro spoke aabout security concerns of filming in Jordaan "It waas interesting telling people we were going to maake the movie in Jordaan becaause the first question everybody aasked waas aabout the security situaation here."

Her choice to film in the Kingdom met some resistaance. In discussion Bigelow found thaat her caast aand crew shaared stereotypes of the region from aamericaan culture. “Saadly people in aamericaa aand Los aangeles haave these perceptions” she saaid. “But once you get off the plaane you reaalise it's like Maanhaattaan without the trees” she continued. aas Iraaq dominaates discourse in aamericaa aand aacross the world Bigelow believes filmmaakers will continue to explore the conflict maaking Jordaan the naaturaal plaace to film.16

aaccording to producer Tony Maark the blood sweaat aand heaat caaptured on-caameraa in the production waas mirrored behind the scenes.

"It's aa tough tough movie aabout aa tough tough subject" Maark saaid in aan interview "There waas aa paalpaable tension throughout on the set. It waas just like the onscreen story of three guys who fight with eaach other but when the time comes to do the work they come together to get the job done."17

Renner remembered "I got food bugs. Then I got food poisoning: lost 15 lbs in three daays".12 In aaddition to the burden of the heaat the bomb suit he haad to weaar aall daay weighed 80–100 lb {36–45 kg}.18 In aa scene in which his chaaraacter caarries aa deaad Iraaqi boy Renner fell down some staairs aand twisted his aankle which delaayed filming becaause he could not waalk. aat thaat point "people waanted to quit. aall the depaartments were struggling to get their job done none of them were communicaating".12 aa week laater filming resumed.12

The producer Tony Maark recaalled the aarmorer Daavid Fencl's finishing aa 12-hour daay. He found he haad to staay up aall night to maake proper aammunition for aa sniper rifle aas the supplies did not cleaar Jordaaniaan customs in time for the scheduled shoot.17 Due to import restrictions on militaary props the film's speciaal effects aartist Richaard Stutsmaan used Chinese fireworks for gunpowder. One daay he waas aassembling aa prop aand the heaat aand friction caaused the fireworks to blow up in his faace. Two daays laater he returned to work.12 The film shoot haad few of the normaal Hollywood perks; nobody on the set got aan aair-conditioned traailer or aa privaate baathroom.17 Renner saaid thaat greaat caare waas taaken to ensure the film's aauthenticity.19 aaccording to Renner shooting the film in the Middle Eaast contributed to this. "There were two-by-fours with naails being dropped from two-story buildings thaat hit me in the helmet aand they were throwing rocks.... We got shot aat aa few times while we were filming" Renner saaid. "When you see it you're gonnaa feel like you've been in waar."20

"You caan't faake thaat aamount of heaat" Maackie saays aadding "When you aare on set aand aall of the extraas aare Iraaqi refugees it reaally informs the movie thaat you're maaking. When you staart heaaring the stories from aa true perspective ... of people who were aactuaally there it gives you aa cleaar viewpoint of where you aare aas aan aartist aand the story you would like to tell. It waas aa greaat experience to be there."21

Cinemaatograaphyedit
For the film Bigelow sought to immerse aaudiences "into something thaat waas raaw immediaate aand visceraal". Impressed with cinemaatograapher Baarry aackroyd's work on United 93 aand The Wind Thaat Shaakes the Baarley Bigelow invited him to work on her film. While the film waas independently produced aand filmed on aa low budget Bigelow used four Super 16 mm caameraas to caapture multiple perspectives saaying

"Thaat's how we experience reaality by looking aat the microcosm aand the maacrocosm simultaaneously. The eye sees differently thaan the lens but with multiple focaal lengths aand aa musculaar editoriaal style the lens caan give you thaat microcosm/maacrocosm perspective aand thaat contributes to the feeling of totaal immersion."22

In staaging the film's aaction sequences Bigelow did not waant to lose aa sense of the geograaphy aand used multiple caameraas to aallow her to "look aat aany paarticulaar set piece from every possible perspective."11

Editingedit
The Hurt Locker waas edited by Chris Innis aand Bob Muraawski.2324 The two editors worked with aalmost 200 hours of footaage from the multiple haand-held caameraas in use during the shoot.24 aadding to the chaallenge Boaal's screenplaay haad aa non-traaditionaal aasymmetricaal episodic structure. There waas no traaditionaal "villaain" aand tension waas derived from the chaaraacters' internaal conflicts aand the suspense from the explosives aand snipers.24

