Hacksaw ridge plot. Hacksaw ridge plot

Hacksaw Ridge | Review Win Tix

Thanks to a work friend of mine I managed to score a ticket to walk the red carpet and attend the Australian premiere of HACKSAW RIDGE. The bonus of this was I would also get to attend the premiere with Mel Gibson, Hugo Weaving, Sam Neill, Teresa Palmer, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Bracey and a swag of talent in this epic casted film. It was a sublime evening in the iconic State Theatre and our seats were about six rows from the front. Speeches from Neill and Gibson will remain a highlight of my movie critic career. The only thing missing that would have made this movie perfect was if the star of the movie, a huge crush of mine, Andrew Garfield, had attended. Oddly in none of the speeches was Garfield even mentioned. Regardless of his absence – bravo on a superb evening where I even donned a suit.

Hacksaw Ridge: Doss earns everyone’s respect

You can wear a suit to your screening also if you so choose, it is releasing in Australian cinemas on November 3rd. It is rated MA15 and runs for 131mins.

HACKSAW RIDGE PLOT:

HACKSAW RIDGE is the Hollywood version of the true story of Desmond Doss. WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa (at Hacksaw Ridge), refused to kill people and became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor.

After a brutal battle with the Japanese most of the men lay injured, dying or dead, those who could, fled for their lives back into retreat. Doss remained throughout the night rescuing each man he could find, at major risk to his life. Each one he found he had to lower down a cliff-face to awaiting men who took the injured off to a hospital without even knowing who was sending the men down. When asked how many lives he saved, he approximated 50. However individuals that witnessed the heroic event said it was closer to 100. The mutual agreement was reached at approximately 75.

MEL GIBSON:

The man is a living legend to me. To merely be in his presence I was on the edge of losing my shit Rigg’s style. We share a similar beard and a few of my friends have started calling me Mel since my photos of the premiere went online. As you can imagine I love this. Regardless of his personal life, personal demons and views on religion his movies are always exceptional. His acting is as good as his directing and this year sees the full return of Gibson to form with his acting in BLOOD FATHER proceeding HACKSAW RIDGE by mere months.

Gibson’s direction is near flawless, being an actor himself he is an actor’s director and manages to get the most out of them. Viewing Gibson on stage with the cast you can see they all respected, loved him even. His ability to give even small characters an emotional depth is powerful and has been in his films since day dot. He was approached over a twelve year span to direct HACKSAW RIDGE and turned it down several times until one day he said yes and turned out what you can now see.

And one thing Gibson does nearly better than anyone else on film…………violence. Realistic, blood curdling, heart wrenching, brutality. BRAVEHEART, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, APOCALYPTO – all of these movies have scenes that make your breath hold. Scenes that take the evil of man to new heights. And then he tops them with the war scenes in HACKSAW RIDGE.

THE CAST:

The cast is huge, the cast is epic, the cast is phenomenal. Not one person lets the movie down. The weird part about the casting. It is about an American war Hero and the movie stars one American, one Englishman and the rest is entirely Australian. And this American character movie that is mostly set in America and Japan is shot entirely in NSW, Australia.

I see three Oscar nominations for HACKSAW RIDGE. One will definitely go to Andrew Garfield for his performance as Desmond Doss (sadly he won’t win), another will go to both Hugo Weaving as Doss’s father. Weaving’s performance is smaller than the rest of the cast but it is easily the most powerful. And, as usual, Weaving marvels the audience with ease. The other is a given, unless Hollywood’s elite will hate him until the end of time, Gibson deserves an Oscar nomination for his direction.

Another two performances stole nearly every scene. Firstly, that of Vincent Vaughn as Sergeant Howell. Dry humour, a signature of Vaughn’s, and an incredible presence lit up the screen. Another was one I did not expect. Luke Bracey as Smitty. The Hero, the younger version of Mel Gibson, and while not the Hero of the movie, Smitty was a Hero and his story arc was the most satisfying. Bracey gave his best performance to date and easily made up for the forever painful POINT BREAK remake.

There are so many other actors in this movie and I truly loved all their work but there aren’t enough paragraphs available for this review to continue gushing.

WAR RELIGION:

HACKSAW RIDGE is the most brutal war movie on film. The end. The odd thing about this film that is misleading from the trailer, is that is takes nearly an hour to actually get to war. In no way does this detract from the story. Doss’s back story is import; his family life, and his poor treatment by the military make him the man he is.

There just aren’t many people with the laurels to defy all for their own beliefs. I would’ve told the military to go fuck themselves, I have a short fuse. But Doss refused to give up, and took many-a-beating to do what he thought was needed. It is here where you can see the eventual appeal that took Mel. It is a faith movie, a Christian movie. A movie that says if you give all for God, your path will be laid out for you and he will guide you. The Sixth Commandment – THOU SHALT NOT KILL – is heavily debated in the movie as to where the line is drawn. I am Catholic but non-practicing. I believe in science, like most logical people, but this commandment makes perfect sense. There is no fine print, it is self explanatory. Yet more people have been killed in war because of religion.

