Hurt Locker Analysis

1.     The quote in the beginning of the movie really caught my attention because it compared war into being like a drug, being addictive. I thought this movie was going to be like every other war movie. The soldiers missing their families, their homes but the Hurt Locker was completely different.

2.     The director chose a good time to make this movie and show a different side of war. It was a good time because when this movie came out and still in the present the United States is currently at war and many can relate to the movie. The viewers can see and understand another view of war, the view that the soldiers don’t belong in the normal world anymore. Compared to other movies this one made war seem like a drug. Like I’ve said before most of the other war movies I’ve watched the soldiers couldn’t wait to get home and be reunited with their families but this movie the soldiers home was the battlefield. The normal world became a struggle for them, for example when Will James is at the grocery store and he has a hard time picking a cereal when it should be such an easy task to do. This relates to one of the themes that went throughout the movie, the theme that war becomes home to many soldiers for example it became a home to James and the Sanborn. This was apparent in James life because when he got back to his wife and son he didn’t feel like he belonged there anymore and the only thing he loved was war and being at war, war had become his home. 
      This was also shown with the Sanborn when he admits that he can’t make a son anymore, he doesn’t have the mindset to start at family anymore because his whole mind is at war. This also ties with the theme of war being addicting. It got to a point where not only was the warzone James’ home but he just couldn’t live without the excitement of war which was also revealed to his son during the scene that lasted just a few minutes.

3.     The setting, actors and the costumes had to be perfect for this movie to be believable. However, they did get all those things perfect because to me it all seemed real, like they were actually there at war feeling the pain that a real soldier would have felt. When I was watching this movie throughout the whole movie I felt like I was at war or watching a real moment in life. The way that the actors and their clothes were all dirty gave us a sense of time and that they’ve been at that setting for a long time, creating more realism. All these elements came together to create a realism that can make us connect with theme. 
     The scene that caught my most attention with the actors and wardrobe was the part where James and the black guy were sniping the enemies. They waited for a long period of time and with the amount of dirt that gathered on top of their faces it showed that the time was passing by, that they’ve been still there for a long period of time. If it wasn’t for the sand and dirt on their faces increasing I wouldn’t have known that the time was passing, I would of thought they were there for about five minutes but with the sand and dirt it showed that they were there for at least two to three hours.

4.     This movie was definitely realistic and that is what they aimed for. They gained this effect by one, was the camera movement. At times it was very shaky and not a perfect dolly or pan at all, which made it more realistic like I was actually there holding a camera. There were also a variety of close ups to show either what the actors are feeling, or to show good eye line match. There were many shots where eye line match were deeply important to each scene, it gave us a sense of what they were looking at and focusing on the same object that they were focusing on. There were also many establishing shots that was followed by a series of close-ups and waist shots that gave us an idea of what the location contains, whether it was people from Iraq, the soldiers or all the tanks and weapons that helped us tell a story.

5.   The editing  of this movie was really well put. In the beginning of the movie the edit caught my attention by having jump cuts from the people on the streets to the tanks to the army robot to the soldiers, it just covered a lot of the setting and it gave us a clue of what was going on and who was involved. They also did a good job showing time throughout the movie, with again the sniper scene they showed the time by first showing the soldiers with not much dirt on their face and then cutting back to them again with much more dirt over their face and the sun setting down giving us the information we need to figure out that hours had gone by. 

      They also do a good job showing time pass by at the end when James returns home. They show a short scene with his family and then straight to the plane with his army uniform, showing us that months had passed and he again had re-enlisted into war.

       The sound took great effect throughout this movie. Right in the beginning of the movie when we first meet James we hear a hard metal rock song playing in the background. My first impression of James was that he was badass. It made him sound tough and that he knew what he was doing and that he was in the right place. Throughout the movie there also was background music that made each moment more intense and gave us a feeling of wanting to know what will happen, it also got us worried for the soldiers, their lives were at risk throughout the whole movie and music helped set that tone. Another moment that sound was really important was every time that James put on the bomb suit all the surrounding sound went mute except his breathing. This made the moment more intense and it showed the viewers that what he was doing was very important to him, like a last breath. There were many other scenes where certain sounds were shut off and focused on others, and not every single sound in that scene. Overall the sound was a great help for the themes and the story.
       The story of the Hurt Locker involved around the story itself and the story of each character. The plot was basically to tell the story of soldiers who eventually make the warzone their life, their real home. While James plot was how he had this hero figure that he always had to maintain. For example when he thought that the soccer boy was dead with bombs inside of him he had to immedietly seek revenge and look for who caused it. However once he found out that it actually wasn't the boy he thought it was he felt embarrssed and shameful because he wanted to feel like the hero but didn't quite get that since he was wrong. These two themes were put together very nicely however because neither overpowered the other and both were still clear while watching the movie. What was also noticeable was the humor put into this movie. It didn't make it completely comedy but suttle comedy that  showed that these soldiers were still human above all the differences they go through and act. The message they send out is that even though soldiers can be completely different from normal everyday people they are still humans inside, just now they have a different home.
       The genre of this movie was a war action movie. It meets this goal because throughout the movie there's an excitement and shooting/chasing/fast cuts that all meet the genre of an action movie. This movie had an interesting ending that basically led us to think that the movie was going to start all over, that everything James went through he will have to go through it again, which i really found interesting.