This film was garbage. I couldn't help laughing during the dramatic chase scene at the end of the movie, the tense sniper battle in the desert, the vigilante soldier's escape from his FOB, and the crazy soldiers drinking whiskey in their room. All four of these scenes were unrealistic. A British merc is unable to use a .50 cal sniper rifle to kill an insurgent sniper who is 350 meters away? Want to know how to kill an insurgent at 350 meters away? Pick-up your M-4 and use your scope to shoot him. I had trouble watching this film because it was so unrealistic and boring. I hope people don't consider The Hurt Locker to be THE Iraq War movie. If you want to see a good movie about the war, watch Generation Kill.… Expand

More like crap locker,not like it was at all. EOD doesn't cruse around all by themselves in summer 04,let alone wear some bomb suit in 120+ heat AND not brake sweet. Stopped it 18min into what crap.

I really looked forward to seeing this (especially after the Oscars) but was totally disappointed. I found the characters wooden, the plot repetitive, and the entire film TEDIOUS. I have now read the many military comments that it is factually inaccurate as WELL and I struggle to see a point to the movie at all. Boring - not engaging at all. Don't bother.

12th greatest film of all time? Give me a break!! Absurdly overrated, notably by American critics. The characters are unrealistic and are insulting to the highly trained extremely well disciplined soldiers that risk their lives detecting and disposing of IED every day. The sniper section is unrealistic, with a headshot on a moving target at some considerable distance. There is no plot - this film is just a sequence of set pieces. The film has no emotional centre and lacks character development - you feel nothing for the characters at the end. The score is unmemorable. The acting average. It does have good ideas, but on the whole it is poorly executed. 9 oscars was a vote in support of the war effort, not in support of the quality of this film. Downright poor.… Expand

Boring, really boring. How can someone stress up with so many cliches? It should be a short film. Maybe it is as someone said an only-american movie. Nationalism aside, I don't get why critic love it. Big disappointment.

Terrible garbage. Not worth watching. The director should go back to film school and actually learn how to film a movie. Do not waste your time. There is a reason this film did not get wide release. It is utter garbage.

Inaccurate, poor acting, slow, boring, poorly written nonsense.

Add me to the list of those who squirmed in my seat and tanked this movie's rating. Congratulations to Hollywood that it took a movie that wasn't distracted by well-known, high-vis movie stars for the general public to think this was a great movie in comparison to other Iraq War movies recently released, almost all as equally unrealistic but blessed with having the name power to carry the movie. It is also no surprise that many military folks, especially those of us who have been deployed, really hate the unrealistic portrayals, the many inaccuracies that this movie has. I suppose I can be like the average civilian and just enjoy this movie as being entertaining I just can't do it. The was just so much wrong with it from the unitforms (in 2004 we were still in desert uniforms) to the scene where the EOD team had to take over the sniper duty over a bunch of Brit mercenaries? The real deal are not that inept. Wish they used better military consultants, then we wouldn't have to suffer the indignity of yet another unrealistic Iraq War movie… Expand

Good idea for a film, however you feel no connection with the actors at all, you really don't care what happens to them.

This got so much critical acclaim that made me see it for myself. It turns out this film was excellent in the war category. It was also Oscar-worthy, just not Best Picture-worthy.

One of the best films of the year thus far, and certainly the best Iraq war film. Well performed and well directed -- hopefully this baby will earn some Oscars.

Hurt Locker was very good. The acting was really fine, the plot moved along and it exceeded my expectations. There was a nice sense of humor within the continued suspense. The connection between the protagonist and the boy selling DVDs humanized the already very human story.

the worst movie I've seen.... is not about war.... is about American idea of hero... Its boring and don't have argument ... I can't understand how this movie won an oscar

This is an excellent example of the politics of movie making. It's been said that this movie will demonstrate how the war in Iraq is remembered. This upsets me due to the lack of realism. Most noticeably, the fact that three soldiers do not run into the darkness alone to chase something that they may have seen. Nor did we risk soldiers to defuse bombs past the first months. Further, it's a rip off of the Lethal Weapon prototype. Unstable white guy paired with veteran black guy and they have over the top adventure. But the real insult? From the accounts of multiple vets, I have been told that District 9 was more realistic as far as reminding them of combat situations.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The first time I saw the trailer of the movie, I thought it would´ve been an interesting one. I was wrong. It started OK but from there on it was totally boring. Critics applaud the film for the "suspense" in it and the performance by Jeremy Renner and its photography and storyline. What storyline? The film features a lot of "tense ful" bomb defusing moments or in other words, "suspenseful" situations one after another that, really, lead to no conclusion. The guy easily defuses the bombs with almost no problems. A rookie soldier would've made those scenes a little bit more tense...maybe. The characters were forgettable. There is no character development in the film. The scene where James is trying to "find out" who killed the little Beckham also has no conclusion because he just randomly went to the house of this professor and asked what happened to the boy and moments later he goes back to his base. Also that night, the bomb squad heads to this place where, yes you guessed it, another bomb has blown. And the three are in pursue of the responsibles for that bomb. In the end, one of them gets shot and no one is captured. Bottom line, the film's about suspense situation after suspense situation that lead to no conclusion. A great film is one that introduces new artistic ways for filmmaking, a good story, which this film does not have, good character development and a good screenplay and the list goes on and on. The Hurt Locker has nothing of those.… Expand

