HOLLYWOOD - Iraq war movie "The Hurt Locker" won the Oscar for best picture at the 82nd Academy Awards Sunday, scooping a total of six golden statuettes at the glittering ceremony here.

The award came just after its director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman in history to win the Oscar for best director.

The tension-filled low-budget film about a US Army bomb disposal unit was the strong favorite after winning several awards leading into the Oscars.

The film finished top of an expanded field of best picture contenders which included science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar," the highest-grossing movie in history with more than 2.5 billion dollars in earnings.

Other nominees included sports drama "The Blind Side," Quentin Tarantino's bloody World War Two revenge fantasy "Inglourious Basterds" and Pixar's animated hit "Up."

South Africa set science-fiction film "District 9," independent drama "An Education," Joel and Ethan Coen's "A Serious Man," recession-era dramedy "Up In the Air," and the harrowing "Precious" were also nominated.