Kathryn Bigelow's compelling fact-based, Iraq-set bomb disposal drama was scripted by journalist Mark Boal, drawing on his experiences while embedded with a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team in 2004.
The focus is on the complex characters making up Bravo Company, who disable and destroy improvised explosive devices. The days are ticking down to the end of the bomb squad's tour, but their role puts the team in harm's way around the clock. And it doesn't help that one of the team is addicted to risk taking and pays scant attention to standard procedure, putting other lives in danger, as well as his own. The Hurt Locker provides a tense glimpse into the lives of these extraordinary men, and also probes the various psychologies of people whose job could kill them at any moment, as well as - briefly - exploring how they cope once away from their adrenaline-soaked vocation.
The Hurt Locker is a Film programme that first aired in 2008 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
