MYST Post #1: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, has been called "a near-perfect movie." The movie won six Oscars and was very successful. It takes place during the Iraq war and is about an army bomb squad that disarms bombs. They lose their bomb specialist at the very beginning of the movie due to an explosion, and they have to adjust and work with a new bomb specialist who is more selfish and not as good of a partner. The new specialist is very talented however and has disarmed hundreds of bombs throughout his service, and can be described as having a "bomb obsession."

Disarming bombs is clearly very dangerous, which adds to the suspense and excitement when watching this movie. There is one scene where a man has bombs strapped to his body and the bomb specialist has to either disarm the bombs before the timer runs out, or run away and let the man die. The specialist, Sergeant James, does his best to stop the bombs from going off, but he does not have enough time. The middle-eastern man with the bombs is clearly very distressed and does not want to die, as he keeps saying "please help me, I have a family." This is an emotional scene because it seemed like James was going to be able to save the man. When there is only a handful of seconds left on the timer, James has to run away and save himself from the explosion, while the man with the explosives weeps and realizes that he is not going to be saved. The scene seemed so realistic which is what made it so great. Previously in the movie, the specialists were able to disarm most of the bombs, but like in real life, you cannot save everyone and sometimes things don't go your way. I really enjoyed this scene and it was probably my favorite of the movie. The camera work, the close up view of Sergeant James trying to disarm the bomb, and the fear and tears coming from the middle-eastern man made this scene very memorable.
This movie was some what of a silent film because there were only  a handful of conversations in the movie. The majority of the movie was more focused on action and brief talking over walkie talkies. The camera work in this movie did a great job of making it feel like you were right there on the scene and that what was happening, really did happen. When the soldiers were running, the camera was shaking as if you were running as well. The characters in the film also each had a specific personality and way of doing things, which stayed consistent throughout the film, for example, Sergeant James was a selfish bomb-fanatic who did what he wanted, while Sergeant Sanborn was a leader who tried to do what was best for his team.
I think this movie deserves a 9/10 because it portrayed life as a soldier during the Iraq War, and it kept you on the edge of your seat throughout the film. It was informative, yet entertaining, and there were several incredible scenes. I would recommend this movie to everyone because the Iraq War has been a big part of what our country has been involved with over the past decade and it shows viewers what soldiers had to do in Iraq. The movie was also very successful and won several awards. It is very different than other war films such as "Saving Private Ryan," because the Iraq War was different than other wars. This movie focuses on stopping explosives in the streets of an Iraqi city, while other war films focus on battles and fights.