During filming, three, four or more hand-held super 16mm cameras were used to film scenes in documentary style. Nearly two hundred hours of footage was shot at an eye-popping 100:1 shooting ratio (a higher ratio of expended film than the notorious Francis Ford Coppola epic, Siu dienu apokalipse (1979)).
It was James Cameron who convinced his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow to direct this film. She originally had planned on doing another project and wasn't sure about doing this film. Cameron read it and told her to do this film, and it ended up earning her an Oscar nomination and award for Best Director. In fact, the film was nominated in nine categories against Cameron's Isikunijimas (2009), and won six awards, including Best Picture. Cameron himself had said, "I wouldn't bet against her."
The expression "the hurt locker" is a preexisting slang term for a situation involving trouble or pain, which can be traced back to the Vietnam War. According to the movie's website, it is soldier vernacular in Iraq to speak of explosions as sending you to "the hurt locker."
Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award, the BAFTA, and the DGA for Best Director, with this film. This is also the first film to win Best Picture that was directed by a woman.
With a small $12 million domestic box office gross, this is the lowest grossing Best Picture winner ever since box office results were regularly counted even without adjusting for inflation. Best picture winners from the 1960s have even out grossed Isminuotoju burys (2008) quite significantly. The film had actually closed by the time of the Oscars, which tend to boost the film's numbers. It was the use of DVD screeners, rentals and significant campaigning that lead to its win for the prize over the highest grossing film of all time Isikunijimas (2009).
Jordan is such a safe location that the actors didn't want to have bodyguards, as was first intended. There was no Jordanian military acting as security for the film. Security, set dressing and onset, was provided by a private company.
James Cameron said about ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's film, "I think this could be the Burys (1986) for the Iraq War." Subsequently, the film became the first modern-war film since Platoon to win Best Picture.
The robot featured in the first scene is an HD-1 ANDROS, built by the Remotec division of Northrup Grumman for counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Device) missions. Several of the shots in the first scene are video from the HD-1's camera.
First dramatic feature film about the Iraq War to win an Academy Award. First post-Vietnam War movie about a modern war to win the Best Picture Academy Award. First war movie to win the Best Picture Academy Award since Anglas ligonis (1996). First war movie to win a Best Director Academy Award since Roman Polanski's Pianistas (2002).
Kathryn Bigelow's Best Director Oscar statuette was presented to her by Barbra Streisand (7 March 2010 at the Kodak Theatre). After reading the nominees and opening the envelope, Streisand, aware of the result's historical significance, remarked, "Well, the time has come, " before triumphantly announcing Bigelow as the winner.
Third Best Picture winner (along with Crash (2004) and Kasablanka (1942)) to have originally premiered in the year before it qualified for Academy Awards consideration.
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