Ironically for one of HollywoodÂ’s most respected female film directors, BigelowÂ’s projects seem to be fascinated with ‘manlinessÂ’.  Most recently, ‘The Hurt LockerÂ’ is one of the most suspenseful war movies ever made. Its protagonists are bomb disposal experts in Iraq whose lives are imploding as traps set for them explode without prejudice.

She also directed Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze as adrenaline pumping masculine cops and robbers in ‘Point Break’, guided Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson in the male-only submarine thriller ‘K-19 The Widowmaker’ and a seedy Ralph Fiennes in the sci-fi thriller ‘Strange Days’ but it’s this war movie that tops them all.