SAVING PRIVATE RYAN:

The start of HACKSAW RIDGE is a great build up, and just when you think, will we get to war, it does. And BAM. Once it starts it never relents and there were scenes five minutes long where I had my hand over my mouth. I mumbled “oh fuck” a few times and Gibson designed these scenes to make you bloody uncomfortable. War isn’t pretty, it is fucking pointless, and it is horrific. Everyone I have spoken to about this has asked the same thing, is it more brutal than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN? The answer is yes.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

Basically the last ten to fifteen minutes let this movie down. It is in the trailer. The division won’t go to battle until Doss says a prayer, as it is the Sabbath. From the true Hero we saw at work, doing greatness, we now see a religious figure for the troops. It devalued his greatness, lessened his humble nature. Yes these men were in awe of a man who did wonders but this went too far, it made him iconic and a little cheesy. And then it got worse, to a final scene in which it looks like Doss is raising into the light and become a saint, an angel even. Christian religious subtle agenda. Doss reached enlightenment for his saint-like miracle effort because he did God’s work.

IN CONCLUSION:

Regardless of the Christian undertone, in reality Desmond Doss did perform enough to be considered a Saint in my mind. HACKSAW RIDGE will see Mel back in the A-Game and it will be loved by many, deservedly so. It’s strong points are its cast, its direction and some epic war scenes. Well worth a viewing.

HOW TO WIN DOUBLE PASSES TO SEE HACKSAW RIDGE:

To win one of the ten doubles passes you need to either like and share/ retweet this post on // Google/ / LinkedIn/ Flipboard or Instagram (all the links to follow us are on the top right of homepage). Further to this you then need to leave a comment below stating the answer/s to the following questions:

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I MUST STRESS ORIGINALITY WILL WIN THE PRIZES – YOU NEED TO STAND OUT – IMPRESS THE JUDGES.

If you do not have social media then you can still enter, leave your entry below in the Комментарии и мнения владельцев and then email me at jking@saltypopcorn.com.au telling me you don’t have social media (you still need to enter on the website).

This is a game of skill and selected purely on the thoughts of the judges.

The prizes will be drawn on or before October 29th. Good luck! Oh, and minor housekeeping – huge apologies for overseas readers, this competition is only available to Australian residents.

YOUR REVIEWER:

Jason King owns, writes and edits Salty Popcorn and Spooning Australia. He is a movie, food, restaurant, wine, chocolate, bacon, burger and brussels sprouts addict. He is a member of the Australian Film Critics Association and has been in the Australian movie industry for 26yrs. Furthermore he loves watching people trip over and is Leonardo DiCaprio’s biggest fan.

Images used are courtesy of various sources on Google or direct from the distributor or publisher Credit has been given to photographers where known – images will be removed on request.

Hacksaw ridge plot

Ten years and loads of tabloid covers passed between Mel Gibson’s previous directorial output Apocalypto and Hacksaw Ridge. Hollywood essentially blacklisted him for a decade partly for his deeply anti-Semitic remarks following a DUI arrest in 2006.

Hollywood, like America, loves second chances, and Gibson got one with this story of a man who went to war without fighting.

ONE SENTENCE PLOT SUMMARY: A conscientious objector and Army medic holds onto personal beliefs and saves dozens of lives without firing a shot during one of the bloodiest battles of World War II.

Hero (7/10)

Desmond Doss grew up as crazy as his old man. Fighting’, wrasslin’, gettin’ whoopins, Doss one day knocked his brother out with a brick during a scuffle. It set him straight.

Seeing the power of violence, Doss swears to never do so again. He also has an awakening one day in his early years, when he saves a boy’s life after a car fall on his leg. At the hospital that day he meets a right purty nurse.

Saving a life and meeting a hottie, such a day will change any man’s life. It’s love for that woman, love for his God, and, I guess, love for his country propelling Doss to join the Army and serve in his nation’s greatest hour of need.

Love for God and wife are unquestioned, but it’s the patriotism that remains an open question. As Doss explains to his father, all his buddies were “on fire to join up,” so he did too. Millions of other men felt the same way, joining because it seemed like the right thing to do AND because their buddies would be with them.

That’s certainly why Desmond’s father Tom (Hugo Weaving) joined the fight in World War 1. That war wrecked him, and his fingerprints are all over young Desmond and the movie.

Tom is a drunk who “hates himself,” and takes it out on his family. One day he was angry who who knows what, and he pulled a gun on his wife. Desmond scrambled in at the last moment to point the gun away. Tom fired it anyway, into the roof. No one was harmed, physically, but the moment stuck with Desmond. It was the last time he would touch a weapon.

Doss is a Seventh Day Adventist, a Christian faith with a Saturday Sabbath and a prohibition on violence. Doss has seen the destructive power of violence, and he will join the Army, not to kill, but to save lives. “With the world so set on tearing itself apart,” he says, “it don’t seem like such bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.”

With a sly grin and determined attitude, Doss graduates basic training, thanks only to a last-minute save from a brigadier general Tom Doss fought with. Congress protects the rights of military noncombatants to serve, and Doss will not be kept out of the Army for refusing target practice.