I went into this movie expecting Black Hawk Down but I wasn't disappointed when i didn't get it, instead i really enjoyed the slow paced yet interesting story. Critics enjoyed this movie for a reason, they are professionals who have studied hard in the field of film, they know what they're talking about.

**** awesome movie. Enough said but since there is a 150 character min I mus say random **** Blahahahahah Dick fart lolololololololllllllllllllllllllllllgfgfgf

This movie is known as "A Near-Perfect Film". Seriously? I mean, there are some excellent action scenes and fantastic CGI effects, but it's the same story, repeating over and over again. Finding bombs, sometimes they succeed, and sometimes fail. That's about it. My score: 76/100

Fantastic Movie with an outstanding performance by the leading actor.

What's with all this military elitism in the other comments? Would you be satisfied with any portrayal of the military short of outright propaganda? This movie is not intended to be an absolutely realistic portrayal of the military. It's intended to huumanize and de-politicize the military experience, which it does brilliantly. Seriously, do you have any idea the way you're portrayed in the media? Either you get the anti-war 'death machine' portrayal or the pro-war 'ubermensch' portrayal. The characters in this movie are relateable to civilians and were put into situations where a single mistake or oversight could mean death. It strips back the pro-war and anti-war propaganda and makes you feel for the situation the soldiers have been put into. But I suppose you just wanted the military portrayed as a bunch of Rambos.… Expand

It was not what I would call an action movie, it was a good drama but not an action movie. The ending is sadly more true to life than you'd imagine.

Truly an immersive war movie. An eye-opener. As I was watching it I was thinking about whether this is as good as classics like "Full Metal Jacket," and it's nearly at that level.

A very good film with some memorable scenes, it is very easy to give this film a high rating however on reflection it certainly does not desrve the 10/10 that many critics have dished out so easily for this film. I would say Moon is a better film and that got a 67 (84 from users) from the critics, who I believe have been a little out of touch with reviews for 2009 films.

This is an incredibly tense film, I was on the edge of my seat for just about all of it, and the bits I had time to slide back were moving and harrowing. I kinda felt like I was getting yanked in two directions though; one side glorifying the intense, adrenaline-packed army lifestyle, and the other demonizing war, tackling the themes of shell-shock, PTSD and sacrifice. Having said that this film is a brilliant spectacle worthy of its praise. (I think The Hurt Locker will contract Any Other Year Syndrome, in terms of the Oscars anyway... damn Avatar).… Expand

After watching this movie I thought with myself : " Did this piece of art merit winning Oscars !? " I paused for a moment , I back warded the movie to the beginning , watched it again , then I flash-forwarded to the end , and reviewed the walking of James toward hell and I answered myself : " Hell it did its job " movie begins with great atmosphere giving you the feeling that you are really in that location and it triggers the feeling of compassion with characters , you feel the rising of their Adrenalins , you feel their sweats , you feel the god-damn hot air , and so on . the story takes you to its deep and dark resolution of showing what really is life in that messy city , the city of women crying for the loss of their beloveds , children still playing soccer in the street joyful and some others selling porn movies in order to earn their livings , men watching American from their balconies and wondering " What will be the future of Baghdad ? " You simply just hold your breath in some scenes , leaping to the edge of your seat , crying just for compassion , just for realizing the truth [ I didn't cry ;-) ] ... I don't wanna spoil the story for you cause the plot is available everywhere and I'm not here to repeat those plots again and just bore you , I just want that it be clarified for you that this movie is well directed , although I didn't like the performings very much , Jeremy Renner [Staff Sergeant William James ] wasn't at his peak , he could do better . the cinematography [Barry Ackroyd] is lifelike and that's what gives you the sympathy with the characters . The writer I don't know him/her but he has done a great job.… Expand

Great Intense and Suspenseful Movie with great direction, who knew she had it in her.

One of the most realistic war movies that I've ever seen.

Relentless, devastating and totally awesome. Not a political soapbox, but a good war movie is always a moral one. Go see it. Make everybody you know go see it. An effort this fine deserves some box office heat.