The Hurt Locker

I haven't written a film review in a while, but I recently saw a film that exceeded my expectations so greatly that I've decided to review it and tell everyone I know to see it. This film is "The Hurt Locker."
"The Hurt Locker" follows a bomb defusing squad in Baghdad in 2004, exposing the psychology behind the "rush of war." The film reveals its intentions with an epigraph before the first scene that focuses on the words: "War is a drug."
James, the new bomb specialist in Bravo Company, has defused 873 bombs in his life and lives for the rush of adrenaline that putting his life on the line delivers. Sanborn, the CO of the group, is an ex-Army Ranger who is cool and calm on the surface but war has destroyed his psyche and grip on life. Eldridge has one goal in Iraq: not to die. The film divides itself by counting down the days left in Bravo Company's rotation, putting the viewer within the mentality of a soldier counting down the days to safety.
Each performance is delivered well by the actors, but the key credit for this film must go to Kathryn Bigelow, the director of the film. Each scene is shot handheld and edited extraordinarily well. "The Hurt Locker" is not only an excellent analysis of the human psyche during war, but is also one of the tensest action thrillers I've ever seen. From the first scene of the film, Bigelow puts the viewer on the edge of the seat. And allow me to rave about the first scene: this is one of the most amazing openings to a film I've ever seen and amazingly the film only gets better as it continues.
This is a war film that has a profound respect for the soldiers it portrays without feeling like an Army recruitment video. "The Hurt Locker" may be the defining war film of our generation, if it generates more attention.