The Hurt Locker, directed by Kathryn Bigelow and winner of six Academy Awards, demonstrated the lives of soldiers in and out of war and the lasting effects combat has on their lives. Jeremy Renner, as Sergeant William James, plays the main character of the film followed by the supporting actors, Anthony Mackie as Sergeant Sanborn and Brian Geraghy ​​as Specialist Eldridge. With the increasing threat of terrorist attacks in the twenty-first century, the ideas discussed in this article are representative of the growing need to understand the psychological effects that war has on soldiers. The Hurt Locker film review, along with war-related literature, focuses on war as a form of addiction and analyzes how the brutality of war disrupts the lives of individuals on both sides of the social conflict. In this combat film, the plot is based on an Explosive Ordinance Disposal Team (EOD) during the Iraq War in 2004. The soldiers are responsible for disarming enemy explosives placed throughout the city. The plot is built around Sergeant James' demonstrative behavior and how his attitude and actions put him and his team in constant danger. Sergeant James, called the "Wildman" in the film due to his record of dismantling 873 bombs during the war, enters Victory Army Camp as head of the EOD unit. James, in consideration of his job, is quoted as saying "it's just fighting" and appears to ignore the danger. Through the story of these three men, director Bigelow created images of soldiers fulfilling their duty, depicting the consequences war has on the psyche of each of these men. The exhilaration of war seen in the character of Sergeant James represented the social issue faced by the fighting soldiers. ...... half of the paper ......). A war correspondent tries to make sense of what he saw. Nieman Reports. 56, (4), 95.Bigelow, K., Boal, M., Chartier, N., & Shapiro, G. (producers), & Bigelow, K. (director).(2008). The wounded locker. [Moving image]. United States: Voltaggio Pictures.Daly, N. (2009). Works in progress. The American Interest, 5(1), 96-98. Retrieved July 10, 2011. Eitzen, D.S., Zinn, M., Smith, K. (2011). Social problems. Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc. RTI International. (2008). Department of Defense survey of health-related behaviors among active-duty military personnel. Retrieved from www.tricare.mil/2008SurveyQ&As.pdfTanielian, T. (2009). Assessing combat exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder in troops and estimating costs to society: Implications of the RAND study on the invisible wounds of war. Retrieved from http://www.rand.org/pubs/testimonies/CT321