The Hurt Locker - spoilers included

We 'murricans love our war films. Tugs our heartstrings, they do.

IdiotsRUs said:

I watched this for the first time the other night. Completely missed it's oscar-worthiness I'm afraid. It was okay ( District 9 was waaaaaaaaay better).

Click to expand...

I don't know why it got all the Oscars and I agree about 'District 9'.

I actually thought 'The Hurt Locker' was well done (except that I cannot comment on the bomb disabling bit; the screenplay was written by a journalist who claims to know about this stuff) as far as making me feel the balance of the tedium and terror of war. As fine as that may be, it's been done before.

It was definitely 'meh' for me.

IdiotsRUs said:

At the start, with Guy Pearce ( he was in the film for how long? !!) If Bad Dude is going to blow up IED, why doesn't he do it when the guy is standing right next to it instead of waiting for him to walk away? I mean, he wants to blow people up right? So why does he wait?

Click to expand...

Maybe more people come to help? Maybe you want to see exactly what they do to disarm the bomb so you will know how to better rig future bombs? Maybe you tried to blow it up right away but the signal on the phone dropped?

But ultimately, as long as they are in the kill zone, then there is no real hurry.

IdiotsRUs said:

When you find and IED do you really a) roughly brush off all the dirt from the top with no thought to pressure devices.

Click to expand...

For most devices, roughly brushing dirt off is fine, or put another way, if the device was 'that' sensitive then anything would set it off to include cars driving by, people walking by, even the wind, etc.

IdiotsRUs said:

b) When you find a wire attached do you really yank on it? Really?

Click to expand...

I don't think i'd say he 'yanked' it. With that type of setup, it is highly doubtful that the pull of the wire would be the trigger mechanism. If the bomb was set up like a trip wire, then yes, but when a bomb is buried like that, then no.

or put another way, how does someone trip across a buried wire? So that would make a very poor triggering mechanism.

IdiotsRUs said:

If confronted with a car that has bombs in it catching fire, do you really walk towards it with a small fire extinguisher?

Click to expand...

IIRC they didn't walk, more like ran. But the bombs looked like mines and artillery shells IIRC. Fire wouldn't set them off instantly, they'd probably have to heat up so you have a few seconds to put the flame out. Abandonning the car will guarantee it blows up.

IdiotsRUs said:

When a bomb disposal squad and a bunch of mercs ( most of whom are ex special-forces) are together, is the second Bomb Disposal guy who came there from Intel really going to be the best guy with a sniper rifle?

Click to expand...

This is a fair point. But most people think that 'anyone' in the Army can shoot a sniper rifle just as they think that a pilot can fly 'any' aircraft. And also, it wasn't as if he was a great sniper, his first few shots missed so it wasn't that inaccurate and I found it to be plausible.

IdiotsRUs said:

See the first two of these were right at the start and tbh it did put me off a little -- after that I was looking for stuff. Like I say, if you actually would do that, fine. It does seem f'ing stupid though. Even if he is reckless.

So, what was so great about this film?

Click to expand...

What was so great about the film for me is that it showed a different aspect of war that most people don't see. Most war films are about infantry vs. infantry, but this one was about a support group, EOD.

Also, it takes a different kind of courage to try to disarm a bomb and thus that is a different kind of drama that most people have never really seen before. And we got to see how that impacted the characters day in and day out.

I agree, I don't think it was Oscar Worthy, but at the same time, I did like it.

Lastly, as someone with both technical and military experience I try my hardest to not let that keep me from enjoying a film. Otherwise, i'd hate about 60% of the films I see. Granted, sometimes its impossible to suspend disbelief when the script is ridiculous. But I thought overall, Hurt Locker was okay in that regard.

Mel...

I think I see where the confusion is. You must not watch much TV. The bomb disposal guy was a) American b) a rebel. In terms of kickass-fu, this combination is even more potent than radioactive spider bites and canned spinach. In one of the outtakes he monkey-stomped Superman.