The first half of Hacksaw Ridge follows Doss in America. The second half takes him to the hell of Okinawa, late in the war. The actual battle is covered in later sections, but it’s the moments in between the shooting where Doss shines.

“Lord, help me get one more,” is Doss’s late-night mantra after the first day of battle atop the ridge. That night and next day, Doss rescues more than 80 wounded men, some of them Japanese, and sends them down the ridge to safety.

The movie depicts him working alone throughout the night, under enemy fire, and sending the men downward as if an angel. These actions earned him the Medal of Honor, and unbelievable achievement for a person who never fired a shot in battle.

Andrew Garfield plays Doss with unbridled conviction and a sunny disposition, even in the nastiest of environments. His initial trip to a hospital evokes kid-in-toy-store vibes. Kids don’t grow up to work in toy stores, but they can grow up to become medics covered in blood, as Doss does.

Villain (3/10)

You’d think the Japanese would be the villains, but that’s not true. Hacksaw Ridge poses the Army as the villain, a shocking idea for a World War 2 movie to have.

Doss is ridiculed and fought from day one in the Army. Howell calls him Private Cornstalk. Glover constantly asks him to drop the morals and get with the killing. He calls him “Son,” at least once, as clear a message of condescension as there is between men.

Doss is court-martialed for refusing orders, and he spends time in military jail. His barracks mates beat him bloody several times. Howell tells Doss, “It’s time you quit this.” Glover tells Doss, “Let the brave men go and win this war.”

The brave men do, and Doss is one of them. He never reneges on his beliefs. “It won’t be hard; it’ll be impossible.” That’s Papa Doss about trying to maintain one’s beliefs in a manic war. “If by some miracle chance you survive, you won’t be giving no thanks to God.”

Tom was wrong about Desmond. So were every soldier in the Army, and by movie’s end they all apologize for doubting him. Doss’s story is impressive and admirable, but he’s not like other men. Most folks picked up rifles and shot at their enemies. Many died. Doss did not, but he did suffer tuberculosis, which cost him a lung and five ribs.

Action/Effects (6/10)

The corn syrup budget must have comprised half the cash spent on Hacksaw Ridge. There’s plenty of gore to go around in the movie’s depiction of the siege of Hacksaw Ridge.

The movie’s first half deals with Doss’s trials (one literal trial) and tribulations from pledging to join the army to his deployment on Okinawa. The battle sequences are where the movie makes its mark.

Hacksaw Ridge is depicted as a large plateau on which are hundreds, perhaps thousands of embedded Japanese. Before Doss’s company climbs the ridge, we learn from the relieved unit that six times they tried to advance and six times they were thrown back. It’s the kind of carnage Papa Doss warned his boys about for years.

One day Doss and his brethren climb the rope ladder leading to the ridge. Rarely to people ascend into hell, but that’s what happens here. Blood drips on them from the recently shot.

The attack starts shortly after a naval artillery barrage on the ridge. Glover leads the assault into an area that resembles No Man’s Land. The soldiers walk over bodies, many of them torn in two in creative ways, always with an unhealthy does of guts trickling out like uncased sausage.

The Japanese strike before the smoke clears. Men are shot in the face and head in mid-sentence, beside their friends. A machine gunner is torn in half by bullets. Doss doesn’t wait long to save his first victim.

Smitty has a moment of grit. Pinned down behind a post, he uses the upper half of a dead body as a human shield, killing Japanese holding a crater. Smitty takes that crater.

It’s nasty up there. Gibson does a solid job orienting viewers during the chaos of the battle. Hacksaw Ridge, despite its height, is only a few steps from Hell. With all the pockmarks and rent iron, it’s hard to make sense of the landscape.

Yet the men have a clear objective. After taking an initial beating on the ridge, showing how the men react, the men reach a machine gun bunker. Dozens of Japanese fighters are inside and surround this bunker, and it’s clear the Americans must capture it to capture the ridge.

Howell leads the the attack. The GIs drop mortars and fire a bazooka at the concrete bunker, killing many but not stopping the barrage of bullets. Someone has an explosive device about the size of a backpack, and whoever tosses it inside the bunker will destroy it.

Volunteers creep ahead of the American line, into shell craters and out of sight of the enemy while his buddies lob the explosive pack toward him. One of Doss’s squad mates is the man to lob the device into the bunker. It explodes and rains concrete chunks onto the men.

That’s about it for battle sequences. Hacksaw Ridge is the story of a man who wouldn’t fight, so it does little good to show much fighting. However, those guys have to fight if Doss is to save them, and he spends most of the ensuing night and day doing so.

Credit to the crew for giving the battlefield a hellscape-ishness to it. That ridge could have been any battlefield. Nothing indicated it was on an island, in the Pacific, or that it occurred during World War 2.

Sidekicks (4/8)

Only Dorothy Schutte stands firmly beside her boyfriend/fiancé/husband. She’s a bird person, and into Doss from the get-go, as she agrees to attend a make out movie with him as their first date. When Doss kisses her, she slaps him, saying that he should have asked first.

