95
Metascore
37 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe result is an intense, action-driven war pic, a muscular, efficient standout that simultaneously conveys the feeling of combat from within as well as what it looks like on the ground.
- 100TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissA near-perfect movie about men in war, men at work. Through sturdy imagery and violent action, it says that even Hell needs heroes.
- 100The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyA small classic of tension, bravery, and fear, which will be studied twenty years from now when people want to understand something of what happened to American soldiers in Iraq. If there are moviegoers who are exhausted by the current fashion for relentless fantasy violence, this is the convincingly blunt and forceful movie for them.
- 100The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThere's something about this story, and this war, that brings out the stripped-down conceptual artist in her (Bigelow): Against blank canvases of desert sand and rubble, explosive wires are linked to nerve ends, and everything that matters depends on the twitch of a muscle or a finger on a button.
- 100Village VoiceScott FoundasVillage VoiceScott FoundasA full-throttle body shock of a movie. It gets inside you like a virus, puts your nerves in a blender, and twists your guts into a Gordian knot.
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe Hurt Locker might be the first Iraq-set film to break through to a mass audience because it doesn't lead with the paralysis of the guilt-ridden Yank. The horror is there, but under the rush.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungTensely action-packed and muscularly directed by Kathryn Bigelow, this tale of an elite U.S. army bomb disposal unit in Baghdad is a familiar story in new clothes, targeted at the young male demographic.
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliThis is a tense, well-crafted motion picture that keeps viewers on edge. It's an exhausting 130 minutes; many viewers will leave the theater feeling drained.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversHere's the Iraq War movie for those who don't like Iraq War movies.
- 60VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyBoal's script stirs a little of everything into the pot, which boils down into seven setpieces divided by brief intervals of camaraderie/conflict among the three protags.