What's the best way to go about disarming one of these things?

And Sergeant William James answers, "The way you don't die, Sir!". That's the instant reply from an US Army bomb squad stationed in Iraq, who has only 1 job to do, disarming bombs. In this movie, "The Hurt Locker", it tells a story about a group of three bomb squad, who risk their life everyday in the field to clear the roads from bombs planted by the extremists and local militants. When I watched "Speed", "Blown Away", or even "McGyver" series, disarming bombs looks kinda cool, and you can potentially become a hero afterwards. But, after watching this thing, suddenly disarming bomb should be one of the least job you would take.

Just imagine, you are wearing the heavy anti bomb suit, walking toward the bomb, in the middle on an Iraqi town, don't know that someone near can trigger the bomb, or someone will shoot your head. Bottom line, anything could happen, and suddenly, the only thing that left is just your bloody helmet. That's the intensity and the indescribable risk of becoming the bomb squad, especially within the hostile territory. Just as I quote from the IMDB wesbite, they are forced to play a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse in the chaos of war, in a city where everyone is a potential enemy and every object could be a deadly bomb.

This is one of the Hollywood best flick, or I can even mention, 'fresh' and 'original' production of the year (actually it was released last year, mostly in film festivals, but it was not-widely released couple of months ago). Too bad the studio didn't release it widely enough on more screens to get it acknowledged. But nevertheless, the movie which is surprisingly directed by a WOMAN (Kathryn Bigelow), still gained respectable reviews from both critics and viewers. The story is good, the casts are great (notably the unknowns Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie), the action pace is just perfect where it managed to build the tension and the suspense scenes bit by bit. Well, you just don't know when the bomb will explode, do you?

The opening scene where it shows the slow-mo of the explosion was staggering, and even a realistic one. Means, NOBODY, not even James Bond, can sustain the injuries made by the bomb, even within the 100 m radius. The sniper scene is also great, and the suicide bomber in the end is intense. Other than the action scenes, the drama and the characterization of these 3 bomb squad members tells us a different story. One guy (James) can't stand to live 'normal', he always needs the adrenaline rush and the excitement and the suspense of disarming bomb. One guy (Sanborn) tries to be a good leader, but he can't stand of the fact that he may lose his life in the battle field for stupid reason. And the last guy (Eldrige), well, he's a naive soldier, not a coward, but this thing is just too much for him to take, where losing someone you know is part of the game. While the three members face their own internal issues, they have to be aware of any person at the bomb sites, some of who may be bombers themselves.

Too bad people seems unaware that this kind of movie exists, and sadly, it won't earn so much money compared with, let's say, Michael Bay's TF2 : Revenge of the Fallen (I repeat it once again...failure, and completely idiotic). Perhaps with this one as an example, and also District-9, it can set a new standard how to make GOOD MOVIE, without monstrous budget, and low profile casts, and last but not least, a good script!

My Rating : 8.5 / 10