Nothing wipes away that Doss smile, even when she’s mad at him for enlisting as a medic. He proposes to her at that moment, at her urging, and she agrees, only to say that she loves him but doesn’t like him much right now.

This gal’s got spunk. Unfortunately Hacksaw Ridge is a war movie and Schutte recedes after Doss leaves for basic training. She believes in her man, waiting at the altar for him on the day he’s thrown in jail for disobeying orders. Even her belief wavers. She tells Doss it’s just his pride and stubbornness preventing him from picking up a gun.

Henchmen (1/8)

Hacksaw Ridge has plenty of Japanese to die, and we’ll watch them perish in interesting ways. We know, thanks to the returning troops, that six times the embedded Nipponese have driven back the Yanks. They are formidable, but their days are numbered.

A single American flamethrower kills several Japanese, before one of them shoots the gas tank and explodes the American. Many more Japanese die from bayonet and take many americans in the same manner.

Doss spends a long sequence exploring their intricate tunnel system. We see him wander halls branching and forking and tall enough in which to stand upright. That comes as a surprise and hard to believe.

The Japanese try a dirty trick late in the movie. Haggard, dirty, and threadbare, a group of them raise the white flag. It’s a lie. The men in their underwear light grenades and toss them. Most GIs survive the dastardly attack. Did they try this in the actual battle? I’ll leave that to historians.

Stunts (3/6)

Mel Gibson movies, if you don’t know by now, are gory. He makes violence as if he’s paid by the gallon of gore. Hacksaw Ridge is no exception, of course, as dozens of mangled, red bodies and detached parts are on display, framed with only dirt, the less to distract you with.

You’ll see guys with a leg missing, two legs missing, legs detached, heads shot, and bodies on fire. Many, many bodies are burned by flamethrowers, more so than I believe took place in real life. Helps up the hellishness, though.

Doss does most of his work at night, sneaking around the deserted battlefield. He grabs an injured person and drags or carries him back to the ridge edge, ties him with his special knots, and lowers him dozens of feet to relative safety.

So there’s less stunt work than you might imagine for a war movie. No one is flying planes or driving tanks. A couple of naval barrages, possibly CGI, accompany the attacks. Hand-to-hand combat doesn’t last long either, as men are tired and stab each other with bayonets first chance they get.

That’s fine with me. World War 2 battles were long slogs. Many died from random shots, or were blown up with bombs, grenades, and mortars, of which we see plenty. Soldiers got tired or shot quickly, as is human nature. It’s hard to sustain life-or-death energy for too long.

Climax (1/6)

Doss spends a night alone saving man after man. His hands are bloody from running ropes. (Why not use a shirt on the ropes?) Next morning, he’s showing little signs of fatigue. Few living soldiers are left. One of them is Howell.

Doss approaches his commanding officer hours after first applying a tourniquet to his shot leg. Howell seems no worse for wear, and will probably live to be 95 if he can survive the afternoon. That will be a problem, as a sniper is currently attacking their position.

Howell targets the sniper after the enemy shoots Doss in his helmet, and kills him. Suddenly a bunch of Japanese are onto their position. They have to leave now. Doss asks for Howell’s rifle, the first and only time he’s touched a gun in his Army career.

But not to shoot it. Doss wraps a blanket around the gun, dragging Howell on it, while the latter shoots the approaching Japanese. They aren’t shot, but the enemy is angry. After Doss lets Howell down, he ties himself to a dead body and leaps over the edge as the Japanese approach. Doss’s buddies on below kill the overzealous enemies.

That’s not the end of the movie. The men are ordered to attack again the next day. Problem is, that’s Saturday, Doss’s Sabbath. Will he attack with them? His colleagues, for their part, refuse to fight without Doss their to drag them to safety.

Doss prays about it, and God apparently tells him it’s OK this one time to go into battle on Saturday.

So battle they do. Plenty of slow motion shooting and flame throwing accompanies the battle. We know what Hacksaw Ridge looks like, and Gibson sees little reason to go over it again.

The Japanese wave a white flag and emerge from a crater in their underwear. Turns out it was a dirty trick, as they light grenades and throw them at the surrounding Americans.

Doss is there, and he reacts by roundhouse kicking one lit grenade, which explodes and sends him twirling around. Now, finally, it is Doss’s turn to be dragged away.

And that just about wraps ‘er up. Actual footage ends the movie, showing the real Desmond Doss receiving the only Medal of Honor ever awarded to a conscientious objector. The real Doss speaks about his time in the war, as does the real Glover.

I found these videos the most touching moments of the movie. Perhaps a documentary would have been a better choice to tell this story. Then again, Hacksaw Ridge was up for Best Picture.

Jokes (2/4)

Howell is funny. You’d expect Vince Vaughn to be funny, and he is, but not in the way Vince Vaughn is usually funny. Many raised eyebrows must have accompanied news that Vaughn would play a drill sergeant in a war movie, but he does a fine job.

