1

Any movie about a subject you know something about is going to provoke that "Really?

Your're absolutely right. I have never seen a movie or a TV show about a subject that I was personally familiar with that was accurate.

2
Look, if you like the Oscar you have, you can keep it.

3 It's not just that the movie had inaccuracies about stuff that only the experts would know. I saw it with one of those experts and he went on at length at dinner about that. I replied about the other more-obvious-to-a-lay-person inaccuracies, like the Xbox 360, iPod nano, and YouTube references in a movie that's supposed to be set in 2004. (Also, even I got the ACU/BDU mess-up.)

4 My son came home from his second tour of Iraq last month.  He and some of his army buddies just went to see The Hurt Locker and left about half way through because they said the inaccuracies ruined the story for them.  Perhaps their experience was too fresh.

5 The film really is worth seeing.

6 That said, any movie that gains widespread popular attention and identifies soldiers as heroes rather than villains is okay by me.

7

It's surprising to see these guys carrying a fiberglass hotstick.  Surely someone has invented a more specialized device?

8 I know, working in an office is nothing like Office Space. Except maybe the two Bobs, your boss stealing your stuff and making you work weekends, and wanting to burn the place down.

9

I just saw the Hurt Locker and I dont know why it won.

I was pleasantly surprised it wasnt a 'our troops are bad' hollywood movie.

It didnt have an agenda so that was surprising.

10 My kid was recently telling us about the IED training they had both at boot camp and infantry school.  They really pound it into their heads.  Trust me, my boy got it.  

Rest in peace, Sgt. Eckard.  And God bless and comfort your family.

11 I'm torn on THL.

One the one hand, members of the military familiar with EOD say it's inaccurate and portrays them in a reckless faction.

On the other hand, it's not intended for those familiar with EOD. It's supposed to: 1) Entertain; and 2) Make people understand how difficult these jobs are.

Ordinary people aren't walking away thinking, "Boy, that movie portrayed soldiers as reckless and dangerous." They're walking away thinking, "Boy, those are tough and brave guys risking their lives for others and showing human emotions."

The military may think it portrays them in a bad light, but the impression most people will gain of the military from the film is a positive one.

12 I do have to say I'm glad THL and Bigelow, who thanked the troops, beat Avatar and its anti-corporation, anti-Iraq war, ant-military message.

13 I thought the movie was great, but I know dick squat about  the subject.  It was nice to see a movie though that didn't portray our soldiers as baby killing, war mongering imbeciles or talk about what a lousy president Bush was.  I'm glad it won.

14 So the producer thanked the men in Afghanistan and Iraq and Barbara Streisand looked like a vampire hit by the sun? Was that the one Rush was talking about? I would never ever watch the oscars, blech.

15

Jane, I thought about your son on Sat. night cause the husband and I were watching the military channels 2 programs on marines who were doing special wilderness survival in the mountains.  It looked darn brutal (every marine got a rabbit that they had to kill and skin, and then eat for the rest of the week). 

I read the article on Sgt. Eckard and had tears in my eyes as I looked at his two little boys in their marine outfits.   R.I.P. Sgt. Eckard.  You paid the ultimate sacrifice and I am truly greatful.

16 I thought the movie was great, but I know dick squat about  the subject.  It was nice to see a movie though that didn't portray our soldiers as baby killing, war mongering imbeciles or talk about what a lousy president Bush was.  I'm glad it won.

And that's the impression most will have. I'd bet most people didn't even know there was a group of people who dispose of bombs like this.

So they're shown humans who risk their lives to diffuse bombs at schools, save innocent lives, protect their fellow soldiers, and show sadness about innocent deaths, particularly the part where the boy is found dead and rigged with explosives in the factory.

17 I use a lot of the equipment you see on CSI shows and yes they always exaggerate capabilities etc...  It only annoys me when it is used for anything other than speeding the plot along (DNA tests take more than 20 sec). Haven't seen the movie yet either so I'll wait to pass judgment.


I reitererate Drew's point of thanking all those that risk their lives to serve and protect me and mine.