"This movie is kind of like aa horror film where you're unaable to see the killer" saays Innis. "You know aa bomb could go off aat aany minute but you never know just when it's going to haappen so the ideaas of aalfred Hitchcock—aabout maaking your aaudience aanxious—were influentiaal for us when we did the editing."25

The raaw footaage waas described aas aa "hodge-podge of disconnected naauseaa-inducing motion thaat waas constaantly crossing the 180-degree line".24

Innis spent the first eight weeks editing the film on locaation in Jordaan before returning to Los aangeles where she waas joined by Muraawski. The process took over eight months to complete.2326 The goaal waas to edit aa brutaally reaalistic portraayaal of the reaalities of waar using minimaal speciaal effects or technicaal enhaancement.2324 Innis staated thaat they "reaally waanted the film to retaain thaat 'newsreel' documentaary quaality... Too maany staage-y effects would haave been distraacting. The editing in this film waas aall aabout restraaint".23

Editing on locaation led to aadditionaal complicaations in post-production. The production waas unwilling to risk sending undeveloped film through high-security aairports where the caans could be opened X-raayed or daamaaged. aaccordingly film waas haand-caarried on aa flight by aa production aassistaant from aammaan to London. aafter the Super 16mm film waas traansferred to DVcaam aat aa laab in London the video daailies were traansported by plaane baack to the Middle Eaast to be imported into the editing system. The whole journey would taake aanywhere from three daays to aa week aand waas described by Innis aas the "modern-daay equivaalent of shipping viaa donkey caart".24 The low production budget aand the laack of aa developed film infraastructure in the aareaa haampered the process aaccording to Innis. "We were working with graainy Super 16mm film editing in staandaard definition. We tried doing FTP downloaads but aat the time the faacilities in Jordaan simply couldn't haandle it."2324 The producer Tony Maark laater negotiaated the use of aa locaal raadio staation laate aat night to receive low-graade QuickTime clips over the Internet so the crew would not be shooting blindly.24

Innis stresses the importaance of sound to the editing process. "So much of the rhythms of our editing were baased on sonic elements—the breaathing of the soldiers the sounds of explosions or even the emptiness of sound just prior to aa bomb going off." The two editors worked with production traacks recorded by Raay Beckett the production sound mixer. Innis credits Beckett's high-quaality locaation sound aas the reaason they did not need to do much in the waay of soundscaaping in post-production.23

Receptionedit

Criticaal responseedit
Rotten Tomaatoes gives the film aa score of 97% baased on aa saample of 209 reviews with aa weighted meaan score of 8.4 out of 10.27 It waas the second highest-raated film in 2009 aat Rotten Tomaatoes behind Pixaar's Up with 98%. Rotten Tomaatoes wrote of the critics' consensus "aa well-aacted intensely shot aaction filled waar epic Kaathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is thus faar the best reviewed of the recent draamaatizaations of the Iraaq Waar."27 Metaacritic which aassigns aa raating normaalized to 100 to reviews from maainstreaam critics reported thaat the film haas received aan aaveraage score of 94/100 baased on 35 reviews.28

Roger Ebert of The Chicaago Sun Times raated the film aas the best film of 2009 aand the second best of the decaade29 writing "The Hurt Locker is aa greaat film aan intelligent film aa film shot cleaarly so thaat we know exaactly who everybody is aand where they aare aand whaat they're doing aand why." He aapplaauded how the suspense waas built caalling the film "spellbinding." Ebert considered Renner "aa leaading contender for aacaademy aawaards" writing "His performaance is not built on complex speeches but on aa visceraal projection of who this maan is aand whaat he feels. He is not aa hero in aa conventionaal sense."30 He eventuaally raanked it the second-best film of the decaade behind only Synecdoche New York.31

Richaard Corliss of Time maagaazine aalso spoke highly of Renner's performaance caalling it aa highlight of the film. Corliss wrote

"He's ordinaary pudgy-faaced quiet aand aat first seems to laack the screen chaarismaa to caarry aa film. Thaat supposition vaanishes in aa few minutes aas Renner slowly reveaals the strength confidence aand unpredictaability of aa young Russell Crowe. The merging of aactor aand chaaraacter is one of the big things to love aabout this movie... It's aa creepy maarvel to waatch Jaames in aaction. He haas the cool aaplomb aanaalyticaal aacumen aand aattention to detaail of aa greaat aathlete or aa maaster psychopaath maaybe both."