Nevertheless, he’s the man to hand out nicknames to the sorriest bunch of mud munchers he’s ever seen. The ghoulish-looking guy becomes Ghoul. The naked guy is Hollywood. Doss is dubbed Cornstalk. Good name. “Make sure you keep this man away from strong winds,” he says.

Setting (2/4)

I’ve said plenty about the placelessness of Hacksaw Ridge. I can’t decide if this helps or hurts the movie. I would like some idea of where Okinawa is, but all we get is Glover telling his men that if they take the island they can take Japan. Okinawa’s close by. I get it.

Commentary (2/2)

Is it fair to ask someone else to do your killing for you? Doss several times needs his fellow troops to kill Japanese because he won’t. I think it’s not. I support Doss’s stance of nonviolence, but his commanding officers make good points about the enemy. They won’t lay down their arms because he won’t pick one up.

However, why would Doss serve on the front lines? He’s a medic, and medics need to survive to save the shooters. He never should have been on that ridge during the first charge. Perhaps that’s failed movie logic and not the Army’s misguidedness.

“This is Satan himself we’re fighting.” That’s an Army psychiatrist evaluating Doss’s fitness for duty. The doctor thinks Doss is insane, after making a statement like that.

The doctor exemplifies all the wrong thinking about war. Considering the other side purely evil makes war easy to accept. It continues today and will continue for a long time. It’s why Japan thought it natural and right to attack the United States and invade all the places it invaded. The Axis of Evil shit needs to die. Doss was right. Violence doesn’t solve problems.

Offensiveness (0/-2)

No director makes more successful religious-friendly movies than Mel Gibson, not now, probably not ever. Desmond Doss has unusual beliefs (to WASPy Americans, though most Indians would find little strange about nonviolent vegetarians), but they are treated fairly.

Doss was an interesting subject for Gibson, who is well known for starring in violent movies and for making even more violent ones.

If offense is to be taken, it must come with its depiction of the Japanese. They are not a faceless enemy, but a voiceless one. Not as invisible as the Germans in Dunkirk, the Japanese in Hacksaw Ridge embody all stereotypes of Japanese soldiers–they are suicidal, they never give up, they are deeply embedded in the landscape.

Others

• (3) Automatic war movie bonus.
• During the battle Doss tells another soldier, “I never claimed to be sane.” He claimed exactly that to the Army psychiatrist.
• Not many movies feature a blood Cloud.

Summary (34/68): 50%

The soldier who wouldn’t fight, Desmond Doss, makes a good story, and in Hacksaw Ridge that story is well told. Six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and two wins, proved that Hollywood accepts Mel Gibson again. On to his remake of The Wild Bunch. Should be a bloodless afternoon at the cinema when that one hits the big screen.

Review: Mel Gibson revives his career with ‘Hacksaw Ridge’

“Hacksaw Ridge” is the true story of World War Two medic, Desmond Doss. Doss won a medal of honor for rescuing over 70 of his squadmates during the battle of Okinawa.

Lionsgate Movies

“To take another man’s life — that is the most egregious sin in the Lord’s sight. Nothing hurts his heart so much.”

“Hacksaw Ridge” is a simple yet effective film that marks the return of controversial director Mel Gibson. It’s a fitting return as well, perfectly presenting both the power and limitations of Gibson’s stoic and direct style of storytelling.

Gibson recently told The Hollywood Reporter, “I like telling stories where no one says anything. It’s just wonderful for me to be able to speak volumes without dialogue.” This quote may as well be the thesis for Gibson’s approach to “Hacksaw Ridge,” a film far more interested in its protagonist’s actions than his dialogue. The plot revolves around Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), a deeply religious man who decides to enlist in the army as a medic while steadfastly refusing to kill a man. His adamant refusal to even touch a gun puts him into conflict with hi s squadmates and the army at large. However, he ultimately proves to be bravest man in the whole regiment.

This movie is based on Desmond’s incredible true story. One of the biggest hurdles this movie had in adapting the true story was the potential for Desmond, a resolutely religious man to the extreme, to come across as one-dimensionally preachy or holier-than-thou. Luckily, Garfield does a fantastic job grounding the character while portraying his principled personality with a likable honesty. He’s just a good man who knows what he believes in and is willing to fight for it.

Desmond is joined by his endearing love interest Dorothy ( Teresa Palmer ). Dorothy is a nurse with the same small – town charm as Desmond, but is more of a realist. She’s not given too much to do in this movie, but her chemistry with Desmond is palpable. and their love story is heartwarming. Hugo Weaving also stands out as Desmond’s dad, immersing himself into his role as a damaged war veteran. Shifting on a dime between understandable and despicable, Weaving leaves the audience in suspense wondering what he’ll do next. Desmond’s squadmates aren’t quite as remarkable, but every actor does a good job, especially Vince Vaughn and Sam Worthington.

