Hurt Locker?

[Blaze01]

Seriously?

Did anyone else watch this movie?

You know I rented this movie on blueray, thinking it would be good, it got glowing reviews after all and I literally could not make it through half the movie before I turned it off.

It was boring as hell...watching guys get drunk and wrestle each other?

The second half of this movie must be spectacular, b\c the 1st hour or so was horrificly boring...

Once again Hollywood shows how completely out of touch with reality they really are...

50 years from now...I am sure people will be mentioning this movie right up there with classics like The Godfather, Forrest Gump and Saving Private Ryan...oh that's right some other film won that year....

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

Were you expecting GI Joe 2? The Hurt Locker was an excellent film.

 

[noknobs]

Were you expecting GI Joe 2? The Hurt Locker was an excellent film.

+1

The Hurt Locker was very very good, glad it won.

 

[Mamba]

Right there with inglorious basterds as film of the year.

 

[speeds]

Great movie, deserving of the award. I didn't think it was boring at all. I thought it was fascinating.

 

[Blaze01]

Were you expecting GI Joe 2?

No, just expecting it not to put me to sleep. It was a fucking boring movie.

 

[mook]

I'm looking forward to seeing it. Couple of friends who served in Iraq were really pissed off over the film, because of both small inconsistencies (the new uniforms didn't even exist at the time the movie takes place) and major ones (one friend says he kept hoping the lead would get himself killed already so he wouldn't so recklessly risk so many other people's lives).

OTOH--it's not like Hollywood has ever really concerned itself that much with accuracy in war films....

Glad to see it did well. Maybe it'll inspire TV to reboot "Over There," a tv series set in Iraq from 5 or so years back that had some real promise. I doubt it though.

 

[mook]

Here's an article one of them sent me on it:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/25/AR2010022506161_pf.html

Hence a rising backlash from people in uniform, such as this response on Rieckhoff's Facebook page from a self-identified Army Airborne Ranger:
"f this movie was based on a war that never existed, I would have nothing to comment about. This movie is not based on a true story, but on a true war, a war in which I have seen my friends killed, a war in which I witnessed my ranger buddy get both his legs blown off. So for Hollywood to glorify this crap is a huge slap in the face to every soldier who's been on the front line."
Even Brian Williams, the NBC News anchor, took a shot on his blog, writing a post titled, "The Hurt Locker: Hurting for a fact-checker." The movie's positive reviews could not have been "written by anyone who had spent any time with U.S. armed forces in Iraq," he wrote, wondering why none of the soldiers in the movie dipped smokeless tobacco or said "hoo-ah" -- "the universal term for hello, goodbye, understood, etc."
'Reckless' character
In an interview, Rieckhoff said the anger about "Hurt Locker" stems not so much from such small inaccuracies -- for example, the uniforms the soldiers wear in the film weren't available until well after the time the story took place -- but rather from the depiction of the main character, Sgt. 1st Class William James.
Portrayed by Jeremy Renner, who's nominated for Best Actor, James is a daredevil who in one scene takes off his protective armor while disarming a bomb because, as he says, "If I'm going to die, I'm going to be comfortable." He runs alone through the streets of Baghdad with his sweat shirt hood up like a gangster. Later, he takes two soldiers hunting for insurgents in Baghdad's back alleys without any backup.
James's fellow soldiers are, or try to be, by-the-book professionals. They call James "rowdy" and "reckless," and one worries out loud that his leader's crazy antics are "going to get me killed." James is as much cowboy as soldier, and vets fear he could become an iconic figure in the American imagination should the movie win a bunch of statues.
"Films, almost more than anything, will be the way Americans understand our war," Rieckhoff said. "So we feel that there is a responsibility for filmmakers to portray our war accurately. We see ourselves as watchdogs. . . . When he puts a hood on like Eminem and starts roving outside the wire, it's ridiculous."
Gallucci, a former sergeant who served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, says he kept hoping James would get "blown up throughout the entire movie. I wanted to see his poor teammates get another team leader, who was actually concerned about their safety."
'Dramatic effect'
Mark Boal, the film's screenwriter, knows the soldiers in the film are wearing the wrong uniform. He was embedded in Iraq with an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team in 2004, and he's aware of what soldiers wore. Boal has worked as a journalist -- an article he wrote for Playboy became the basis for the 2007 film "In the Valley of Elah," about an Iraq war veteran who is murdered upon returning home -- and he feels a duty to hew as close to possible to the truth.
But "The Hurt Locker" is a movie, not a magazine article, Boal says, and screenwriters need ample artistic license to build a compelling -- and true -- story. So when he chose to have the film's soldiers wear the current Army uniform rather than the one they wore in 2004, it's to allow his audience "to relate to the imagery they saw on the news."
Yes, he had military consultants help him get details of radio protocol and uniforms right, but he never felt obliged to be precisely accurate. The consultants, Boal says, give a writer the information he needs so that "when you do choose to make a dramatic effect, [you] do it in a way that is not totally embarrassing."
The arc of the narrative, he says, has to come from the writer. "The story came out of my imagination based on my life experience and hundreds of conversations I've had with soldiers.
"I definitely tried for dramatic effect to make artistic choices, but I hope I made them respectfully and carefully and with the goal of not making a training video or a documentary, but showing just how hellish this war is. I was also aware, by the way, that there are many wonderful documentaries on Iraq and many wonderful articles, which no one has seen. And quite frankly, I was hoping that people would see the film."

