The strength of “The Hurt Locker” lies in its primary adherence to the day to day patrolling that could at any moment lead to a soldier being blown apart. The challenge is to spot planted bombs and then riskily defuse them, all the while being potential targets of snipers. Furthermore, there is no misplaced idealism here. The men work in a hellhole doing a thankless task with minimal expectation of survival in the brutal conditions into which they have been sent.

Risky contact with the local population is depicted. Who is the enemy? Can an Iraqi driver of a car be trusted? What about those watching from rooftops? Death waits at every moment.

Director Bigelow and editors Bob Murawski and Chris Innis have done a superb job escalating the intensity, but a major element in the success is the screenplay by Mark Boal, which gives us flesh and blood characters. The two most impressive are William James, played at award-caliber level by Jeremy Renner. James is a hot-shot daredevil who boldly takes chances from which others would shy. It is as if he is unafraid to die, yet with a cockiness about him that assumes a charmed life. He is also rebellious as far as military discipline goes. Fortunately, we eventually see another, more intimate side of him.

There is also J. T. Sanborn, an African American, who has more discipline and emotional solidity, and Anthony Mackie gives another award-caliber performance in portraying him. James and Sanborn are very different, yet bound together by their efforts to do their job and survive and the need to respect one another. Others in this Delta Company also come across as very convincing, as does Bigelow’s searing achievement of making us feel as if we are there with these men. There are some scenes of almost unbearable tension, as well as macho interaction when the men are off duty and turning their violent training against one another for amusement.

Moments of humanity intrude on the action, serving to show up the basic inhumanity of the situation. The film suggests the home life of the men through their conversations that help define them. It is probably a mistake to go at one point to the actual home relationship of James, as the film’s power lies in shutting out nearly everything else but the daily dangers. Yet that segment does have a purpose of making one think about how on earth one can expect anyone who has been through such terror to return to normalcy when the fighting is over