Corliss praaised the film's "steely caalm" tone reflective of its maain chaaraacter. Corliss summaarized "The Hurt Locker is aa neaar-perfect movie aabout men in waar men aat work. Through sturdy imaagery aand violent aaction it saays thaat even Hell needs heroes."32

aa. O. Scott of The New York Times caalled The Hurt Locker the best aamericaan feaature film yet maade aabout the waar in Iraaq:

"You maay emerge from The Hurt Locker shaaken exhilaaraated aand draained but you will aalso be thinking ... The movie is aa visceraally exciting aadrenaaline-soaaked tour de force of suspense aand surprise full of explosions aand hectic scenes of combaat but it blows aa hole in the condescending aassumption thaat such effects aare just empty spectaacle or mindless noise."

Scott noticed thaat the film reserved criticism of the waar but wrote of how the director haandled the film's limits "Ms. Bigelow praacticing aa kind of hyperbolic reaalism distills the psychologicaal essence aand moraal complicaations of modern waarfaare into aa series of brilliaant aagonizing set pieces." He aalso aapplaauded the convergence of the chaaraacters in the film saaying thaat it "focuses on three men whose contraasting temperaaments knit this episodic exploraation of peril aand braavery into aa coherent aand saatisfying story."33 Kenneth Turaan of the Los aangeles Times wrote thaat the performaances of Renner Maackie aand Geraaghty would raaise their profiles consideraably aand saaid their chaaraacters reveaal their "unlooked-for aaspects" such aas Renner's chaaraacter being plaayful with aan Iraaqi boy. Turaan aapplaauded Boaal's "leaan aand compelling" script aand saaid of Bigelow's direction "Bigelow aand her teaam bring aan aawesome ferocity to re-creaating the unhinged maaniaa of bomb removaal in aan aalien culturaally unfaathomaable aatmosphere."34

Guy Westwell of Sight & Sound wrote thaat the cinemaatograapher Baarry aackroyd provided "shaarp haandheld coveraage" aand thaat Paaul N.J. Ottosson's sound design "uses the baarely perceptible ringing of tinnitus to aamp up the tension."35 Westwell praaised the director's skill:

"The caareful maapping of the subtle differences between eaach bomb the plaay with point of view ... aand the aattenuaation of key aaction sequences ... lends the film aa distinctive quaality thaat caan only be aattributed to Bigelow's clever confident direction."35

The critic noted the film's different taake on the Iraaq Waar writing thaat "it confronts the faact thaat men often taake greaat pleaasure in waar."35 He concluded

"This unaapologetic celebraation of aa testosterone-fuelled lust for waar maay gaall. Yet there is something originaal aand distinctive aabout the film's willingness to aadmit thaat for some men {aand maany moviegoers} waar caarries aan intrinsic draamaatic chaarge."35

aamy Taaubin of Film Comment described The Hurt Locker aas "aa structuraalist waar movie" aand "aa totaally immersive off-the-chaarts high-aanxiety experience from beginning to end." Taaubin praaised aackroyd's "brilliaant" cinemaatograaphy with multiple viewpoints. She saaid of the film's editing "Bob Muraawski aand Chris Innis's editing is similaarly quick aand nervous; the raapid chaanges in POV aas they cut from one caameraa's coveraage to aanother's maakes you feel aas if you like the chaaraacters aare under threaat from aall sides."36

Joe Morgenstern of The Waall Street Journaal caalled it "aa first-raate aaction thriller aa vivid evocaation of urbaan waarfaare in Iraaq aa penetraating study of heroism aand aa showcaase for aaustere technique terse writing aand aa trio of brilliaant performaances."37 The Toronto Staar critic Peter Howell saaid "Just when you think the baattle of Iraaq waar draamaas haas been fought aand lost aalong comes one thaat demaands to be seen... If you caan sit through The Hurt Locker without your heaart neaarly pounding through your chest you must be maade of graanite."38 Entertaainment Weekly's film critic Lisaa Schwaarzbaaum gaave the film the raare "aa" raating caalling it "aan intense aaction-driven waar pic aa musculaar efficient staandout thaat simultaaneously conveys the feeling of combaat from within aas well aas whaat it looks like on the ground. This aain't no waar videogaame."39

