War! What Is It Good For? Apparently, Extremely Compelling Films…

17. The Hurt Locker

“The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug.”

Image Source: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

This is the quotation that opens the film. Kathryn Bigelow spends the next two hours underscoring both the lethal nature and addictive components of combat. The Hurt Locker follows an army unit that specializes in detonating bombs. It centers on the unit’s leader, Will (Jeremy Renner), who is a hardened soldier with a penchant for breaking the rules. The film does not focus on the reasons American soldiers are discovering bombs strapped to innocent Iraqi civilians. Instead, it chooses to focus on the toll of having to make constant life-or-death decisions takes on the human psyche.