1) Product Description
An intimate portrait of modern heroism and the importance of family during turbulent times, Brothers at War tells the story of Jake Rademacher as he sets out to understand the experience, sacrifice, and motivation of his two brothers serving in Iraq. The film follows Jake s exploits as he risks everything including his life to tell his brothers story and document the courage and integrity of the American soldier.

2) Amazon.com
The making of honest action movies has become so rare that Kathryn Bigelow's magnificent The Hurt Locker was shown mostly in art cinemas rather than multiplexes. That's fine; the picture is a work of art. But it also delivers more kinetic excitement, more breath-bating suspense, more putting-you-right-there in the danger zone than all the brain-dead, visually incoherent wrecking derbies hogging mall screens. Partly it's a matter of subject. The movie focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the guys whose more or less daily job is to disarm the homemade bombs that have accounted for most U.S. casualties in Iraq. But even more, the film's extraordinary tension derives from the precision and intelligence of Bigelow's direction. She gets every sweaty detail and tactical nuance in the close-up confrontation of man and bomb, while keeping us alert to the volatile wraparound reality of an ineluctably foreign environment--hot streets and blank-walled buildings full of onlookers, some merely curious and some hostile, perhaps thumbing a cellphone that could become a trigger. This is exemplary moviemaking. You don't need CGI, just a human eye, and the imagination to realize that, say, the sight of dust and scale popped off a derelict car by an explosion half a block away delivers more shock value than a pixelated fireball. The setting may be Iraq in 2004, but it could just as well be Thermopylae; The Hurt Locker is no "Iraq War movie." Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal--who did time as a journalist embed with an EOD unit--align themselves with neither supporters nor opponents of the U.S. involvement. There's no politics here. War is just the job the characters in the movie do. One in particular, the supremely resourceful staff sergeant played by Jeremy Renner, is addicted to the almost nonstop adrenaline rush and the opportunity to express his esoteric, life-on-the-edge genius. The hurt locker of the title is a box he keeps under his bunk, filled with bomb parts and other signatory memorabilia of "things that could have killed me." That none of it has killed him so far is no real consolation. In this movie, you never know who's going to go and when; even high-profile talent (we won't name names here) is no guarantee. But one thing can be guaranteed, and that is that almost every sequence in the movie becomes a riveting, often fiercely enigmatic set piece. This is Kathryn Bigelow's best film since 1987's Near Dark. It could also be the best film of 2009. --Richard T. Jameson

1) Unrealistic military action scenes   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
In reality this would happen:- the bomb squad would be protected by other military squads while disarming the bomb- bombs are almost always being blown up or disarmed/destroyed by a robot, not by the bombsuit guy unnecessary risking his life- the carbomb should have been blown up instead of being disarmed (and risking your life)- chasing bad guys at night, in unknown territory, in small alleys and by yourself is suicide- bombsquad guys getting in a sniper battle and winning? Not likely, they should have called in an airstrike or artillery- the crazy taxidriver would have been blown away long before he came close- walking alone at night in Iraq is a sure way to find yourself in a homevideo getting decapitatedGood story, good acting but I cringed at the action scenes

