#15: The Hurt Locker

"War is a drug." That's how it all begins. Nobody is waxing poetic or giving wise quotes here. And that's what sets The Hurt Locker apart as a war movie. It moves away from some of the cliches of the genre, opting for a tension filled film that somehow makes the expanse of the desert feel claustrophobic.

The film follows Staff Sgt. William James and his crew as they travel from bomb site to bomb site, each more dangerous and with higher stakes than the last. The tension filled sequences keep the viewer on the edge of their seat each and every time.

Kathryn Bigelow does stellar work directing the film, keeping the viewer connected to the action throughout. Similar to Zero Dark Thirty in that the action is simultaneously and uniquely intimate yet grand, The Hurt Locker gives questionable actions a trial by fire.

James is in no way a war hero, but an expert in his own right. In a career-best performance by Jeremy Renner, the dangers of the job consume the character in a tantalizing fashion that is hard to look away from. Every scene might be the last, and that's what gives the film its edge.

An intimate, sand-caked war movie that is among the best of its kind, The Hurt Locker is a film for the ages. A tense thrill-ride through a series of desert set pieces, the film will leave you exhausted, but ready to see more.