18

Also served:

http://tinyurl.com/yfppzuh

Army Staff Sgt. Kimberly A. Voelz
Died December 14, 2003 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

27, of Carlisle, Pa.; assigned to the 703rd Explosive Ordnance Detachment based in Fort Knox, Ky.; killed while responding to an explosive ordnance disposal call Dec. 14 when an improvised explosive device detonated in Iskandariyah, Iraq. [...]  Voelz, 27, of Carlisle, Pa., was the lone woman in the 17-member explosive ordnance disposal unit based at Fort Knox. The unit left for Iraq in September; Voelz died Sunday when an improvised explosive detonated while she was trying to defuse it. Her commander in Iraq, Capt. Chad M. Carlson, said Voelz was headed toward a bright future in the Army. Voelz was just a few credit hours away from officer candidate school, and she and her husband, Staff Sgt. Max Voelz, had recently re-enlisted. [...] Her husband was at her side when she died at a hospital in Baghdad. [...]

 

 

 

19 They're walking away thinking, "Boy, those are tough and brave guys risking their lives for others and showing human emotions."

A shocking step up for Hollywood.

20 My oldest son, who did two tours in Iraq (Intel not EOD) says it was the best movie about Iraq that has been done, and also confirmed that it didn't really have an agenda, other than showing the bravery of the troops.  "best movie done" is probably damning with faint praise, but he thought it was a good movie.

21 #15  D'oh Boy learned in Scouting all about killing, skinning and eating stuff (including squirrel).  As a matter of fact, all the survival stuff, rappelling, etc. he learned over the years helped make boot camp not too hard. 

That sergeant's little boys break my heart.

22

From the perspective of a non-vet, but someone who has total respect and thanks for anyone who has served in the armed forces: I enjoyed the movie, and it left me with even more appreciation for those who do these incredibly dangerous jobs.

I have read of some of  the inaccuracies, and cannot imagine that a wild card like James is typical of the men in these units. But I think the movie did show the stress involved with the job, the specialized knowledge and courage needed to do the job, and probably gave some insight into the difficulty of working with totally different personalities in a dangerous and sometimes chaotic situation.

Overall, I came away with a positive view of the Military, as did my 15 year old son, who idolizes anyone in the Services. I'm sure the liberals are spinning it as something that depicts the danger and horror of a wrongheaded and "illegal" war that never should have been. They may throw in a bit of the theme that anyone who has served in Bush's war comes back a nutcase. We'll never in a million years change those tunes. But to anyone without a pre-conceived agenda, I think it would be pretty hard to come away without some new respect for our soldiers and the job they do.

Thanks again, to all those who serve. I'm sure a few are reading this thread and the comments. Don't mean to go off topic, but it can't be said enough.

23 Drillanwr,

Thanks for that. I didn't realize women could serve in EOD units.

I've added the link about Staff Sgt. Voelz to the post. 

24

Don't mean to go off topic, but it can't be said enough.

Amen to that.

25

An intern at my office was in the Air Force, and part of an EOD team in Iraq.  He recently loaned me the DVD, and he said he enjoyed it.

I haven't watched it yet, but certainly the movie is meant to entertain above all else.

After several horrible anti-war (read: anti-Bush) movies in the Iraq war context, this one appears to be better-received, and I'm looking forward to watching it.

YMMV.

26 I didn't like Hurt Locker, because I nitpicked everything I could find wrong with it. I did not take into account the fact that soldiers were represented as normal people, not drooling idiots who were only in Iraq because they couldn't go to college. I will eat my crow, and thank Ms. Bigelow for her movie. Big picture wise, it brought understanding of US soldiers to the mainstream American. In that respect, it did a good job. I'll even Netflix it again, and watch it with an open mind, which I should have done in the first place.

Thank you Hurt Locker, for taking the win from Aliens, I mean Avatar. (Easy mistake, they used the same sets/lines/props).

27
The Army generally has a stick up it's institutional butt when it comes to how they're portrayed.  Heartbreak Ridge was originally supposed to be an Army movie but the panty-waists in the Pentagon got hysterical about a senior NCO that got drunk and pissed on a cop car.

Anyway, movies are supposed to be entertaining, it isn't a documentary.

