LIONSGATE The Hurt Locker (DVD)

Rightly attracting major awards attention, The Hurt Locker is a supreme, tense and gripping piece of drama. And it grabs your attention from the stunning opening scene, which perfectly gets across the dangers faced by the specialist bomb disposal squad that we spend the rest of the film following. Chief among them is Jeremy Renner’s Sergeant William James, who is the focal point for much of The Hurt Locker . The film spends some time digging into his head and why he does what he does, and his approach doesn’t always leave him eye-to-eye with the rest of his squad. Renner, in surely a star-making performance, delivers a rounded, three-dimensional portrayal of a man you could easily write off as a maverick, and the film is significantly enriched as a result. But then with director Kathryn Bigelow behind the camera delivering her best film to date, The Hurt Locker excels still further. Her gritty, haunting visuals look superb in high definition too, evoking the down-to-earth shooting style Bigelow employs, and making the most of the assorted set-pieces she puts on film. It’s the sound that really gets you too, cleverly eating up the full breadth of a good surround-sound set-up, and carefully teasing you more and more into the film. Not that you’re likely to need much persuading. The Hurt Locker is a terrific war movie, and a very human one. It’s also packaged on a quality Blu-ray that matches up strong presentation with interesting extra feature. It comes very highly recommended. -- Jon Foster

The Hurt Locker presents an intense and unflinching portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When a new sergeant James takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict he surprises his two subordinates Sanborn and Eldridge by recklessly plunging them into a deadly game of urban combat. James behaves as if he's indifferent to death. As the men struggle to control their wild new leader the city explodes into chaos and James' true character reveals itself in a way that will change each man forever. ; ; Winner of the BAFTA Awards for Best Film Best Director Best Original Screenplay Best Cinematography Best Editing and Best Sound. ; ; Winner of the Academy Awards for Best Picture Best Director (Kathryn Bigelow) Best Screenplay Best Editing Best Sound Mixing & Best Sound Editing. ; ; Play.com Review ; ; One of the best films of 2009 The Hurt Locker bears similarities to David Simon and Ed Burns' Generation Kill in its non-judgemental depiction of military life and the motivations of soldiers. It's a complicated and sometimes uncomfortable look into a world in which most of us will never get closer to than on our TV screens. ; ; The fact is some soldiers for one reason or another like the thrill of war. Sgt. James (charismatically played by James Renner - 28 Weeks Later) is one such soldier. Not one to do things by the book James is right at the centre of this devastating action film. Unhinged but not without his demons James regularly comes into conflict with his new teammates: the aspirational but conventional Sgt. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie - Notorious) and rabbit in the headlights Spc. Eldridge (Brian Geraghty - The Guardian). The proverbial `hurt locker' is one they barely keep shut. There's a job to be done even if it does draw them closer to hell with each passing moment. ; ; Film buffs will be pleased to learn that The Hurt Locker features sterling cameos from Guy Pearce (The Road) David Morse (16 Blocks) and Ralph Fiennes (briefly reunited with his Strange Days director). Bigelow knows her action as Point Break K-19: The Widowmaker and Near Dark fans will testify and here she has created a battleground where even the camera is nervous - danger even when it doesn't come feels like it's everywhere. ; ; Moving through a series increasingly fraught bomb disposals the movie presents an apolitical view of soldiering that whilst not being unique to the genre (Kubrick's Paths To Glory Coppola's Apocalypse Now and Fuller's The Big Red One) captures a chaos and intensity seldom seen elsewhere. It's refreshing to watch a war film that doesn't preach endlessly about the nature of war but shows you enough horror for you to make up your own mind. Overall we can't urge you strongly enough to open The Hurt Locker and experience this masterpiece from a master director - it's an experience you will not forget in a hurry.

Based on the personal wartime experiences of journalist Mark Boal (who adapted his experiences with a bomb squad into a fact-based, yet fictional story), director Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq War-set action thriller THE HURT LOCKER presents the conflict in the Middle East from the perspective of those who witnessed the fighting firsthand -- the soldiers. As an elite Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team tactfully navigates the streets of present-day Iraq, they face the constant threat of death from incoming bombs and sharp-shooting snipers. In Baghdad, roadside bombs are a common danger. The Army is working to make the city a safer place for Americans and Iraqis, so when it comes to dismantling IEDs (improvised explosive devices) the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) crew is always on their game. But protecting the public isn't easy when there's no margin of error, and every second spend dismantling a bomb is another second spent flirting with death. Now, as three fearless bomb technicians take on the most dangerous job in Baghdad, it's only a matter of time before one of them gets sent to 'the hurt locker'. Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce, and Ralph Finnes star.

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Tense and gritty war film from director Kathryn Bigelow, following the lives of an army bomb disposal squad in war-torn Iraq. Having to look death in the face daily, the soldiers of an elite ordnance disposal team struggle to accept their new sergeant, William James (Jeremy Renner), when he risks their lives with his reckless behavior. With the men trying to come to terms with their new leader, their patrols become increasingly hazardous, as a sudden escalation in the violence leads them to confront the most dangerous assignment of their tour. After winning six awards at the 2010 BAFTAs, the film went on to win another six at the Oscars, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.