The Hurt Locker is a riveting, suspenseful
portrait of the courage under fire of the military’s most
unrecognized heroes: the technicians of the bomb squad, who
volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives in one of the
world’s most dangerous places. Three members of the Army’s
elite Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) squad battle
insurgents and each other as they seek out and disarm a wave
of roadside bombs on the streets of Baghdad -- in order to
try and make the city a safer place for Iraqis and Americans
alike. Their mission is clear - protect and save - but it’s
anything but easy, for the margin of error on a war-zone
bomb is zero. A thrilling and heart-thumping look at the
effects of combat and danger on the human psyche, The Hurt
Locker is based on the first-hand observations of journalist
and screenwriter Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special
bomb unit in Iraq.
Visionary director Kathryn Bigelow brings together
groundbreaking realistic action and intimate human drama in
a gripping film starring Jeremy Renner (Dahmer, The
Assassination of Jesse James), Anthony Mackie (Half Nelson,
We Are Marshall) and Brian Geraghty (We Are Marshall,
Jarhead), with cameo appearances by Ralph Fiennes (The
Reader), David Morse (“John Adams”), Evangeline Lilly
(“Lost”) and Guy Pearce (Memento). The Hurt Locker is
produced by Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Greg Shapiro and
Nicolas Chartier. The screenplay is written by Mark Boal (In
the Valley of Elah, story). Barry Ackroyd, BSC (United 93,
The Wind That Shakes the Barley) is director of photography.
Production designer is Karl Juliusson (K19: The Widowmaker,
Breaking the Waves). Editors are Bob Murawski (Spider-Man 2,
Spider-Man 3) and Chris Innis. Costume designer is George
Little (Jarhead, Crimson Tide). Music is by Academy Award
Nominee Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders (3:10 to Yuma), and
sound design by Academy Award Nominee Paul N.J. Ottosson
(Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3).
In the summer of 2004, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony
Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) of
Bravo Company are at the volatile center of the war, part of
a small counterforce specifically trained to handle the
homemade bombs, or Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), that
account for more than half of American hostile deaths and
have killed thousands of Iraqis. A high-pressure,
high-stakes assignment, the job leaves no room for mistakes,
as they learn when they lose their team leader on a mission.
When Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) takes over
the team, Sanborn and Eldridge are shocked by what seems
like his reckless disregard for military protocol and basic
safety measures. And yet, in the fog of war, appearances are
never reliable for long. Is James really a swaggering cowboy
who lives for peak experiences and the moments when the
margin of error is zero or is he a consummate professional
who has honed his esoteric craft to high-wire precision? As
the fiery chaos of Baghdad swirls around them, the men
struggle to understand and contain their new leader long
enough for them to make it home. They have only 38 days left
in their tour of Iraq, but with each new mission comes
another deadly encounter, and as James blurs the line
between bravery and bravado, it seems only a matter of time
before disaster will strike.
With a visual and emotional intensity that makes audiences
feel like they have been transported to Iraq¹s dizzying,
24-hour turmoil, The Hurt Locker is both a tense portrayal
of real-life sacrifice and heroism, and a probing look at
the soul-numbing rigors and potent allure of the modern
battlefield.
© Summit Entertainment. All
rights reserved
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