on second thought- I do think anyone could see "The Hurt Locker" as an anti-war movie, but I like that it does not feel like that is the director's intention. I don't know, it could be Katheryn Bigelow's intention, but someone else wrote the book. Simply put, I like that it's not an over-dramatized, message movie (like some Oliver Stone films) that feel like an agenda being forced down your throat. We're not as stupid as alot of film makers think we are. We don't always need to be told how to feel. As one of my best literature professors put it- show, don't tell. This movie lets you decide your opinion of war, and of the soldiers in it. They don't sit around and write poetry in their head like in "The Thin Red Line" (a great movie), or do alot of playing poker and drinking beer while thinking of home. The characters are in a war, and they act like it. You will feel like you are a soldier at their side seeing what they have to see.