How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from The Hurt Locker.
Quote #1
"The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug"—Chris Hedges.
This is the quote that appears at the beginning of the film. The rest of the words end up fading away until just "war is a drug" remains. Hmm, how can someone get addicted to war? Guess we're about to find out...
Quote #2
SANBORN: Welcome to Bravo Company. Welcome to Camp Victory.
WILL: Camp Victory? I thought this was Camp Liberty.
SANBORN: Oh, no, they changed that about a week ago. Victory sounds better.
Hmm, wonder why the powers that be thought that victory was more important to emphasize than liberty in naming the camp? Sounds like there are some politics going on in the war zone.
Quote #3
WILL: That wasn't so bad, our first time working together. What do you think?
SANBORN: Huh. I think us working together means I talk to you, and you talk to me.
WILL: We going on a date, Sanborn?
SANBORN: No, we're going on a mission, and my job is to keep you safe so we can keep going on missions.
WILL: It's combat, buddy.
ELDRIDGE [aside, to Sanborn]: Hey, it's just 39 days.
SANBORN: Thirty-eight if we survive today.
Even though Sanborn and Eldridge try to be welcoming of the new guy, they don't love the way their first mission together goes. Will isn't exactly a safety first kind of guy, and Sanborn and Eldridge are already doubting his ability to lead them safely through dicey situations...and their job is basically all dicey situations.
Quote #4
COLONEL: You the guy in the flaming car, Sergeant James?
WILL: Afternoon, sir. Uh, yes, sir.
COLONEL: Well, that's just hot s***. You're a wild man, you know that? He's a wild man, you know that? I want to shake your hand.
WILL: Thank you, sir.
COLONEL: Yeah. How many bombs have you disarmed?
WILL: Uh, I'm not quite sure.
COLONEL: Sergeant?
WILL: Yes, sir.
COLONEL: I asked you a question.
WILL: Eight hundred seventy-three, sir.
COLONEL: Eight hundred! And seventy-three. Eight hundred and seventy-three. That's just hot s***. Eight hundred and seventy-three.
WILL: Counting today, sir, yes.
COLONEL: That's gotta be a record. What's the best way to go about disarming one of these things?
WILL: The way you don't die, sir.
COLONEL: That's a good one. That's spoken like a wild man. That's good.
Sanborn and Eldridge might not be impressed with Will's approach to navigating the war zone, but Colonel Reed more than makes up for their lack of enthusiasm. He's loving Will's cowboy attitude.
Quote #5
CAMBRIDGE: You know, this doesn't have to be a bad time in your life. Going to war is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It could be fun.
ELDRIDGE: And you know this from your extensive work in the field, right?
CAMBRIDGE: I've done my field duty.
ELDRIDGE: Where was that? Yale?
CAMBRIDGE: Look, you don't want me to come around, I won't come around. These talks are voluntary.
ELDRIDGE: Look, I'm sorry. I appreciate what you're saying, I do. I appreciate our sessions together. But you need to come out from behind the wire and see what we do.
CAMBRIDGE: Well, if the circumstance calls for it, I will. Just like every other soldier.
Hmm, yeah, we can understand why Eldridge might bristle at the suggestion that he should be having fun with the whole could-get-blown-up-at-any-moment experience of working EOD. The doc tries to say that he's done his field duty, but somehow we don't think he understands the constant fear and risk that Eldridge experiences.
Quote #6
BECKHAM: You're an EOD? Boomala, boomala?
WILL: That's right.
BECKHAM: It's fun, no? It's cool? It's gangster. Yeah?
WILL: Yeah, I think so.
Will is basically the opposite of Eldridge, in terms of his attitude about service and combat. Even if he doesn't use the word "fun" like Cambridge does, he agrees with Beckham's choices of "cool" and "gangster."
Quote #7
ELDRIDGE: Well, yes, sir, Sergeant James, sir. You're not very good with people, are you, sir? But you're a good warrior. Give me your mug.
Finally, Eldridge, Will, and Sanborn are getting along. They got through a difficult mission together unscathed, so now they are drinking and getting to know each other better. Apparently nothing bonds you like making it through a situation like that alive.
Quote #8
WILL: Some guy drove his truck into the middle of an Iraqi market, starts passing out free candies. All the kids coming running up, the families and stuff. He detonates. They're saying 59 are dead. You know they need more bomb techs.
CONNIE: You want to chop those up for me?
When Will makes it back home at the end of Bravo's rotation, he still can't stop thinking about what's going on back in Iraq. He tries to talk about it with his wife, and he seems interested in going back ("they need more bomb techs")—but she's not having any of it.