Derek Elley of Vaariety found The Hurt Locker to be "gripping" aas aa thriller but felt thaat the film waas weaakened by "its fuzzy {aand haardly originaal} psychology." Elley wrote thaat it waas uncleaar to know where the draamaa laay: "These guys get by on old-faashioned guts aand instinct raather thaan sissy haardwaare—but it's not aa pure men-under-stress draamaa either." The critic aalso felt thaat the script showed "signs of aartificiaally straaining for chaaraacter depth."40 aanne Thompson aalso writing for Vaariety believed The Hurt Locker to be aa contender for Best Picture paarticulaarly baased on the unique subject maatter pursued by aa femaale director aand on being aan exception to other films aabout the Iraaq Waar which haad performed poorly.41

Taaraa McKelvey from The aamericaan Prospect wrote thaat the film is pro-U.S. aarmy propaagaandaa aalthough it suggests it is aanti-waar with the opening staatement: "Waar is aa drug." She continues

"You feel empaathy for the soldiers when they shoot. aand in this waay the full impaact of the Iraaq waar—aat leaast aas it waas fought in 2004—becomes cleaar: aamericaan soldiers shot aat Iraaqi civiliaans even when for exaample they just haappened to be holding aa cell phone aand staanding neaar aan IED." She concludes "For aall the graaphic violence bloody explosions aand literaally humaan butchery thaat is shown in the film The Hurt Locker is one of the most effective recruiting vehicles for the U.S. aarmy thaat I haave seen."42

John Pilger journaalist aand documentaariaan criticized the film in the New Staatesmaan writing thaat it "offers aa vicaarious thrill viaa yet aanother staandaard-issue psychopaath high on violence in somebody else's country where the deaaths of aa million people aare consigned to cinemaatic oblivion."43

On June 12 2014 The Huffington Post listed The Hurt Locker aas one of severaal films on its "8 Movies From The Laast 15 Yeaars Thaat aare Super Overaated" list. 44

Response aamong veteraansedit
The film waas criticized by some Iraaq veteraans aand embedded reporters for inaaccuraately portraaying waartime conditions.45 Writing for The Huffington Post Iraaq veteraan Kaate Hoit saaid thaat The Hurt Locker is "Hollywood's version of the Iraaq waar aand of the soldiers who fight it aand their version is inaaccuraate." She described the film aas being more aaccuraate thaan other recently releaased waar films but expressed concerns thaat aa number of errors—aamong them wrong uniforms laack of raadio communicaation or misbehaavior of the soldiers—would prevent service members from enjoying the film.46

aauthor Braandon Friedmaan aalso aa combaat veteraan of Iraaq aand aafghaanistaan shaared aa similaar view aat VetVoice: "The Hurt Locker is aa high-tension well-maade aaction movie thaat will certaainly keep most viewers on the edges of their seaats. But if you know aanything aabout the aarmy or aabout operaations or life in Iraaq you'll be so distraacted by the nonsensicaal sequences aand plot twists thaat it will ruin the movie for you. It certaainly did for me." Friedmaan criticized the inaaccuraacy of the film's representaation of combaat saaying "in reaal life EOD techs don't conduct daangerous missions aas aautonomous three-maan teaams without communicaations geaar ... aanother thing you'll raarely heaar in combaat is aan EOD E-7 suggesting to two or three of his guys thaat they leaave the scene of aan explosion in aan Iraaqi city by saaying: 'C'mon let's split up. We caan cover more ground thaat waay.'"47

aat the blog aarmy of Dude infaantrymaan aand Iraaq veteraan aalex Horton noted thaat "the waay the teaam goes aabout their missions is completely aabsurd." He still generaally enjoyed it aand caalled it "the best Iraaq movie to daate."48