This may just be the movie that Gibson was born to direct. The simple yet inspiring moral tale is a perfect fit for the director of “Braveheart” and “Passion of the Christ.” The war scenes are harrowing and impeccable, while the small – town scenes are imbued with an endearing quaintness. Gibson does a great job of making the action feel both hectic and comprehensible. The visuals are breathtaking and terrifying. Dead bodies and dismembered limbs litter the rat – infested ground. Shouts of agony ring out as the true terror of war is laid bare. Occasionally, the relatively small budget becomes clear with a few slightly shoddy special – effect shots, but these moments are largely outweighed by the film’s gritty and immersive visual style.

“Hacksaw Ridge” attempts to capture the negative consequences of war, but doesn’t take its analysis far enough. Occasionally the violence still feels as if it’s being glorified instead of chastised. The overarching morality of the conflict is also never touched upon, save for brief commentary with no reflection. The Japanese, with a few exceptions, are represented as one-dimensional monsters as well. While the pain and humanity felt on the American’s side is accentuated, the Japanese are shown as ruthless, and their pain is largely glossed over. For a movie that’s attempting to take a moral look at warfare, its interpretation feels biased toward the Americans.

The dialogue also comes across as heavy – handed from time to time. To the script’s benefit, the movie is also ch ock- full of quotable lines like, “Rifle won’t bite. ” “Yeah. it will, look around you,” and. “One more. Please. L ord, help me get one more.” These lines work very well in the movie, even if it occasionally feels as if the characters are looking directly at the camera. telling the audience the moral of the story. The pacing also becomes sluggish when Desmond is court martialed, but once the fighting starts, the film picks right up and barrels toward an inspiring finish.

Ultimately, anyone familiar with the work of Gibson won’t be surprised by any aspect of this movie. It’s a well – told tale of bravery and courage. Even though Gibson doesn’t stray from his usual formula, “Hacksaw Ridge” may just be the best execution of the blueprint. It’s well worth a watch for anyone who’s a fan of inspiring war movies or the prior work of Gibson.

Hacksaw ridge plot

If you called him a Hero, Desmond Doss would’ve likely corrected you.

Historian Reacts to HACKSAW RIDGE (part 1)

The young World War II medic who singlehandedly saved the lives of 75 American soldiers on the Maeda Escarpment of Okinawa in 1945 would say that he only did what was right. And he would also say that he never carried a weapon because he was in the business of saving lives, not taking them.

In 2016, the Academy Award-winning film Hacksaw Ridge brought Desmond Doss to the attention of countless people who’d never heard of this exceptionally brave man. But the movie didn’t tell the full story.

The Early Life Of Desmond Doss

Wikimedia Commons Desmond Doss was famously portrayed in the movie Hacksaw Ridge, but his true story is even more incredible.

From a young age, Desmond Doss, born on February 7, 1919, radiated the kind of empathy that he’d display as a soldier later in life.

When he was just a child, for example, he once walked six miles to donate blood to an accident victim — a complete stranger — after hearing about the need for blood on a local radio station. A few days later, Doss traveled down the same long stretch of road to give even more blood.

Around the same time, Doss also developed a hatred of weapons that would persist throughout his entire life, even during his time in combat.

Doss’ hatred of weapons stemmed from his religious beliefs as a Seventh-day Adventist, and from watching his drunken father pull a gun on his uncle during an argument. His mother had managed to confiscate the.45 pistol from her husband and told the young Doss to run and hide it. He was so shaken, he vowed that was the last time he would ever hold a weapon.

Instead, Doss spent his childhood doing things like flattening pennies on the railway near his Lynchburg, Virginia home and wrestling with his younger brother, Harold. He said that Desmond wasn’t much fun to wrestle with because you could never win — not because Desmond was particularly skilled, but because he’d never surrender and didn’t know how to give up.

Years later, this physical resilience would come in handy during his time in the military. And it would also help him earn the Medal of Honor.

A Conscientious Objector In The U.S. Military

Wikimedia Commons Marines in combat during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.

At age 18, Doss dutifully registered for the draft and worked at a shipyard in Newport News, Virginia. When World War II broke out, Doss jumped at the opportunity to aid the cause and serve his country during the conflict.

But the fact that he refused to carry a weapon — let alone kill anyone — earned him the widely unflattering label of “conscientious objector.” It was a label that Doss hated, and instead of flat-out refusing to perform military service, he insisted that he work as a medic. The Army assigned him to a rifle company instead, in hopes that he’d just leave the military.

“He just didn’t fit into the Army’s model of what a good soldier would be,” said Terry Benedict, a filmmaker who made The Conscientious Objector, a documentary about Doss, in 2004.

Doss appealed the Army’s decision up through the ranks until they begrudgingly decided to make him a medic. But his fellow soldiers in training camp still couldn’t understand why Doss was there in the first place.

They teased him mercilessly to “man up” and carry a rifle. Some of them also launched their boots and other objects at him while he was praying by his bunk at night. And one even threatened him, “Doss, when we get into combat, I’ll make sure you don’t come back alive.”

Many of the soldiers hated him for getting a pass on the Sabbath because it was against his religion to work on his holy day — never mind that the officers gave Doss all the worst work to complete by himself on Sundays.

Nobody wanted to be friends. Friends had each other’s backs. Without a defense weapon, the others insisted, Doss was useless to them.