 

[Natebishop3]

It was a piss poor movie. Anyone who has served, or knows someone who has served over in Iraq, can tell you that this thing was a crock of shit. I know a guy who is going through EOD training RIGHT NOW and he says that movie is a complete fabrication. Not an ounce of truth to it. I didn't even think the acting was good.

You're right, this wasn't GI Joe 2.... it was worse. At least when I went to see GI Joe I had the lowest expectation possible. This movie was lauded as a masterpiece and it ended up being a huge disappointment.

 

[mook]

I wonder how Full Metal Jacket and Platoon were received by that generation of soldier. Oliver Stone actually served in Vietnam before filming Platoon, and it's hard to imagine a director getting too unrealistic when you've got R Lee Emry consulting on Full Metal Jacket. He just doesn't seem like the kind of guy you can bullshit (at least if you want to keep your hearing).

Those two, Deer Hunter and Apocolypse Now are the quintessential Vietnam War movies in my mind.

 

[mook]

On a side note, I heard most of Emry's lines in FMJ were improvised by him. This has got to be one of my all time favorite scenes in any movie:

[video=youtube;TFNeBRc7W7s]

"DID YOUR PARENT'S HAVE ANY CHILDREN THAT LIVED?"

lmao.

 

[Mamba]

I love opinions :]

Damn good movie. Tons of actors, directors, and other academy members also agree. Fuck, even James Cameron backed Kathryn Bigelow.

 

[Natebishop3]

On a side note, I heard most of Emry's lines in FMJ were improvised by him. This has got to be one of my all time favorite scenes in any movie:



"DID YOUR PARENT'S HAVE ANY CHILDREN THAT LIVED?"

lmao.

That's because he was a real DI lol. FMJ is one of the most realistic depictions of bootcamp/basic training that I've ever seen.

I love opinions :]

Damn good movie. Tons of actors, directors, and other academy members also agree. Fuck, even James Cameron backed Kathryn Bigelow.

You ever serve Mamba? Know anyone who has? I love good war movies, but this movie tried too hard. If you want good war movies go watch Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, or Band Of Brothers. This movie was a steaming pile of horse shit.

 

[ABM]

Last night, the minute it won, I reserved it on Redbox. Knew it would go quick. Looking forward to picking it up after work tonight.

 

[Natebishop3]

Last night, the minute it won, I reserved it on Redbox. Knew it would go quick. Looking forward to picking it up after work tonight.

It has been out for a while ABM.

 

[ABM]

It has been out for a while ABM.

I understand, but I thought there might be a rush to rent it today. That's why I reserved it on-line. I want to watch it tonight. I like to do things when I want, where I want, how I want.

 

[Natebishop3]

I understand, but I thought there might be a rush to rent it today. That's why I reserved it on-line. I want to watch it tonight. I like to do things when I want, where I want, how I want.

Well, let us know what you think.

 

[NJNetz]

Hurt Locker was awesome. Don't be retarded.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

The Hurt Locker is the worst war documentary in EVAR!

 

[Da_O]

It was a piss poor movie. Anyone who has served, or knows someone who has served over in Iraq, can tell you that this thing was a crock of shit. I know a guy who is going through EOD training RIGHT NOW and he says that movie is a complete fabrication. Not an ounce of truth to it. I didn't even think the acting was good.

You're right, this wasn't GI Joe 2.... it was worse. At least when I went to see GI Joe I had the lowest expectation possible. This movie was lauded as a masterpiece and it ended up being a huge disappointment.

