The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker
From above a flat and dry desert floor, a person in a green military uniform with heavy padding holds red wires attached to seven pill-shaped bomb canisters scattered around him. At the top of the poster are three critics' favorable opinions: "A near-perfect movie", "A full-tilt action picture", and "Ferociously suspenseful". Below the quotes is the title "THE HURT LOCKER" and the tagline, "You don't have to be a hero to do this job. But it helps."
Theatrical release poster
Directed byKathryn Bigelow
Written byMark Boal
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyBarry Ackroyd
Edited by
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed bySummit Entertainment
Release dates
  • September 4, 2008 (2008-09-04) (Venice)
  • June 26, 2009 (2009-06-26) (United States)
Running time
131 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[1]
Box office$49.2 million[1]

The Hurt Locker is a 2008 American war action thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Christian Camargo, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, and Guy Pearce. The film follows an Iraq War Explosive Ordnance Disposal team who are targeted by insurgents and shows their psychological reactions to the stress of combat. Boal drew on his experience during embedded access to write the screenplay.

The Hurt Locker premiered at the 2008 Venice International Film Festival before it was released in the United States on June 26, 2009, by Summit Entertainment. The film earned acclaim from critics, who praised Bigelow's directing, Renner's and Mackie's performances, Boal's screenplay, editing, musical score, cinematography, sound design and action sequences, although some veterans have criticized the film's depiction of Iraq War combat as inaccurate.[2] The film was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won six, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It was the first Best Picture winner to have been directed by a woman. The film grossed $49.2 million worldwide.

It is now considered to be one of the most influential war films of the 2000s and the 21st century.[3][4][5][6] In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[7]

  1. ^ a b "The Hurt Locker (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 22, 2014.
  2. ^ "The Hurt Locker". AFI Catalog. Retrieved May 17, 2024.
  3. ^ Bradshaw, Peter; Clarke, Cath; Pulver, Andrew; Shoard, Catherine (September 13, 2019). "The 100 best films of the 21st century". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "The Best War Movies of the 21st Century, from 'Dunkirk' to 'The Hurt Locker'". July 28, 2017.
  5. ^ "The 21 Most Influential Films of the 21st Century, So Far". December 30, 2020.
  6. ^ "The 50 Greatest War Movies Ever Made". November 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Alter, Rebecca (December 14, 2020). "Shrek Has Been Inducted Into the National Film Registry". Vulture. Retrieved December 14, 2020.