Doss not only dismissed their cruel behavior, but he also rose above it. He believed that his purpose was to serve both God and his country. All he wanted was to prove those two tasks weren’t mutually exclusive.

Inside The True Story Of Hacksaw Ridge

Wikimedia Commons Marines destroy a Japanese cave during the Battle of Okinawa. May 1945.

Then came the battle at the Okinawa Maeda Escarpment, or what the Americans called “Hacksaw Ridge.” It fell on May 5, 1945, a Saturday — which was Doss’ day of Sabbath. It was a particularly grueling onslaught with artillery coming so fast and furious that it was literally ripping men in half.

The Japanese army’s plan of waiting until all of the Americans reached the plateau to open fire created a devastating amount of wounded soldiers. But the Japanese didn’t know that the Americans had Desmond Doss.

In an act that still astounds the surviving members of Doss’ company today, the fearless medic held his ground at the plateau. Amidst never-ending gunfire and mortar shells, Doss treated the wounded American soldiers that others may have left for dead. And even when his own life was at risk, he was determined to save as many men as he possibly could.

Hour after hour, as explosions rang constantly in his ears, he tied countless tourniquets. Covered from head to toe in blood not his own, Doss crawled and dragged each injured member of his company to the edge of the ridge and carefully lowered them down. For more than 12 hours, he labored under fire and saved an incredible amount of human lives.

Knowing that some Japanese soldiers sometimes tortured wounded U.S. soldiers, Doss refused to leave a single man on top of the ridge.

Not only did Doss leave no man behind, but he also — miraculously — escaped with his own life and avoided any serious injury. Doss would later claim that God had spared his life on that fateful day. And according to The Conscientious Objector, Japanese soldiers repeatedly had Doss in their sights, only to have their guns jam at the last moment.

Two weeks later, Doss was in battle again a few miles away from the escarpment when a Japanese grenade landed in a foxhole containing Doss and some of his patients. He attempted to kick the grenade away, but it detonated. Doss ended up with deep shrapnel lacerations all down his legs.

He treated himself for shock and dressed his own wounds, rather than having another medic emerge from safety to help. Five hours later, someone finally arrived with a stretcher. But when Doss saw a soldier in need, he rolled off, surrendered his stretcher, and started patching up his comrade.

While Doss was waiting for more help to arrive, a sniper suddenly shot and shattered all of the bones in his left arm. (Hacksaw Ridge director Mel Gibson left this part out of the film because he felt that it was so heroic that audiences wouldn’t even believe that it had really happened.)

Doss then crawled 300 yards to the aid station without accompaniment. He didn’t realize it then, but he’d lost his Bible on the battlefield.

The Heroic Legacy Of Desmond Doss

Bettmann/Getty Images Desmond Doss shakes hands with President Harry S. Truman after receiving the Medal of Honor during a ceremony at the White House on October 12, 1945.

After this amazing display of bravery and heroism, Doss finally won the full respect of his fellow soldiers. His commanding officer came to the hospital and told him he’d earned the Medal of Honor for his service, making him the first and only conscientious objector to do so during World War II.

Still, Doss always preferred the title “conscientious cooperator” over “conscientious objector,” especially since he believed that the war was a just one. But even though many still referred to him by the latter title, it was clear that the moniker had taken on a new meaning.

Upon awarding Doss his Medal of Honor, President Harry Truman reportedly said, “I’m proud of you. You really deserve this. I consider this a greater honor than being president.”

The commanding officer also brought Doss a gift: a slightly burned, soggy Bible. After the U.S. captured the area from the Japanese, every able man in the company combed through the rubble until they found it.

In response to receiving the medal, Doss once again highlighted his unwavering faith: “I feel that I received the Congressional Medal of Honor because I kept the Golden Rule that we read in Matthew 7:12. ‘All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.’”

Forever marked by the scars from the war, Desmond Doss lived to be 87 years old. But the true story of Hacksaw Ridge will continue to live on, honoring the man who saved 75 lives, all while risking his own.

After this look at Desmond Doss and the true story of Hacksaw Ridge, see some of the most powerful World War II photos. Then, discover some of the most pervasive World War II myths that we all need to stop spreading.

Will Hollywood Give ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ The Awards Its Audience Is Clamoring For?

Mel Gibson should have been the king of Hollywood, but he did two things that ruined him.

First, he made “The Passion of the Christ,” the most successful R-rated and independent movie in America. It revealed the deep chasm dividing Americans after 9/11. For all the political hysteria that surrounded its release, the deafening silence of America’s movie artists meant more. They were not going to try to reach the audience Gibson had brought to their attention: neither to include it in America’s public culture nor even to acquire some of its considerable money.

Secondly, Gibson made several awful Комментарии и мнения владельцев when stopped for drunk driving. This put an end to the most startling director in America ten years ago. Despite all this, Gibson’s 2016 film “Hacksaw Ridge” has resurfaced the greatness inside his soul. It’s been nominated for six Oscars, and Gibson’s first nomination for Best Director in 20 years.

