"The Hurt Locker"

[ehrentitle]

I hate to be the lone dissenter in the ongoing love fest over The Hurt Locker . I had great expectations for the movie before I saw it, hoping it would be a gritty and realistic portrayal simular to the documentary Gunner Palace about 2/3 Field Artillery that was released in 2005.

 

However after the opening scene realism was tossed aside and great artistic license was taken to make the movie more entertainment and action adventure that a realistic deception EOD which on it's own would have been a compelling story. After the first hour I lost count of the number of unrealistic events, any one of which would have caused SFC William James or his EOD Detachment to be court marshaled.

 

Saying that The Hurt Locker captures the realism of war in Iraq is like saying that Kelly's Heroes or The Dirty Dozen were realistic depictions of WWII. Or that Apocalypse Now captured the essence of the war in Vietnam. They are all movies that I love. They are entertaining, but I know that none of them even come close to what really happened in WWII or Vietnam.

[HoovieDude]

Your'e not alone in that ehrentitle, trust me.

[willysmb44]

Your'e not alone in that ehrentitle, trust me.

Exactly. Any similarity between this movie and actual EOD people is purely coincidental.

[HoovieDude]

Exactly. Any similarity between this movie and actual ARMY people is purely coincidental.

 

Fixed it for ya

 

Lets see, some of the most glaring things off the top of my noggin:

 

Sergeants/E-5 type do not go around calling their Sergeant First Class/E-7 type by their first names on a common occurance, and damn sure don't hit them. Same goes for junior enlisted E-3's. Hell, I am retired now, and when I run into some of my former troopies, they STILL go to parade rest and call me Sergeant. No matter how hard I try to get them to just call me "Mike" now. Beard, and all, lol.

 

General Order #1 prohibits alcohol in theater. I know in reality that some makes it way into the hands of individuals there. Seen it. However, when caught there is HELL to pay. And openly partying, drinking and wandering around like they did would have been noticed. A SFC would quickly be relieved. Seen it.

 

Not EOD myself, but waited on them and pulled local security for them plenty of times. They do not "roll" with three men and only 1 truck. Anywhere out the wire. They also usually have their own security element with them, usually sliced off from the local BN or BDE in the AO they support. Not to mention a another EOD wingman if they have the personnel. They do not conduct Battle Drill 6, room/building clearing by themselves. They wait til it has been done by either their organic security, or the unit on the scene that called them in. In my experiences, they wouldn't even show up on scene unless it was a confirmed IED. Only one way to confirm it for them too, if you know what I mean! Not knocking them, as they were/are busy as hell.

 

There are no whorehouses that a Joe can go off base to use, as implied in the movie. They do exist there, in the culture, but, very, very discreetly. And no Joe in his "off duty" time will leave the gate like he is back in garrison or on some "undercover" mission. Not if he wants to keep his head. And just trying to imagine how he would explain how he was standing on the other side of the gate, wanting to get back in makes me chuckle. Only SF, or other form of Spec Ops go out the wire "incognito". Which usually is more detailed than a black hoodie, and ACU trousers.

 

 

Anywho, sorry for the bitchin. Once again, I know it was just a movie, but still galls me to no end.

[Schnicklfritz]

Exactly. Any similarity between this movie and actual EOD people is purely coincidental.

 

 

I would take it a step further and say that any similarity between Hollywood and reality is purely coincidental. They seem to have lost the ability to make a realistic movie that isn't shot full of special effects and unrealistic themes. The majority of movies are crap and the actors are overpaid crackheads. It think it's funny that they cannot come up with an original thought for a movie. Everything is a remake or based on a previous movie with new effects added or, whoop-tee-doo, some little tart flashes her thingies and they call her the most talented actress of the year.....

[Sabrejet]

Despite the rather negative reviews this movie has received in this forum, last night it swept the boards at the BAFTAs..the British "Oscars", winning no less than six categories and trouncing the much-fancied "Avatar" in the process! It won..Best Film...Best Director...Best Original Screenplay...Best Cinematography..Best Film Editing..and Best Sound. The BAFTAs are generally regarded as a barometer for the Oscars which follow...so watch this space!

 

Sabrejet

[HoovieDude]

I know, I know. Noticed that myself. Just goes to show how easily swayed people are, who have no real knowledge or experience in matters. I have yet to come across any current, or previous service guys who have anything good to say about it! I work as a DoD contractor, in an office full of guys still in boots, and you should hear some of the conversations that have cropped up concerning this, lol. I am pretty sure if I were to print some of the choice words, I would be banned rikkit tik.

[ehrentitle]

There should be a disclaimer, "Any resemblance to actual EOD Soldiers -- living or dead -- is purely coincidental, The audience must tacitly agree to provisionally suspend their disbelief and judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment. The Hollywood formula of dramatic explosions and the stereotypical cowboy, lone wolf, damaged Soldier unable to adjust to civilian life is in effect."

