'Hurt Locker': Exaggerations rankle some Veterans
The hit movie ‘Hurt Locker’ is up for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The movie depicts what members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD, face as they struggle to keep themselves and their fellow soldiers safe from IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, despite the movie’s popularity, it faces stiff criticism from veterans who say the movie does not accurately reflect the reality soldiers face on a daily basis. NPR has more:
“The idea that you’d put yourself in so much unnecessary danger is not only irresponsible, it’s reckless, and that’s really not what our EOD techs do,” he says.
Henry Engelhardt liked the portrayal of James. He remembers guys just like him from when he served as a bomb disposal expert in Vietnam. He now runs the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Association.
“Usually the ones that were fast and loose didn’t last long,” says Engelhardt. “They were either killed or moved on to somewhere else.”
‘Screaming At The Screen’
Engelhardt says that in the movie, James looks like he knows what he’s doing — except for one scene. When James grabs a cable and pulls, seven artillery shells come up out of the ground all wired together, surrounding him. James starts to cut the wires, one at a time. But that’s not the right procedure, says Engelhardt.
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