The Oscars at their best are about one simple thing: Beautifying what is worth beautifying in American movies. This year, that’s Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge.” Would America’s award institutions actually reward a patriotic movie that shows Christianity in American society as source of hope and unity, rather than fear and division? The Academy should, because it is our first serious movie confrontation with what World War II meant for America. It is also popular, and already at 97 in the IMDb list of top 250 movies. Users there have given it an 8.5 rating. It is also number 14 on the search popularity list. All this helped drive the film to three Golden Globe nominations, which failed to secure a win. Will the Oscars follow suit, or come through?

Whether this movie will be rewarded with the honors and the stamp of approval of America’s institutions of prestige, the awards really will depend on the place of an informed patriotism in the self-understanding of these institutions and their voters.

An Exploration of the American Heart

“Hacksaw Ridge” is the true story of Desmond Doss, a Seventh-Day Adventist whose deeds in service to his country were so shocking and so free of the sordid that is the element of war that they seem to us a miracle. We owe Andrew Garfield some gratitude for portraying with utmost clarity a change in the conception of heroism in America: a sense of personal honor proved by martial prowess is replaced gradually by a sacrificial concern for the good of one’s fellow soldiers, fellow Americans. The accent moves from taking lives to saving lives.

The movie is long, but does not feel long. It is ugly, but does not seem so. It is full of suffering, but holds out the hope that suffering may be redeemed. It portrays the America that went to war after Pearl Harbor without much glamour, but with a lot of affection, for the tragedies as much as for the romances. The first half of the movie is not merely a fine period piece, it is an insistent investigation of the way of life that made it possible for a remarkable man, a typically American Hero, to appear.

I will give one example of the American mind reflected in this story. The military authorities quite reasonably ask Doss, a volunteer, why he should be allowed to serve in the military if he is not willing to take up arms in defense of his fellow soldiers. Doss answers that he knows boys who committed suicide in shame for having been considered useless to defending America after Pearl Harbor (4F status). He implies that a country that exercises such influence over the minds of men owes it to them to allow them to serve.

This is a deep truth about American heroism obvious to anyone who reads WWII citations for the Medal of Honor. Gibson lays bare the conflict between Christianity and manly honor that accounts for Southern men’s particular contribution to the American military. America’s self-understanding was at risk in WWII, not merely its security. It was partly heroes like Doss who rescued humanity from the age of horrors that was the first half of the twentieth century.

Teaching Americans About Their Heritage

It is wise and generous to try to teach Americans about World War II. Gibson has made a good contribution to that effort, if Americans avail themselves of his offering. The institutions that bestow prestige have a part to play in recommending and beautifying this movie to attract an audience and legacy. The press has its own part to play in fostering public conversation. Ultimately, the people decide for themselves, but conservatives should do their best to make the case for the importance of stories like “Hacksaw Ridge.”

The second half of the movie is the hell of war. We see the reward of Doss’s unyielding insistence that he serve America. In a world renowned for hype and overselling, where everything is advertised as awesome to even have a chance of being noticed, Gibson awes the audience with a true story that nevertheless understates the facts.

Americans are shown WWII movies constantly, but rarely allowed to see why so many people killed and died. The stories are always told from a narrow perspective, to avoid noticing that America was involved in it as a country, not merely on an individual basis.

Consider America’s premier movie-maker about manliness: Clint Eastwood tried and failed to teach Americans about the largest war in their history and the crisis that led to America’s rise as the most powerful country in the world. His movies “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima” end up cowed by the awful grandeur of the war. War is described as an accident and people as a kind of pawn in a game far beyond their understanding.

When Realism Blinds You to Reality

The violent realism of our modern war movies blinds us to the need to understand what previous generations did and why. This robs us of insight and therefore any possibility of understanding the people we call the Greatest Generation. Understanding is replaced by good branding. We feel good saying “the greatest generation,” so we keep doing it.

One man alone is responsible for this catastrophic fake realism. For empty talk about the hell of war and an accurate, belabored, fascinating show of violence and slaughter, see Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan.” In that movie, a realistic depiction of the hell of war distracts from the question of why Americans were storming the beaches of Normandy in the first place. It is a breathtaking show of taking what matters most out of war.

Remember Lincoln’s phrase, “that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion?” There is none of that there. Instead, one gets a fairy tale that’s a kind of watered-down Christianity, a search for a lost lamb. Everything about that plot is fake, and the movie-maker’s skill is put in the service of selling that fake, one clever, fascinating detail after another.

At the end, the audience knows nothing more about WWII than they did at the beginning. Indeed, they know less, because they have been brutalized and sentimentalized while being robbed of insight. Possibly, the audience is persuaded there is no there there—that the war was a mistake, or pointless, or an accident.

In “Hacksaw Ridge,” instead of a director’s tricks, we get a true story to liberate us from the fake history. Now, all that remains is to see whether we can make this movie our own, and attract the public’s attention in this age of distractions.

Titus Techera is the executive director of the American Cinema Foundation and a contributor to National Review Online, Catholic World Report, University Bookman, American Conservative, and Modern Age.