As pulsating/intense as Zero Dark Thirty + American Sniper?

I thought Lone Survivor was more intense than American Sniper

Hurt Locker is the best, but Zero Dark Thirty is a very close second. American Sniper was okay, but a bit over-melodramatic for my tastes (regardless of how much I love the story.)

Jeremy Renner in Hurt Locker is a great performance, he's the intangible that puts it on top imo.

"I do not like mixing up moralities and mathematics."
Churchill

Not to attack anyone for liking these movies but it is just a shame these 3 are popular as they are 3 of the most unpleasant. Zero dark thirty was almost entirely fictional propaganda spoon fed by the CIA, it tries to insinuate torture had something to do with the kill mission on OBL despite being caught out multiple times on the issue. American sniper glorifies and humanises a monster who certainly killed unarmed civilians he held in contempt in order to boost his kill count for bragging rights, lied about fellow soldiers when they were no longer around to give their side and made up dumb stories about veterans with different politics to improve book sales, despite it ruining their relationship with fellow SEALs. The man, in his own words, had none of the humanity of the movie character. Out of all the heroes, why they were ignored to make a propaganda movie about a scumbag is hard to understand, except for Eastwoods hard right swing lately in his personal politics, they even threw in the shot of 9/11 to try make out that Saudi terrorists and the invasion of Iraq had any link.

Then you have this mess of a movie that falls apart about the time of the Merc's showing up and drifts into lala land, even civilians I know have pointed out how ridiculous half the stuff is. Your rifle is jammed so you sit out exposed in the open to clean it? The sniper who just killed a bunch of you then goes away for a tea break until you finish cleaning your gun? Just to show up again in time to get shot? The bomb techs take up the rifle rather than the ex special forces guys with more experience and training? They consider fragging their team mate then for no apparent reason are teary eyed best buddies at the end? The bomber sits and watches you disarm a bomb, THEN walks towards the trigger after it is too late? The guy not only puts himself in danger but his team by dropping smoke between him and them leaving himself exposed and them blind? He decides to go attack the parents of the kid he thinks is killed despite the fact he would have been their sole provider and they are the least likely suspects? They leave it to the bomb techs to go clear a building after sitting outside for how long? The shrink decides to go wander off and get killed just after soldiers stand around chatting in the middle of a hostile area, acting like they are on R&R in the middle of combat?

This movie was a hot mess, it doesn't show reality of combat at all and had no military advisors. Why make a movie about a group of people without researching those same people for more than 5 minutes.

somewhat of an old thread, but yes, I generally agree with the other comments that if "Zero Dark Thirty" and "American Sniper" are your kind of flavor, then "The Hurt Locker" would be a good bet. I think I may have found "The Hurt Locker" more intense than the other two; I've been able to watch "Zero Dark Thirty" a couple of times, but I haven't been able to finish "The Hurt Locker" the second time around. Somewhat mindless action where there are a bunch of blows to nearly superhuman characters or a bunch of anonymous, average-joe antagonists who die quickly like the Marvel films or Star Wars, I can deal with fairly easily, but the "The Hurt Locker" takes a bit of getting used to.