Best Film of 2009: The Hurt Locker

[Yavin4]

An outstanding film. Extremely well made. Intense to the point that it may even stress you out. It's very anti-war without being preachy. It does indeed communicate its points very, very well. I encourage everyone to see it.

On another note, the film was made in Jordan where another terrific, classic film was made, Lawrence of Arabia, and both films have a lot in common.

[Lindsey]

1. It's on my list and can now be rented. I saw Inglourious Basterds

last week and was very, very impressed. Looking forward to The Hurt Locker.

[vi5]

2. Watched it the other night...

I appreciated the tension, and the acting was good.

Didn't think it was any better than any other war movie about any previous war (I'm a Vietnam movie nut and have done graduate school papers on the subject), even aside from the fact that the nature of this war is different (city fighting, etc.).

Overall very good though. Not sure it was the best of the year but definitely one of the.

[Kaleva]

3. Watched it last week. I would highly recommend it.

[AwakeAtLast]

4. I want to see it

but as the wife of an OIF Vet with a mild traumatic brain injury, I'm not sure I could handle it. Can you give me an idea if it would be too much for me?

[Captain Hilts]

6. Yes. It will be too much for you. Wait a few years...

and watch it on a television set.

Definitely not a good idea on the Big Screen.

I wouldn't let my dad - a submariner - see "Das Boat" in a theatre. I saw it in Norfolk surrounded by sailors whose pre-film bravado was stunned silence after the film was over. So, I didn't take dad. He saw it years later on TV and was able to enjoy it - even barking orders and compliments "good man!" at the screen.

Wait a few years. There are enough inaccuracies that vets have issues with it. But it's the mood that's important.

[AwakeAtLast]

7. Thanks!

I appreciate that wonderful advice! :pals:

[Captain Hilts]

8. A few years from now you will have met enough veterans who have seen it

and they'll be able to tell you in what ways - if any - it will help you understand his experience.

Keep the faith!
Capt. Hilts
Walter Reed Army Hospital platelet donor

[Jade Fox]

9. I remember being stunned into silence myself....

after seeing Das Boot in the theater. Later I jokingly asking my friend, "Now, what city are we in?" I felt like I'd been on a sub myself for a couple of years.

[Captain Hilts]

11. It was really weird seeing it at 'Military Circle' theatre and it was full

of sailors - all sitting a seat apart (of course) so you know they aren't gay - and they were laughing and having a great time. After the movie it was stunned silence and some folks crying.

Dad had been a sub skipper. When he finally saw it on TV, he would bark orders "Blow, BLOW!" "Good man!" and so forth. He didn't need the translations or anything. I guess the laws of physics were the same for the Germans as they were for us!

[Captain Hilts]

5. Yes, I'm glad I saw it. nt

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Inglorious Basterds was better.

And I wouldn't call Hurt Locker anti-war at all.

[Capn Sunshine]

12. OMG, no offense , but that was a steaming pile of Tarantino cliches

starting with his "Chapter__" affectation and ending with his conceit that because it's HIS story, he can re-write history. And did I mention comic over the top acting by someotherwise fine actors, obviously coaxed by the director?

Total suckage.

LOVED Pulp Fiction btw.

[bikebloke]

13. Near the top my queue.

I'll see it whenever. Probably months from now.

In the meantime, I didn't have to wait for a WWII film on the Danish resistance, Flame and Citron. Recommended.

[Captain Hilts]

14. The Danes had a fascinating resistance that doesn't get enough attention. nt

[muffin1]

15. I saw it about a month ago

and I thought it was terrific. I was on the edge of my seat - that's often used to describe a movie being suspenseful - but I really was. I almost thought I was having a panic attack a few times. I keep hearing it's a shoo-in for Best Director. I would much rather it go to Kathryn Bigelow than that blow-hard James Cameron.

[Capn Sunshine]

16. Captures a LOT of War

not the general gore, but it conveyed the mental aspect of being detached from your own-world-at-home reality and living in the absolute now, with the underlying sense of dread that accompanies any mission or patrol, the heightened sense of fear, and how for many, their reality is their mission, and home is a dreamscape where they no longer belong.

It is this message, of what we do to our warriors, converting them to beings that only function in a conflict zone, that is the anti war aspect of this. I don't think that a movie that conveys the sense of the conflict and battle scenes is by itself anti-war. It's your take away, the idea that war is pretty fucking senseless, especially at the personal level, where it boils down not to some grand ideological struggle but to its essence: kill that guy before he kills you.