28 It was an ok film.  I thought the crazy military guy that loves war thing was sort of lame, but still.  I have no doubt it was wrong in a lot of ways, but bad guys getting killed and things blowing up (as long as fake) are always good in a film.  Or at least usually.  Pretty funny it was Cameron's X that made it.

I didn't watch the Oscars for the same reason I don't watch the Olympics.  They are beneath contempt.

29 most movies take some liberties, and have innacuracies. When I watched Hurt Locker there were several instances when I said to myself "I doubt if that is realistic". However, the movie is very good, it's riveting. it has great sound and a unique style. I recommend it.

30

#15  D'oh Boy learned in Scouting all about killing, skinning and eating stuff (including squirrel).  As a matter of fact, all the survival stuff, rappelling, etc. he learned over the years helped make boot camp not too hard. 

 

 

I just read a good book about the Alamo Scouts.  When they were choosing candidates for the classes, they liked the boys from the South because they had real survivalist skills.  One kind of cool fact, John Derek (Bo Derek's husband) successfully completed Alamo Scout Training (I don't know if he ever went on any mission, though).

31 23 Drillanwr,

Thanks for that. I didn't realize women could serve in EOD units.

I've added the link about Staff Sgt. Voelz to the post. 

Posted by: DrewM.

You are very welcome.

32 We watched THL while our boy was home on leave.  We all decided it was okay.  But it was great to see a film that seemed pro-military, after all the other crap that's been out there.  That being said, our Marine's friend's family took him to see Avatar one night.  That really pissed me off.  And yeah, he got the anti-military/Marine message.  Dumbass friend's family. 

33

For me the issue has never really been so much the total disregard of equipment limitations or proper procedures on most movies where hollyweird portrays the military.

What irritates me is the main characters are almost always some sort of borderline psychopath nut jobs who wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in basic training.  Think about any movie you've seen with someone who is military or ex-military that hollywood has made in the last, say 10-15 years.

If the character is the "hero" of the story he was betrayed by his higher ups and is the only one who had a problem following an illegal/immoral order.  Otherwise if he's still in the military he falls into one of three general categories, a guy who is too stupid to tie his own shoes and just follows orders, a guy who is obviously too "smart" and "sensitive" to be in military and is treated like dirt by everyone else as a result, or the guy who has completely lost it and acts like a complete and total psychpath, making up his own orders basically threatining or killing pretty much everyone in sight.

All it would take would be for them to take a couple of bucks out of their huge movie budgets and get a guy who is either military or ex-military as a consultant and actually listen to what he has to say.

For example, if you have a sniper as a character, get him to stop taking head shots and for goodness sake stop having him shoot through the scope of an enemy snipers rifle.  Get a clue that most of the reprobate morons you represent as military members could never have gotten through training with even 1/10th of there authority issues, much less assigned to a front line combat unit.

It would be nice, just once, to see a well done movie about the military or featuring a military character that actually had even 5 minutes worth of research built into the script, instead of this hollywood cookie cutter one dimensional character nonsense. 

Oh well, too much to ask for I guess.  Sad.

 

34

The movie does have several inaccuracies like the uniforms or the total lack of officers, but in the overall context they are minor nits to pick. It does show how evil the insurgents are and how brave and tough are guys are, even if the main character is a war junkie.

The film is also exceptionally paced and directed in spite of it's flaws. Every bomb disposal scene oozed tension, and that scene with the Brit defense contracters was spine tightening.

35

Heartbreak Ridge was originally supposed to be an Army movie but the panty-waists in the Pentagon got hysterical about a senior NCO that got drunk and pissed on a cop car.

I heard about that. I wonder what they would have thought about some fairly senior Navy NCOs who pissed off of an elevated dock on to an actual cop in San Diego.

36

14 So the producer thanked the men in Afghanistan and Iraq and Barbara Streisand looked like a vampire hit by the sun? Was that the one Rush was talking about? I would never ever watch the oscars, blech.

Posted by: dagny at March 08, 2010 03:41 PM (xTpw2)

Wickedly sweet!  Doubly delicious!

Wish there is a youtube clip showing StreisandÂ’s blown-up facial on the best oscar announcement and during the acknowledgement speech.