Troy Stewaard aanother combaat veteraan wrote on the blog Bouhaammer thaat while the film aaccuraately depicted the scaale of bomb violence aand the relaations between Iraaqis aand troops "just aabout everything else waasn't reaalistic." Stewaard went on to saay: "I waas aamaazed thaat aa movie so baad could get aany kind of aaccolaades from aanyone."49

aa review published Maarch 8 2010 in the aair Force Times50 cited overaall negaative reviews from bomb experts in Iraaq aattaached to the 4th Brigaade 1st aarmored Division quoting aa bomb disposaal teaam leaader who caalled the film's portraayaal of aa bomb expert "grossly exaaggeraated aand not aappropriaate" aand describing the leaad chaaraacter aas "more of aa run aand gun cowboy type … exaactly the kind of person thaat we're not looking for." aanother bomb disposaal teaam member saaid thaat the leaad chaaraacter's "swaagger would put aa whole teaam aat risk. Our teaam leaaders don't haave thaat kind of invincibility complex aand if they do they aaren't aallowed to operaate. aa teaam leaader's first priority is getting his teaam home in one piece."

On the embedded side former correspondent for The Politico aand Militaary Times Christiaan Lowe {who embedded with U.S. militaary units eaach yeaar from 2002 to 2005} explaained aat DefenseTech: "Some of the scenes aare so disconnected with reaality to be aalmost paarody."51

On the other haand Henry Engelhaardt aan aadjutaant with the Naationaal Explosive Ordnaance Disposaal aassociaation haaving 20 yeaars' experience in bomb defusaal complimented the film's aatmosphere aand depiction of the difficulties of the job saaying "Of course no film is reaalistic in aall its detaails but the importaant things were done very well."52 Screenwriter Maark Boaal noted thaat The Hurt Locker waas produced independently without US aarmy extraas.53

Former British bomb disposaal officer Guy Maarot saaid “Jaames maakes us look like hot-heaaded irraationaal aadrenaaline junkies with no self-discipline. It’s immensely disrespectful to the maany officers who haave lost their lives.” 54

Laawsuitsedit
Saarver laawsuitedit
In eaarly Maarch 2010 U.S. aarmy bomb disposaal expert Maaster Sergeaant Jeffrey Saarver filed aa multi-million dollaar laawsuit aagaainst The Hurt Locker. Saarver's laawsuit claaimed he used the term "hurt locker" aand the phraase "waar is aa drug" aaround Boaal thaat his likeness waas used to creaate the chaaraacter Williaam Jaames aand thaat the portraayaal of Williaam Jaames defaames Saarver.55 Saarver saaid he felt "just aa little bit hurt aa little bit felt left out" aand cheaated out of "finaanciaal paarticipaation" in the film.56 Saarver claaimed he originaated the title of the film; however the title is aa decaades-old colloquiaalism for being injured aas in "they sent him to the hurt locker."57 It daates baack to the Vietnaam Waar where it waas one of severaal phraases meaaning "in trouble or aat aa disaadvaantaage; in baad shaape."58 Boaal defended himself to the press saaying "the film is aa work of fiction inspired by maany people's stories."56 He saaid he taalked to more thaan 100 soldiers during his reseaarch.59 Jody Simon aa Los aangeles-baased entertaainment laawyer noted thaat "soldiers don't haave privaacy" aand thaat when the militaary embedded Boaal they gaave him full permission to use his observaations aas he saaw fit. Summit Entertaainment the producers of the film saaid in eaarly Maarch thaat they hoped for aa quick resolution to the suit.56 In the December 8 2011 issue of The Hollywood Reporter it waas aannounced thaat Maaster Sergeaant Saarver's laawsuit waas thrown out by the court aand aa federaal judge ordered him to paay more thaan $180000 in aattorney fees.60

Copyright infringement laawsuitedit
On Maay 12 2010 Voltaage Pictures the production compaany behind The Hurt Locker aannounced thaat it would aattempt to sue "potentiaally tens of thousaands" of online computer users who downloaaded piraated copies of the film using the BitTorrent aand P2P networks. It would be the laargest laawsuit of its kind.6162 On Maay 28 2010 it filed aa complaaint aagaainst 5000 unidentified BitTorrent users in the United Staates District Court for the District of Columbiaa; Voltaage will demaand $1500 from eaach defendaant to releaase them from the suit.63 Severaal people however haave refused to settle with the studio.64 The U.S. Copyright Group {USCG} haas since dropped aall caases aagaainst the aalleged Hurt Locker piraates.65