2) "War's dirty little secret is that some men love it...   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
...I'm trying to unpack why, to look at what it means to be a hero in the context of 21st-century combat." Kathryn Bigelow, director/producerThe Hurt Locker (2008) - The Hurt Locker is one of the best movies from last year and for me, it is the most deserving nominee for Best Picture of the year of five that I have seen so far. The director, Kathryn Bigelow who is known for making the dazzling, dynamic, intelligent and intense action movies, feels at home in the very manly world of directing war film. The Hurt Locker that has been universally praised by the critics and the audiences since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2008 may make a history if Bigelow wins the Best Directing Oscar coming March 7th but even if it won't happen, The Hurt Locker has already found its place in history as the remarkable and to the date the best film of the war in Iraq. It does not explore why we are there and who is responsible for the war. It just places us "inside", along with three main characters, the members of a bomb squad as they go about their daily business, doing their most dangerous and unforgiving job in the world, trying to survive the last 39 days of their rotation. The effect of the total immersion was achieved by Bigelow and Barry Ackroyd, the cinematographer (United 93) by using multiple S16mm cameras to capture multiple perspectives. The Hurt Locker is based on accounts of Mark Boal, a freelance journalist who was embedded with an American bomb squad in the war in Iraq where he would go with the members 10 to 15 times a day to watch their tasks very closely. Based on his experiences, his screen play the fictional retelling of the real events He said of the film's goal that the creators wanted to show the experiences of the soldiers that we'd never see on the daily news. I believe that director and screenwriter, as well as everyone involved in the making of The Hurt Locker have achieved their goals. The result is an unforgettable filmIt is remarkable that the film's more famous actors (Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, and David Morse) only show up for a short cameo leaving Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty to carry movie on their own. All three do an amazing job. Jeremy Renner, relatively un-known becomes a real center of the film and turns a star making performance. With the face far from a typical cinema hero, he becomes a true hero of the film, the guy who by the words of his younger comrade is not good with people but a great warrior, confident, cool, good at his deadly job, always having it done. It is about him, the epigraph to the film says, war is drug for he is addicted to the rush that only combat can give him. I found the film absolutely riveting, gripping, and intense. It is amazingly shot, the pace is perfect, and the action scenes executed masterfully. It also works as the characters study of the men at war and how the war affects them.

3) Its OK. Not bad. But oscar nominee or movie of the decade?   [Rating: 3 out of 5]
This is a movie about 3 US soldiers in the streets of Bagdad during their last month of rotation in the bomb squad.Its a good movie. I liked it. I wasnt unhappy that I rented it. I might have even given it four stars had it not been for the massive amounts of 5 star hype this movie was getting.Note to the marketing people - sometimes you can kill your pet project by promising too much. If you brag your coffee, which is really in fact the best tasting coffee in the world - can cure cancer. Guess what? People completely forget about the good taste and just bash your product because its all BS that it can cure cancer.So stop with the movie of the decade. Stop with the oscar nominee most deserving BS. just stop it. This movie has been made at least 4 times this decade. with another 3 or 4 cable tv stories to go with it. This movie is not unique. HOWEVER, ITS A GOOD MOVIE. WELL Made. Good acting. and thats good enough.

4) Wow. Still thinking about this 24hrs later.   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
Not going to reiterate what has been said already, but at every level this is a great piece of film-making.It does not preach. One scene after another, it is simply relentless. If you have never been to countries like Iraq that have shattered infrastructures then you will experience the dust, filth, garbage, pollution, danger and insanity of the situation our soldiers face. Always thought bomb disposal people have to be strange. Why would anyone do it? I urge you to read the novel "Eight lives down."This story is about a lot of things and has been brilliantly put together.A thinking person will not forget it in a hurry, and for that alone , well done.

5) View from the other side   [Rating: 5 out of 5]
I bought this DVD because I had just read Riverbend's book "Baghdad Burning" from the Iraqi's perspective of the US invasion, and now I wanted to see it from our military's perspective. This is a wonderful take on the special unit in Iraq who disarm bombs. I thought the director Kathryn Bigelow and the writer Mark Boal did a wonderful job of showing the desperation and the urgency of this special unit. The acting was superb and there was never a dull moment in this wonderful movie. (I normally HATE war movies!) I think people need to remember that this is a movie and not a documentary. As such, there's bound to be inaccuracies. In order to make any movie that'll keep the audience's attention, you need to exaggerate the situation. That's just Hollywood.This movie is apolitical and does not glorify the military or the war. It is great take on the psychology of our soldiers in Iraq. I think what I took away from this movie was an understanding of the soldiers' mindset and the appreciation of the decision they made. As much as I loved Bigelow's ex-hubby's movie "Avatar", I think she might win Oscar for Best Director for this movie. Like a fine wine, this movie lingered on even when the credits were rolling. The movie was THAT good!