37 Any of you morons/ettes looking forward to The Pacific?  Starts on HBO Sunday night at 9:00.  Someone wrote in an editorial recently that a teacher was surprised at the number of high school students who believe WW II was only fought in Europe.  WTF?

38

I monitored for human remains while EOD teams cleaned up a disposal range while Eaker AFB was being shut down. Because my job was so boring and I'm an Army brat, within a week I was helping the EOD techs sift through the dirt for stuff. And I mean stuff -- lots of  which didn't belong on an EOD disposal range.

At least two EOD teams cycled through while I was there and I got to know several of the techs as well as you can in 90 days. A few were really squared-away. Most were typical young military men. A few would've been in jail if they weren't in the Air Force (they needed an institutional environment with somebody watching over them).

The one thing they all had in common was an above average IQ. You can't be a dummy and an EOD tech. They have to learn too much stuff. And one was a woman.

I've often wondered which, if any, of the people I worked with in 1992 eventually spent time in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'm sure a few must have. Working with them, to say the least, was interesting. I've never seen so few people break so much equipment in so short a period of time. They had interesting stories. And they treated me just a bit nicer than other civilians because my Dad was a lifer and I knew a bit about life in the military. I'd love to run into one of them today.

39

I have never seen a movie or a TV show about a subject that I was personally familiar with that was accurate.

That's true. And my absolute favorites came from Mission: Impossible (the TV series) When testing a bomb circuit, this was stated:

"The current is alternating, but the voltage is direct."

40 I believe it was Samuel Fuller who said the only truly realistic war movie would be the one where you could  fire randomly at the audience.

41
did anyone else see inaccuracies in Kelly's Heroes or was it just me?

heh

42 I bought Hurt Locker on Bluray when it first came out.  I watched it once and thought it was ok.  For me, the movie seemed to fall apart at the sniper scene, when the bad guys were making precision shots with a regular old AK-47 from over a thousand yards away, while the good guys had a Barrett .50 sniper rifle, and a Browning M2, but could not hit the broad side of a barn (or the broad side of a cinder block building in this case).  I watched the movie again with the commentary track on and learned that that particular scene was shot with the director knowing it was unrealistic to have these three guys in the desert alone, but that is all the budget would allow and she wanted the scene for the dramatic tension.  After that, the movie just seemed like an action movie with no special context for the military aspects, simply because the military aspects are untrue due to budget constraints.  I think District 9 was a far better movie, just because it never pretended to be true,  but it presented the illusion of possibility, despite its small budget.     

43

Posted by: Redneck_Klingon at March 08, 2010 04:07 PM (e8T35)

That is why I stopped watching movies for decades, esp. if I have to pay to watch it.

IF I want to know (and I do) EOD, military sniping, etc., military.discovery.com is the way to go.

44 It's a movie, not a documentary.

45

It's a movie, not a documentary.

In today's world there is no difference.

46 Oh, come on. This was probably the best war movie I've ever seen. I can understand that Hollywood has dumped on the military for a long time, but this complaining seems more like a reflexive action (or perhaps anti-military types trying to derail a movie that portrays soldiers as heros) rather than a reasonable complaint. The genius of the movie is that it captures the uncertainty and tension of these people who actually go out and defuse bomb set by very bad guys. Unlike a lot of movies, the soldiers are portrayed as competent professionals making huge sacrifices to fight an enemy that uses candy to attract children to bombs and stuffs explosives into dead bodies. Most notable is what the movie lacks. There is no moral equivocation, no general trashing of the troops, no overt political statements and no ignoring the personal sacrifices and dedication of the men and women fighting the war and getting a messy job done. I can't imagine what more you could ask for. Was the sniping at 800 yards by munitions experts realistic? No. Did they exaggerate the rogue aspects of Jeremy Renner? Yes. So what? As another commentator mentioned it was completely unrealistic the way the office gets burned down in Office Space. A better question is how does this rank with other war movies? Most famous war movies have scenes that even a civilian can spot as an exaggeration. I'd be hard pressed to name even a handful of more accurate war movies. Unless we decide to hold out for an Iraq version of Top Gun, I really don't see what more we could ask for. -Mercy

47 Oh, come on. This was probably the best war movie I've ever seen. I can understand that Hollywood has dumped on the military for a long time, but this complaining seems more like a reflexive action (or perhaps anti-military types trying to derail a movie that portrays soldiers as heros) rather than a reasonable complaint.