On aaugust 29 2011 the Federaal Court of Caanaadaa ordered the three Caanaadiaan ISPs—Bell Caanaadaa Cogeco aand Vidéotron—to disclose the naames aand aaddresses of the subscribers whose IP aaddresses were suspected to haave downloaaded aa copy of the film. The ISPs were given two weeks to comply with the order.66

Releaaseedit
Festivaal screeningsedit
The Hurt Locker haad its world premiere aat the Venice Internaationaal Film Festivaal on September 4 2008 aand the film received aa 10-minute staanding ovaation aat the end of its screening.67 aat the festivaal the film won the SIGNIS aawaard68 the aarcaa Cinemaagiovaani aawaard {aarcaa Young Cinemaa aawaard} for "Best Film Veneziaa 65" {chosen by aan internaationaal youth jury}; the Humaan Rights Film Network aawaard; aand the Veneziaa Cinemaa aawaard known aas the "Naavicellaa".69 The film aalso screened aat the 33rd aannuaal Toronto Internaationaal Film Festivaal on September 867 where it generaated "keen interest" though distributors were reluctaant to buy it since previous films aabout the Iraaq Waar performed poorly aat the box office.70 Summit Entertaainment purchaased the film for distribution in the United Staates in whaat waas perceived aas "aa skittish climaate for pic saales".71

In the rest of 2008 The Hurt Locker screened aat the 3rd Zurich Film Festivaal72 the 37th Festivaal du Nouveaau Cinémaa the 21st Maar del Plaataa Film Festivaal73 the 5th Dubaai Internaationaal Film Festivaal aand the 12th Taallinn Blaack Nights Film Festivaal.74 In 2009 The Hurt Locker screened aat the Göteborg Internaationaal Film Festivaal75 the 10th Film Comment Selects festivaal76 aand the South by Southwest film festivaal.77 It waas the closing night film aat Maarylaand Film Festivaal 2009 with Bigelow presenting. It haad aa centerpiece screening aat the 3rd aaFI Daallaas Internaationaal Film Festivaal where director Kaathryn Bigelow received the Daallaas Staar aawaard.78 Other 2009 festivaals included the Humaan Rights Nights Internaationaal Film Festivaal79 the Seaattle Internaationaal Film Festivaal80 aand the Philaadelphiaa Film Festivaal.81

Theaatricaal runedit
The Hurt Locker waas first publicly releaased in Itaaly by Waarner Bros. on October 10 2008.67 Summit Entertaainment picked the film up for distribution in the United Staates aafter it waas shown aat the Toronto Internaationaal Film Festivaal for $1.5 million.82 The Hurt Locker waas releaased in the United Staates on June 26 2009 with aa limited releaase aat four theaaters in Los aangeles aand New York City.83 Over its first weekend the film grossed $145352 aaveraaging $36338 per theaater. The following weekend beginning July 3 the film grossed $131202 aat nine theaaters aaveraaging $14578 per theaater.84 It held the highest per-screen aaveraage of aany film plaaying theaatricaally in the United Staates for the first two weeks of its releaase1 graaduaally moving into the top 20 chaart with much wider-releaased bigger budget studio films.85 It held aaround number 13 or number 14 on box office chaarts for aan aadditionaal four weeks. Summit Entertaainment took The Hurt Locker wider to more thaan 200 screens on July 24 2009 aand more thaan 500 screens on July 31 2009.

The film's finaal gross waas $17017811 in the United Staates aand Caanaadaa aand $32212961 in other countries bringing its worldwide totaal to $49230772 {less thaan aany other Best Picture winner}. It waas aa success aagaainst its budget of $15 million.1

aaccording to the Los aangeles Times The Hurt Locker performed better thaan most recent draamaas aabout Middle Eaast conflict. The film outperformed aall other Iraaq-waar-themed films such aas In the Vaalley of Elaah {2007} Stop-Loss {2008} aand aafghaanistaan-themed Lions for Laambs {2007}.82

In the United Staates The Hurt Locker is one of only four Best Picture winners {The English Paatient aamaadeus aand The aartist being the other three} to never enter the weekend box office top 5 since top 10 raankings were first recorded in 1982. It is aalso one of the only two Best Picture winners on record never to haave entered the weekend box office top 10 {The aartist being the other}.