IdiotsRUs said:

At the start, with Guy Pearce ( he was in the film for how long? !!) If Bad Dude is going to blow up IED, why doesn't he do it when the guy is standing right next to it instead of waiting for him to walk away? I mean, he wants to blow people up right? So why does he wait?

Click to expand...

He was trying to decide whether Guy Pearce was REALLY an american rebel type (in which case he didn't want to waste the explosives) or not. As soon as he figured out Guy was faking the accent he blew him the fuck up.

IdiotsRUs said:

When you find and IED do you really a) roughly brush off all the dirt from the top with no though to pressure devices. b) When you find a wire attached do you really yank on it? Really?

Click to expand...

It's optional. Yanking does take more time than just glaring the bomb into submission, but he knew if it went off he could just outrun the explosion.

IdiotsRUs said:

If confronted with a car that has bombs in it catching fire, do you really walk towards it with a small fire extinguisher?

Click to expand...

Honestly, that part was sort of weak. I wish he'd just peed on the fire to put it out the way John Wayne did to that burning oil rig in Hellfighters.

IdiotsRUs said:

When a bomb disposal squad and a bunch of mercs ( most of whom are ex special-forces) are together, is the second Bomb Disposal guy who came there from Intel really going to be the best guy with a sniper rifle?

Click to expand...

Again, one of the mercs was Ralph Fiennes, a brit. As part of his years of special forces training he learned that the most effective way to handle situations like that is to die promptly so the American Rebel can get down to business.

Yes, yes. I know what you're going to say: James Bond. Highlight for spoiler: Secretly, he's The Fonz.

IdiotsRUs said:

So, what was so great about this film?

Click to expand...

It had Maggie from Lost.

shawkins said:

It had Maggie from Lost.

Click to expand...

You mean Kate (Evangeline Lily).


It's an AMERICAN movie about an unpopular war. It's very good. Is it Best Picture? I am not sure. But I think part of it is just backslash against James Cameron and Avatar.

IdiotsRUs said:

Well as they were evacuating it sems unlikely more people would turn up....he waited till the guy was right on the edge of the kill zone, so he almost missed he chance. Stoopid.....But until you pull the wire how do you know if it's a trip or not? Surely at this point, discretion is the better part of having a brain

Click to expand...

I think the general problem you had with this film is that you would have done some things differently.

Different doesn't necessarily mean 'better'.

In any situation there are multiple reasonable actions. It is very possible that yanking on those wires (in that one scene) could have set the bombs off. It is also possible that it would not. It is possible that the bombs in that UN scene were hooked to a timer and were NOT hooked up to a remote detonator (we did use jamming equipment in certain locations)

I remember a recon Marine debriefing a company commander about the types of mines that were being used during Desert Storm 1991. The particular mine in question was available in two types. Type I was the expensive kind with a mercury switch, Type II was the cheaper kind that just had a pressure gauge. The Type II mines were easy to disarm in the field (or something like that)

The Marine told the Commander he was fairly sure that the mines were all Type II. The Commander asked him how did he know. The Marine responded that he picked up several mines and wobbled them (shifted them around) and that they didn't blow up.

Everyone looked at this Marine like he was crazy, then someone said, "Damn Recon" and everyone laughed.

It takes a certain type of crazy to do that stuff.

Basically, could the scenarios in the movie have gone differently? Absolutely. But that doesn't necessarily mean it was incorrect.

So you should suspend some disbelief and try to enjoy the movie. Otherwise, you can drive yourself crazy getting hung up on what you would have done.

Mel...

I'm on the positive side with this one, though I can see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. It's a character study of why (some) men go to war rather than an action movie. (District 9 was one of the four Best Picture nominees I haven't managed to see yet so can't comment. I'd have spat blood if Avatar had won anything other than the technical awards it did win.)

