Ah, yes, you might be wondering what the title means, right? Well, we're kind of stealing our own thunder here since this really belongs in the "What's Up With the Title?" section, but when there's a symbol in the title, we don't really have a choice, now do we?

There's no rock-solid definition of what a "hurt locker" is, but it basically refers to a state of agony or injury. We'll save some more history on the term for the later section, but the bottom line is: it's a state you want to avoid.

Even though the characters themselves never use the term in the film, the concept is there throughout—like, for example, in the whole notion of a "kill zone," which is defined as fatal proximity to a bomb. We hear the term at the beginning of the film when Sanborn is talking Thompson through his approach to a bomb:

THOMPSON: Twenty-five.

SANBORN: Twenty-five meters, roger that. You are now in the kill zone.

THOMPSON: Thanks for reminding me.

SANBORN: That's what I'm here for, baby.

The soldiers are constantly trying to figure out how to keep themselves and civilians out of the "kill zone"—or, you know, "hurt locker." Which is why the title is so very appropriate.

But then again, aren't they already in a hurt locker? Living through wartime, being in battle, seeing people die all over the place—that sounds pretty bad, right? So maybe there's more than one hurt locker in this film, after all.