[LtRGFRANK]

There should be a disclaimer, "Any resemblance to actual EOD Soldiers -- living or dead -- is purely coincidental, The audience must tacitly agree to provisionally suspend their disbelief and judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment. The Hollywood formula of dramatic explosions and the stereotypical cowboy, lone wolf, damaged Soldier unable to adjust to civilian life is in effect."

love it! robert

[redjoshman]

Thought this would be interesting:

http://oscars.movies.yahoo.com/news/527-hu...-oscars-reuters

 

-Josh

[ItemCo16527]

I like how M/Sgt. Sarver is claiming he invented the term "the hurt locker". Interesting, since the term was also used in The General's Daughter 10 years ago, and has probably been around for many years prior to that.

[oldfireguy]

I thought the movie was great and we all know that Hollwood’s job is to give us historical and factual information and not entertainment. In fact it has given me the incentive to write a screen play on my own experiences from the three years I spent in the Army.

 

The movie is going to be about a group of tough fighting, hard drinking teletype operators and field wiremen who are put into a special trained unit to be dropped behind enemy lines to establish communications and train guerrilla fighters how to string wire so they don’t have to. One of the highlights will be the E-5 slapping the First Sgt. because he asks the crew to do some mundane duties like wax a floor in the barracks.

 

A large part of the movie will focus on the guys sitting around for hours and days fixing radios, cleaning radios, and getting paperwork ready for the next IG inspection. Yes it will be full of division 5 miles runs, freezing your rump off in Alaska, and throwing up over the sides of a troopship you are stuck on because the Navy can’t repair their own radios so they have the Army do it. I think I will call it, “The Cold War Soldiers from Hell.”

 

I never worked with EOD guys when I was in the military but I did before and have several times after. I have found them to be nothing but dead serious and very professional. I suppose I would compare "The Hurt Locker" to "Backdraft." Entertainment only.

[19delta-uav]

The Hurt locker was the worst military movie I have ever seen. I have been in Iraq twice as a cavalry scout (2004-2005 and 2009) and not once have i ever seen the stupidity that that movie portrayed. Why you may ask? Because if every american EOD unit and soldier in general acted like those guys we would have nobody coming back alive. I have worked with EOD units 100's of times and the stupidest thing I have ever seen them do is sniff a batch of HME or home made explosives. These guys are professionals and careful. Specific points to consider why this movie was horrible

 

1.) One single solitary HMMWV rolling down a busy baghdad street. NO GO

2.) Running after someone in an iraqi town without rolling fire support, air support, or even just in general. Can we say baited ambush? NO GO

3.) Playing with bombs like they are a child's toy. NO GO

4.) Leaving a vehicle alone with all the doors open and walking into a street with no human activity and no outer cordon in sight. NO GO

5.) Many Many Many other things in this movie like EOD clearing a building by themselves. SUPER NO GO

 

In my honest oppinion, I think this movie may have been the most unresearched piece of junk ever. But on the other hand people love it so the producers got something right even if it wasn't any of the happenings which would have actually gone on in Iraq. I have told my friends not to even bother because they can't get that hour and a half of their lives back and I would hate to support a movie that does such a horrible job of portraying what we do.

[redjoshman]

"Boal was a journalist in Iraq embedded with a squad that dismantled bombs, and he wrote a story about them for Playboy magazine. He developed his story into a screenplay about the soldiers and focused on one in particular, Will James. From that screenplay came the movie."

 

Does anybody have access to the original article? I would be interested in how authentic it is.

 

-Josh

[ItemCo16527]

Playboy has articles?

[Kadet]

I'm a veteran of Iraq and actually liked the movie:

 

- The actions of the military personnel are over the top, and that is unrealistic (but, it was a movie and the creators were trying to set a tone in a two hour timeframe...and make a buck I suppose). 2004 was the nadir of the war in Iraq...very bad and frightening times, and I thought the movie captured that. I had sweaty palms and was uncomfortable during a few scenes.

 

- As others have stated, the Army hadn't switched to ACUs in 2004 (that was the first thing I noticed)

 

- The setting certainly captured the feel of Iraq...the empty streets, garbage and reticent civilians. Also the claustrophobic and slightly helpless feel of riding crammed in a HUMV w/ all of your gear on...

 

- The most accurate scene for me was when he returned home, pretended to do domestic tasks w/ his wife and play w/ his child, all the while thinking about Iraq. That was scary, because it is so true. When you are there, all you want to do is go home...and when you are home, all you can think about is being there...leaves you trapped in limbo at times, and I think the movie was spot on....how weird it is to be in, say, Fallujah one day and home at a kid's soccer game the next (modern, efficient transportation), and the people around you at home are oblivious to where you have been (like the scene of him shopping in the grocery store). I liked the film

[normaninvasion]

What a let down. Entertaining, for sure but will probably never see it again. Lead actor's character was so overblown, over the top. I wasn't in Iraq and don't know anyone in EOD and I just can't believe the screenplay. 19delta summerized this movie the best. They had a great shot at making an action packed, realistic story of EOD techs and the war around them. No need for high holywood drama and pointless scenes that went nowhere. If anything I hope this movie raises peoples interest in war dramas, which may produce better adaptations in the future.

[Wiendolch]

This Movie is not one of my favorites maybe it's just me but i found it boring but i do have a new respect for the guy de fusing those ied's