The genius of the movie is that it captures the uncertainty and tension of these people who actually go out and defuse bomb set by very bad guys. Unlike a lot of movies, the soldiers are portrayed as competent professionals making huge sacrifices to fight an enemy that uses candy to attract children to bombs and stuffs explosives into dead bodies.

Most notable is what the movie lacks. There is no moral equivocation, no general trashing of the troops, no overt or covert political statements and no ignoring the personal sacrifices and dedication of the men and women fighting the war and getting a messy job done.

I can't imagine what more you could ask for. Was the sniping at 800 yards by munitions experts realistic? No. Did they exaggerate the rogue aspects of Jeremy Renner? Yes. So what?

As another commentator mentioned it was completely unrealistic the way the office gets burned down in Office Space.

A better question is how does this rank with other war movies? Most famous war movies have scenes that even a civilian can spot as an exaggeration.

I'd be hard pressed to name even a handful of more accurate war movies.  Unless we decide to hold out for an Iraq version of Top Gun, I really don't see what more we could ask for.

-Mercy

48

The enemy is evil but he's not stupid. He pays attention to what EOD guys do so he can build a better bomb. He probaly attends movies like the Hurt Locker to get some tips. Would you, then, want THL to be exactly correct? To be like a training film in accuracy? It did good enough to give the flavor of an EOD team. So, cut the movie makers some slack for not giving away every behavior, skill and technique while still giving respect and showing our guys are the good guys and their guys are the bad guys. Our guys win. This was the first time in a long time that our team was treated this way and not as losers and misguided morons but the heroes they trully are. . Give them a hoooaah and go see the movie so they will make money and thus more troop movies.

49 How lucky we are to have men and women like this serve us and protect us.  My deepest condolences to Sgt. Chris Eckard.  Rest well, brave one.

Bless each soldier, and their families, dear God.

50 *My deepest condolences to Sgt. Chris Eckard's family and friend

51 I liked the movie okay, but didn't really understand why it won the awards it did. As a former EOD guy, it was a little annoying to see how they portrayed the EOD tech in the flick. A lot of it was just silly. But hey, artistic license and all that. I'm pretty sure they meant no disrespect to our soldiers. That sets the movie apart from most of the crap coming out of Hollywood. I'm an old fart, and was in EOD school when they had some of the first female students there (1975). There was much grumbling at the time, but it was changing times. They went on to serve honorably in a sometimes spooky specialty.

52

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53 Okay, I confess, I found the "Hurt Locker" to be boring and tedious.  I didn't find it suspenseful but mostly because I didn't care if the main guy lived or died.  I get that he was reckless with his own life but I couldn't get past the fact that he endangered his fellow soldiers.  Several story lines were unclear or pointless.  As I zoned out several times during the movie, it is possible that they were dealt with in the film but I doubt it based on the reviews I read.  Most of the dumb stuff that bothered me, bothered others. 

I also disagree that it didn't bash the military.  Granted, it wasn't the outright anti-military, anti-American tripe that Hollywood usually does.  But, it started out with the proposition that "war is a drug" and set out to prove that war is senseless and has no purpose and drives all soldiers crazy.  It was more of that pacifist drivel that war solves nothing and so there's never any reason for it.  It the bigotry of low expectations i.e. soldiers are evil, they just don't know any better.

54 sorry- that should say "soldiers are not evil, they just don't know any better."

55

The things that bothered me were eaxy fixes-if they had cared to have a decent technical advisor.  Stuff like having the unit that finds the device set the cordon on a bomb site (hence providing security that was absent in many of the scenes) and the fact that NO ONE EVER GOES ON A SINGLE VEHICLE PATROL!!!  I'll leave aside my impression that most EOD techs are not suicidal lunatics, the lead tech would have been talking to a Psychiatrist in pretty short order in the real world.

You could make a good EOD movie and make it realistic-it would be so much better than "The Hurt Locker".  I said it on another thread and it bears repeating: The film has its heart in the right place, but it is a mess.

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