What I'm trying to say is, The Hurt Locker doesn't hold a candle to the 1986 Vietnam war film. Not to say it was a just another war movie. Au contraire. With its documentary-style of filming, The Hurt Locker distanced itself from the big budget war films that rely heavily upon special effects and focused more on character studies of three soldiers in the company. With Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce starring, I thought I'd have some pretty decent eye-candy to counteract the intense, heart-pounding portrayal of Bravo Company's elite team of soldiers whose job it is to disarm bombs in the heat of combat. Not so much. Both Fiennes and Pearce are in the movie for all of five minutes. Oh well.
Bigelow's movie, which was filmed in Jordan, was, for the most part, realistic - moving between high intensity and longer periods of breathless anticipation (I literally found myself holding my breath more than once!). And if it wasn't realistic (having no combat experience myself, I can't truthfully claim that the film is indeed a realistic account of the horrors of war) then it certainly fooled me. For all the war movies that result in grunts and eye-rolls (I'm speaking to you, Jarhead!), The Hurt Locker holds its own with the other heavyweights in its genre.
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