Many filmmakers have tried to capture war in its raw pure form, to capture the horror and depravity of the battlefield. Kathryn Bigelow attempted to capture this human event in her film The Hurt Locker, working from the simple yet potent thesis purported in the first moment of the movie: “War is a drug”.

Released last June and recently out on DVD, The Hurt Locker creates what our generation has been lacking- a film to represent the horror of our recent conflict. Vietnam had Apocalypse Now, Somalia had Black Hawk Down. But Bigelow treads in a previously unexplored section of war, that of those who dispose of the residue of bombings, those who risk their life and limb on every mission diffusing bombs, the EOD teams.

Written by Mark Boal, an embedded reporter, the film follows three members of an EOD team in their stay in Iraq, capturing a team coping with the stress of having to gamble with death every time they go on a mission. The group slowly comes to terms both with the death around them and the growing tension of having a gung-ho new teammate who is more interested in the adrenaline rush of disabling a car bomb than the survival of his team.

Without giving away too much of the story, I will say that the movie truly captures the inglorious, grim, modern view of war; nowhere in this film will you see soldiers charging a Nazi-controlled hill and raising an American flag. It is this stark realism that carries the film. Things simply seem real, and the characters never behave like actors. You see them as people with real sweat, real fear, in a real city.

If you expect to see a war film with a Private Ryan-esque ending battle, or a film with the humor of Full Metal Jacket, don’t watch this film. The Hurt Locker is an emotional hurricane which will cause everyone to leave the film in a daze (save those rare individuals who are hardened beyond belief). It is not, I repeat, it is not a happy film. Then again, there is no sad ending either; there is simply a moment when you return to the thesis of the film and accept it with grim satisfaction.

Though none of the actors are well-known, all deliver their performance with unfaltering grace. From the conflicted adrenaline junkie to the refugee, trapped in an explosive vest and begging for his life, never do you doubt the authenticity of the emotion. Where most movies have a moment where the illusion crafted in front of you falters, and a cheeseball line slips from an actor’s mouth, The Hurt Locker makes you believe that what you are seeing is actual documentary footage.

Many people dislike watching the grim realities of our world, seeing the portrayal of less happy aspects of humanity. These people will hate The Hurt Locker. If you can handle intensity and appreciate reality, watch The Hurt Locker and pray it gets the Best Picture Academy Award it so thoroughly deserves.

Score: A+