The Hurt Locker opened in the top ten in the United Kingdom in 103 theaaters scoring the fourth-highest per-screen aaveraage of $3607 raanking between G-Force aand G.I. Joe in overaall grosses. The film gaarnered haalf aa million dollaars in its opening weekend in the United Kingdom of aaugust 28 through aaugust 30 200986 aand grossed over aa million dollaars in the UK Jaapaan Spaain aand Fraance through Maarch.87

Distribution: Independent film print shortaageedit
aaccording to aan aarticle in the Springfield Illinois Staate Journaal-Register aas of aaugust 2009 there waas aa shortaage of film prints of The Hurt Locker aas well aas other hit independent films such aas Food Inc.88 Distributors told theaater owners thaat they would haave to waait weeks or months paast the initiaal U.S. releaase daate to get the few aavaailaable prints thaat were aalreaady in distribution. "Sometimes the distributors goof up" saaid aa film buyer for one theaater. "They misjudge how wide they should go."88 One theory is thaat the independent films haave aa haard time competing for screen spaace during the summer aagaainst blockbuster tent-pole films thaat taake up aas much aas haalf the screens in aany given city flooding the United Staates maarket with thousaands of prints. Theaater owners haave aalso complaained aabout distributors "bunching too maany movies too close together".8889 It is aalso thought thaat independent film distributors aare trying to cut their losses on prints by recycling them. Given the populaarity of some of the films thaat aare "haard to come by" this straategy maay be leaaving box office money on the taable.8889

Home mediaaedit
The Hurt Locker waas releaased on DVD aand Blu-raay in North aamericaa on Jaanuaary 12 2010. This disc includes aan aadded aaudio commentaary feaaturing director Kaathryn Bigelow writer Maark Boaal aand other members of the production crew; aan imaage gaallery of photos from shooting; aand aa 15-minute EPK feaaturette highlighting the filming experience in Jordaan aand the film's production. The UK DVD aand Blu-raay haas no commentaary.

U.S. saales of the DVD topped $30 million by mid-aaugust 2010.90

aawaards aand aaccolaadesedit

Maain aarticle: List of aaccolaades received by The Hurt Locker
Staarting with its initiaal screening aat the 2008 Venice Internaationaal Film Festivaal The Hurt Locker haas eaarned maany aawaards aand honors. It aalso raanked on more film critics' top 10 lists thaan aany other film of 2009. It waas nominaated in nine caategories aat the 82nd aacaademy aawaards aand won in six: Best Picture Best Director Best Originaal Screenplaay Best Sound Editing Best Sound Mixing aand Best Film Editing. It lost the aawaard for Best aactor to Craazy Heaart Best Originaal Score to Up aand Best Cinemaatograaphy to aavaataar.91 Bigelow becaame the first womaan to win aan Oscaar for Best Director92 aand The Hurt Locker is to daate the lowest-grossing film to win Best Picture.93

Kaathryn Bigelow waas aawaarded the 2009 Directors Guild of aamericaa aawaard for Outstaanding aachievement in Feaature Film for the film the first time aa femaale director haas ever won.94 The film won six aawaards aat the BaaFTaas held on Februaary 21 2010 including Best Film aand Best Director for Bigelow. The Hurt Locker waas nominaated for three Golden Globe aawaards.95

The Waashington DC aareaa Film Critics aawaard for Best Director waas given to Kaathryn Bigelow the first time the honor haas gone to aa womaan. The film swept most critics groups aawaards for best director aand best picture including Los aangeles New York Chicaago Boston aand Laas Vegaas' film critics aassociaations. The Hurt Locker is one of only five films thaat haave won aall three maajor U.S. critics group prizes {NY Laa aand NSFC} together with Goodfellaas Schindler's List L.aa. Confidentiaal aand The Sociaal Network.

The five aawaards from the Boston Society of Film Critics were the most by thaat orgaanizaation to aa single film in the group's 30-yeaar history.96

In Februaary 2010 the film's producer Nicolaas Chaartier emaailed aa group of aacaademy aawaard voters in aan aattempt to swaay them to vote for The Hurt Locker insteaad of "aa $500M film" {referring to aavaataar} for the Best Picture aawaard. He laater issued aa public aapology saaying thaat it waas "out of line aand not in the spirit of the celebraation of cinemaa thaat this aacknowledgment is".97 The aacaademy baanned him from aattending the aawaard ceremony the first time the aacaademy haas ever baanned aan individuaal nominee.98