Hacksaw Ridge

2016's "Hacksaw Ridge" by Mel Gibson.
Starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, and half of Australia (Sam Worthington, Hugo Weaving, Teresa Palmer).
Nominated for an Academy Award in Best Picture, Best Director (Gibson), Best Actor (Garfield), Best Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.

Starting where he left off in Braveheart, The Passion, and Apocalypto, Gibson keeps the martyr complex going strong. “HR” is based off of the true story of Desmond Doss, who joined the military in WWII to become a field medic. For the entirety of his military career, he did his duties while refusing to touch a weapon (including in basic training). Doss would later go on to receive the medal of honour as a conscientious objector.

In the movie's first half, we explore Doss' backstory, learning why he became a pacifist, and meet the love of his life, whom he ends up proposed to. In the second half he travels to Okinawa, Japan, and sees the pain man can inflict on himself (again and again). While he saves lives and ends the suffering of people on both sides, he longs of returning home to his wife. You can't blame him, as some of the goriest war footage ever committed to film is borne witness to, as the Allied forces hammer away at the entrenched but increasingly cornered Japanese forces. Yet the most effective footage was when they showed present day (ish: 2003) interviews with Doss, a la 1981's "Reds". You can't blame Gibson for doing what he does best here- witness the Academy's love of war films and the fact the movie quadrupled it's budget. You just wish that there were more details beyond the gory details.

3/5

Trailer:Click Here.