For me it's a film made by its direction, but I've been aware of Kathryn Bigelow's abilities since I saw The Loveless and Near Dark in the 1980s. Thankfully justice prevailed and she did win.

I also liked the cameos from Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes, and it was a nice touch that the biggest names in the cast got killed off quickly. I'm not qualified to comment on technical accuracy re bomb disposal.

The Hurt Locker wasn't bad, but neither was it 6 Oscar's good. Both Inglourious Basterds and District 9 were heaps better. I also would have spat blood if Avatar won anything else, and I thought it was total robbery that District 9 didn't take home a single Oscar.

The Oscar's have lost all credibility in my books... just like Roger Ebert. I rarely agree with him either.

Heh, me and Idi are on the same wavelength.

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4743195&postcount=5080

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4768073&postcount=5101

Despite my bitching, though, I'll admit The Hurt Locker wasn't a bad choice for Best Pic.

The Hurt Locker wasn't anything amazing. I think it won more on politics surrounding it than anything else.

District 9 was a way better move...but so was Avatar, Inglorious Bastards, and Precious.

I've been hearing buzz about this movie since it came out last year but I wouldn't have ever considered it a Best Pic winner. The nomination is cool but nothing more than that.

I almost feel that the Hurt Locker won more because the Academy DIDN'T want James Cameron to win instead of on merit alone. But in retrospect, Avatar probably shouldn't have won either (that was my pick originally).

dgiharris said:

I remember a recon Marine debriefing a company commander about the types of mines that were being used during Desert Storm 1991. The particular mine in question was available in two types. Type I was the expensive kind with a mercury switch, Type II was the cheaper kind that just had a pressure gauge. The Type II mines were easy to disarm in the field (or something like that)

The Marine told the Commander he was fairly sure that the mines were all Type II. The Commander asked him how did he know. The Marine responded that he picked up several mines and wobbled them (shifted them around) and that they didn't blow up.

Everyone looked at this Marine like he was crazy, then someone said, "Damn Recon" and everyone laughed.

It takes a certain type of crazy to do that stuff.

Click to expand...

You realize he was bullshitting, right? (And is ordnance disposal a Force Recon job?)

Noah Body said:

You realize he was bullshitting, right? (And is ordnance disposal a Force Recon job?)

Click to expand...

I don't think he was bullshiting.

I don't remember all the particulars (especially since this isn't my area of military expertise), but there was some sort of troop movement that was supposed to happen and that if the mines were Type II, then the movement could more or less happen, but if the mines were Type I, then it couldn't and they'd have to do some alternate route which would somehow up their exposure and cost lives.

He was not disposing of the mines, he was recon and was scouting a particular route.

FWIW, If he was bullshiting, it was well done. But he was briefing an entire auditorium full of military members about the particulars of his role in Desert Storm, so I'd think he was telling the truth.

but back to Idi, I too have been pulled out of movies. One in particular that completely pissed me off was Harrison Ford in Firewall. I just try my damnedest not to let that happen because once it does, it is almost impossible to enjoy the rest of the movie.

Mel...

dgiharris said:

I don't think he was bullshiting.

I don't remember all the particulars (especially since this isn't my area of military expertise), but there was some sort of troop movement that was supposed to happen and that if the mines were Type II, then the movement could more or less happen, but if the mines were Type I, then it couldn't and they'd have to do some alternate route which would somehow up their exposure and cost lives.

He was not disposing of the mines, he was recon and was scouting a particular route.

FWIW, If he was bullshiting, it was well done. But he was briefing an entire auditorium full of military members about the particulars of his role in Desert Storm, so I'd think he was telling the truth.

Click to expand...

Dunno, was actually in the field and not getting briefings other than the quick INTSUM from the S2's spook shack, but you'd have to be a real special kind of stupid to pick up a munition of unknown origin and give it a shake to determine what its trigger might be. I don't think even any of the bubbas with the 5th Legion who gave us small arms tactical training and SERE would do something like that, but then and again, we needn't agree on everything.