Chris Keen Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 That one character spoiled the movie for me. The guy was a jerk, for sure. But I dont think they intended to make a "realistic" film. I think the idea was to portray 1 mans "dependency on combat adrenaline". The opening line about war being a drug was meant to set the tone for this plot. He was a wild & reckless. But so was Maverick in Top Gun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALBY Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 from my buddy, gunny p****, marine EOD, who posts on a jujitsu forum i mod... I have been asked by several people what I thought of the film. First, let me say I saw it on a bootleg copy probably a year ago. At first, I was livid. I slowly calmed down after talking to some guys from work that had their lives taken out of context with "Generation Kill". I don't know if you've seen the series or read the book, but it's 1st Recon BN during the initial invasion. We spent several beers discussing the series, books and movies. The Hurt Locker is not a horrible movie. I liked the filming style. They really made Jordan feel like Iraq. Second, the slow motion video of the detonations was cool. The story was not great. The 2 team members were the part that I hated. As crazy as the team leader seemed, I've honestly seen worse. During all 3 of my deployments I've been blessed with pipe-hitters fresh from EOD school that just wanted to do the job. If any of them would have been whiny bitches like the 2 in this movie I would have immediately shit-canned them. The first sign of weakness and they are gone. Off to see the wizard and away from me. Their job is to do what you tell them. Unless the army has a different set up than the Marines. The writer of this movie was a civilian that spent a year down range with an army EOD team. The majority of the team leaders bravado are just tactical decisions taken out of context. You MAY not wear the bombsuit when working on a VBIED. Not because "If I'm going to die, I'm going to die comfortable", but because normally the firing switch for a VBIED is under the dash of the vehicle or a pressure plate on the front. Either one is much easier to get to, thus tactically more viable, without an 80lb bombsuit. Also, a VBIED will turn you into a pink mist, bombsuit or not. BTW, I don't know of any EOD tech that carries a pistol under the bombsuit, much less with that kind of quick draw. If a non-military person were to ride with my team for a year I can't imagine the type of movie. Most VBIEDs are now fired via a "suicide switch" under the dash. They were remotely fired for a while, but then we began blowing up every abandoned car on the side of the road, so the mujh had to find a different way to get the vehicle near the target. Another common technique is a pressure plate behind the front bumper. They just drive into you and "boom". As for stories, I personally had over 200 IEDs safed last time over there and have tons of stories. My assistant was a wise-ass that just graduated EOD school, my doc looked like Farva from Super Troopers and my 12 man security team was borrowed from the Marine Corps band. We also lived with the Iraqi Army. It was like a damn sitcom. I'll go through my reports and post some of the more entertaining ones. There was some ridiculousness going on for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALBY Posted February 5, 2010 Share Posted February 5, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted February 6, 2010 Share Posted February 6, 2010 2 out of 4 stars. OK fiction. Some silly crap for sure. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glocklover Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Looks awesome I'm going to have to reant it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3quartertime Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Like I said above I liked the movie. Some of the news I'm hearing is that it is going up against Avatar for best picture. This movie is no where near the movie Avatar is in my opinion. This one wins the story line award hands down, but Avatar has the whole naked blue monkey chics thing going for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precision40 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Somewhat boring, predictable and very Hollywood, but overall a decent flick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-JQ- Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Great renter...made by hollywood...not EOD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 For me a movie has to go one of two ways...either portray realism with an understanding that there needs to be concessions made to reality in order to make it a movie....or feel free to deny the reality for the fantasy and go that direction. Way to much "fantasy" mixed in with the reality on this one. Also, please please please, I beg of Hollywood on bended knee, out of the millions you spend on making films will you spend $1000 dollars and teach the actors how to hold a pistol without tea cupping Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Also, please please please, I beg of Hollywood on bended knee, out of the millions you spend on making films will you spend $1000 dollars and teach the actors how to hold a pistol without tea cupping Would that be realistic? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 (edited) It was pretty bad. It would be a spoiler to list all the things that are inaccurate. I understand that Hollywood has to take some liberties. However, EOD teams were crtitical assets in theater - we did not let EOD teams pull security, clear buildings, and we specifically did not let EOD wonder around unsecured. To leave base, there was a minimum of 3 vehicles - one uparmored HMMWV with EOD did not wander around Iraq. The EOD teams were thoroughly professional and great to work with - they have all my respect. Edited February 9, 2010 by ranger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokshwn Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Touche' Rob....well played Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Stoeger Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 This movie essentially ended up being a series of action set pieces that were (on their own) intriguing and exciting. The “plot” (I am not sure I would call it that) in between the action set pieces was boring and near unwatchable. It made the movie a very uneven experience for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 Best picture of the year??!!?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsniper Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I'm with you . A good movie, but not the best of the year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I can see why it was a contender, but I was rooting for Avatar despite its flaws..... Avatar so blew me away visually, that I was perfectly o.k. with its lack of plot, or really good acting, or any other flaw..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffWard Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I was a little dissappointed after I saw it also, I'm sure it was the ending that throws most people off. After thinking about it for a while I think the point they're trying to make is how absolutely unbelieveable life in combat is. For those of us sitting over here our biggest conflicts in daily life might be traffic, gas prices, or what to eat for dinner. The boys in the sand box, well the fighting MOS's anyway, are so used to adrenaline running through their veins that going back to a "normal" life is almost impossible. I hated myself after I got out, took a few years to transition. Just my .02 One of my favorite quotes: "America is not at war... America is at the mall." I added: "The US Military is at war, while our Government is debating Health Insurance." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMoore Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I'm glad Avatar didn't win, and this one did. I want to see more movies like this one being made, and less of those like Avatar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M ammo Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 If I have to say a good thing! You know like our Mothers told us! The Movie did show how the Enemy is. Making an IED out of a dead Boy. Locking a Bomb on that Man. It did show the true Character of the insurgency. What got me in the movie,, was not all of the big Boom short stories. It was when he was Standing in the Grocery Store. One day making life and death decisions the next thing you know ,, Holly crap, I'm a guy in the Grocery store! I have Been there and done that. Jim M ammo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted March 8, 2010 Author Share Posted March 8, 2010 I was very happy to see The Hurt Locker win. I haven't seen Avatar so I can't compare the two, but I'm sure it is the achievement everyone says it is. What I've heard of Avatar is that it is (among other things) similar in story line to a film like Dances With Wolves, which I enjoyed. However, I think Locker was unique and pretty damn honest. Maybe that was the deciding factor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nik Habicht Posted March 8, 2010 Share Posted March 8, 2010 I'm glad Avatar didn't win, and this one did. I want to see more movies like this one being made, and less of those like Avatar. I'm not sure that another Avatar-like film would thrill me as much.... Then again Star Wars doesn't thrill me as much as it once did... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwiz Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 The Hurt Locker was not a documentary and wasn't meant to be. It is fiction, i.e. the characters do things that they wouldn't do "in real life". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 Just watched this last week. i think i liked it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Hefta Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 The Hurt Locker was good...Best Picture?? Not in my opinion, they really dumbied down the Oscar's this year with ten nominations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rr4406pak Posted March 10, 2010 Share Posted March 10, 2010 I'm sorry, I do not think that fresh blood on the bullets would stop a Barrett 50 cal from functioning. Call me crazy. In fact, I would argue you could probably dip the whole loaded mag in a bucket of blood, shake it out, load it up and shoot away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now