The Hurt Locker: Iraq's Full Metal Jacket?

[mrhappyface]

I'm a war film Buff. I grew up watching films like Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. I can quote nearly every single line Gunnery Sergeant Hartman speaks. However, I was disappointed with the quality of the films about Iraq such as Stop Loss and Jarhead (to be fair Jarhead was about the First Gulf War), but still, it was lower than my expectations. That was until the Hurt Locker came. My father, who serves in the military, thought the movie was 99% realistic. True, the bomb squad soldiers would normally never act alone without backup and sneaking off the FOB and running after terrorists in the dark without backup and the fact that a soldier plays Gears of War two years before its released aren't realistic. But hey, it's a movie, it needs to have some dramatic tension. I think the movie rather accurately depicted the soldier's emotions and personal agonies in a without having a raging political/patriotic message riveted to it. *cough*avatar*cough. Oh, and one last thing people keep getting wrong: THERE ARE NO FUCKING SAS IN THE MOVIE! BEING BRITISH AND HAVING GUNS DOESN'T MAKE YOU SAS! THEY ARE CONTRACTORS! THEY DIED BECAUSE THEY GOT AMBUSHED, NOT BECAUSE THEY SUCK MORE THAN AMERICANS! So, what did you think about the movie?

 

[Cody211282]

I have it on netflix and hope its good, so far nothings been able to top Black Hawk Down as best war movie in mind

 

[mrhappyface]

I have it on netflix and hope its good, so far nothings been able to top Black Hawk Down as best war movie in mind

True, but FMJ in my opinion, was the best since it wasn't all nitty gritty balls to wall action and drama, but with some light-hearted moments behind the lines too.
"What do we get for 10 dollars?" Pvt. Joker
"Everything you want!" Soo-Soo

 

[antidark777]

I have it on netflix and hope its good, so far nothings been able to top Black Hawk Down as best war movie in mind

True, but FMJ in my opinion, was the best since it wasn't all nitty gritty balls to wall action and drama, but with some light-hearted moments behind the lines too.
"What do we get for 10 dollars?" Pvt. Joker
"Everything you want!" Soo-Soo

Of course, there is the hardass drill seargent too.

 

[Cody211282]

I loved it, I watched it online months ago and plan to see it in the cinema when it's released. I'm also using it for my English speech for a movie on the concept of change. It's an excellent film.

I have it on netflix and hope its good, so far nothings been able to top Black Hawk Down as best war movie in mind

That and We Were Soldiers stand as the best War Movies for me.

Also, I'm pretty sure The Hurt Locker take place in 2008 (since that's when the movie was originally released, and I can't remember if anything actually stated the year) so that's why he is playing Gears Of War.

That's probably my fav Vietnam movie, but for WW2 Band of Brothers wins by a long shot(I know its not a movie but its still damn good

 

[ChocoFace]

One of my favourite films of 2009. No question about that.

 

[mrhappyface]

I think it was a better story than Avatar by miles though...The visual effects were also pretty good for 1/20th of the budget.

 

[Ryuzaki]

Hmmm, no, I don't agree. I don't think Iraq's FMJ has come out yet. I think we're going to have to wait for the 'war' to be over, our troops out and such before allot of truths about really nasty nasty combat situations comes out. The Hurt Locker was a great film, don't get me wrong, but I just wasn't nearly as compelled by that one, as FMJ. Although, as far as Vietnam movies go, Hamburger Hill and Apocolypse Now take the cake.

I love Band Of Brothers and cannot wait for The Pacific (I saw some extended footage on TV lastnight, and it is looking fucking intense.
I'm actually going to watch We Were Soldiers now. I really need to get that on Blu-Ray.

Hi-5, Good Sir. Band of Brothers is my all-time favorites series. Ever. I own the DVD Box-set and the Blu Ray Boxset. I just called Comcast yesterday and had HBO added to my service for the sole purpose of The Pacific next week (The 14th). After watching BoB, I ended up reading Biggest Brother (By Richard Winters), and Parachute Infantry by David Kenyon Webster (Got shot in Market Garden, missed Bastogne). Both great reads.

Oh, and not exactly Band of Brothers material, but Notes from a Sniper by Vasili Zeitsev, is also a great read, very quick read, and simple...but you can imagine thoughts on a battlefield as a Sniper are pretty quick and to the point. lol.

I agree Band of Brothers was a great series and book. I also would recommend other books from the same author (Stephen Ambrose) like D-Day and The Wild Blue.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

The Hurt Locker was a very good film I thought. It managed to create a shit load of tension and had the absolute perfect balance of explosions and gun fights for a war movie.

My issues with it where...

*SPOILERS FOLLOW PEOPLE*

Spoiler

1. The part where he goes looking for whoever put the bomb inside the kid.

2. A bit later, when they get called out to the bomb blast at night, they go wandering through urban Baghdad without backup.

3. The strangeness of it when it suddenly just cuts to his home life, straight from driving a humvee, I thought it was a flashback or something

So it fell apart a bit at the end for me, and this stopped it from become a sublimely awesome film, and made it a merely very very very good film.

 

[Artina89]

In my opinion, nothing will ever top FMJ, one of Kubrick's finest films and it had Vincent D'Onofrio as Pvt. Gomer Pyle. It's one of the best war films out there.

 

[willard3]

Also, I'm pretty sure The Hurt Locker take place in 2008 (since that's when the movie was originally released, and I can't remember if anything actually stated the year) so that's why he is playing Gears Of War.

It specifically says 2004 at the beginning of the movie, and that's only halfway through their company's rotation, so they could MAYBE be in 2005 by the end. The 360 itself wasn't even out when this movie takes place.

Nitpicky, sure. But still a damn good movie, and the sniper scene is so simple that it's awesome...no music needed.

 

[Nepeccel]

no cos its rubbish

 

[mrhappyface]

I found it funny though, when people were flipping out on the internet over the fact that some British people got killed in the movie, and supposedly, that's a hit against why America is better than Britian and the SAS sucks.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

It is definitely not Iraq's "Full Metal Jacket" because the director and writers of "full metal jacket" understood that "realism" doesn't mean "make the movie fucking boring." Hurt locker was 3 hours of pretty much fuck all, and from what I've heard people who actually where on bomb diffusion squads are complaining that the portrayal of it isn't actually anything like the actual experience, so the one thing it had going for it pretty much died there. I would've rather seen fucking Transformers win best picture than that piece of crap.

 

[Colour Scientist]

I have yet to see The Hurt Locker, I really like Full Metal Jacket but I think Gallipoli is my favourite war film. It's directed by Peter Weir I believe and I saw it before I decided Mel Gibson was a douche.