Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Point Break) directs this documentary-style account of US bomb disposal specialists in Iraq.

Hotshot sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) arrives to take charge of a small three-man team of army specialists in the middle of a terrifying war zone. James immediately clashes with his subordinates, Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), as his reckless attitude puts all their lives in danger.

Filmed in Jordan from a script by journalist Mark Boal, who was embedded with a special bomb unit, The Hurt Locker achieves an astonishingly level of authenticity. In war-torn Iraq, every side street is a potential ambush, every pile of rubbish could be hiding a bomb, and every man on a mobile phone could be about to trigger a fireball of death and destruction.

In this hellish environment, the bomb disposal squad have the most stressful job of all. The film follows the work of these elite soldiers from one nerve-shredding set piece to another, jacking up the tension to fever pitch. The most intense sequence of all, however, has nothing to do with bombs but in fact sees the three specialists caught in an attack in the desert.

Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes are given prominence in the film’s publicity but in fact have only fleeting roles. Credit is due is to the largely unknown actors who play the mismatched trio. Renner especially gives a standout performance as his character twists and warps under the colossal pressure. James’s personality feeds off the adrenaline of war, and his destructive path leaves the audience in little doubt that he will eventually make a widow of his loyal wife (Lost’s Evangeline Lily).

The film’s final third is a little contrived, as the soldiers’ risky exploits veer from reckless to downright absurd, but the tension rarely lets up. The Hurt Locker is a visceral, gut-churning experience that commendably avoids politics. This is about a very specific job performed by men whose motives for risking their lives again and again are often unclear – even to themselves.