My friend, who just got back from Iraq, said the movie was overall pretty faithful. He said they took some liberties with some of the procedural stuff and other things here and there, but a pretty close rendition of what it feels like over there.

Anyways, even if you didn't think it was true, it's still a great movie. Renner does great in the movie, the action is intense, not really one bad scene in the movie. Honestly I believe Tarantino's movie should have won, but the Academy hates him.

 

[NJNetz]

Honestly I believe Tarantino's movie should have won, but the Academy hates him.

Why does the Academy hate him?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I sat on a plane once next to some chick making a film about the Iraq war a few years ago, wonder if this was it. They were doing Sundance and all that shit too. who knows.

 

[Da_O]

Truthfully there were a number of Foreign films that were better than the Hurt Locker and Inglorious Basterds, but the Oscars tend to look down on Foreign films.

Movies such as Love Exposure, Ddongpari, and the White Ribbon were all better than those two movies. I think Love Exposure is going to be counted as a 2010 movie, but it's a masterpiece, and it definitely deserves a best picture award.

 

[Da_O]

Why does the Academy hate him?

I don't think they like the way he is outside of filmmaking. He's arrogant, and immature. His many testimonials of smoking pot and such. It's really stupid.

Pulp Fiction only won one award, and that was best Original screenplay. Forrest Gump won most of the awards, which is fine, it is a very good movie, but I think both Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction are better. Which were also up for the award that year.

 

[Blaze01]

Shawshank Redemption....probably one of the best movies ever made IMO.....

I can't complain about Forrest Gump winning, it was a very good movie....Shawshank was better though.....

Here is the deal....nobody will remember The Hurt Locker 20 years from now, but I bet they remember Avatar....

and everyone seems to remember Saving Private Ryan...but the film that won that year?

Shakespeare in Love....no one gives a shit about that film, or remembers it....


Academy = FAIL

 

[toutlaw25]

People can say this movie sucked all you want, but most wouldn't know how realistic it really was. I could only watch the first ten minutes so I can't comment on the rest. Anyone who has not done this in Iraq cannot comment on how "realistic" it is because they don't know any better than Mom and pops. I'm here to tell you the first 10 minutes of what I saw was as realistic recreation as your gonna get.....I've lived it.

 

[The Professional Fan]

I loved it.

 

[mook]

Shawshank Redemption....probably one of the best movies ever made IMO.....

I can't complain about Forrest Gump winning, it was a very good movie....Shawshank was better though.....

It's just astounding Forrest Gump beat both Shawshank and Pulp Fiction.

Never understood that one. Especially because Gump was really in many ways a lesser version of both films:

Shawshank was a harrowing story set over a long period of time about one misfit guy who never really changes his inner nature, and in the end is rewarded in a pretty heart-warming way for his perseverance.

Pulp Fiction was a story with a rambling narrative featuring an oddball cast of characters in some pretty damned bizarre situations, with some tightly written quirky dialog.

You can pretty much take either of the above descriptions and insert "Forrest Gump" instead, but it did neither of these two that particularly well. The quirky dialog and characters weren't a fraction as memorable as Pulp Fiction, and misfit guy who eventually gets rewarded is far, far more sympathetic and interesting (which makes the eventual payoff so much better) in Shawshank.

I can see Pulp Fiction beating Shawshank, or vice versa. But to have both beaten by Forrest Fucking Gump? Jesus.

 

[The Sebastian Express]

Avatar was a spectacular visual film that was groundbreaking for that reason, but the story/plot was dull and something we've seen before countless times. Just because people will remember Avatar and maybe not Hurt Locker doesn't really mean anything. I can remember Blade before I remember a lot of other vampire-centric movies, but that certainly doesn't make it better than them.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Wait a second...

So Hurt Locker is bad because it wasn't a realistic war movie yet Inglorious Bastards is good because it was a realistic movie?

I saw both movies and enjoyed the hell out of them. The actor who played Hans Landa fucking nailed that role. Holding The Hurt Locker to the standard that it failed as a documentary is a little goofy because it was never intended to be one. So it wasn't technically accurate in everything? If that's the standard we're using I guess it did suck. What I got from the movie is that Iraq is a shit hole and our troops have a tough mission there that no movie could possibly hope to portray accurately and more importantly that a lot of our returning brothers and sisters are going to have a rough time assimilating back into American society. IMO the movie got those points across while being entertaining. It was preachy or make light of the dangers our armed forces face in Iraq.