Review of Hacksaw Ridge (2016) by Th3Greenhorne7 — 06 Nov 2016

Hacksaw Ridge is directed by Mel Gibson and stars Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, and Hugo Weaving in a story that takes place in the time of World War II where Desmond Doss played by Andrew Garfield enlists in the United States Army to become a combat medic and his participation in the war was for him to save lives instead of taking them.

Now I'm a big WWII nut, I love the time period, and as much as I know about it, this story was nothing but unknown to me, but I now know a big part of the battle of Okinawa a little bit more clearly. Hacksaw Ridge is culmination of what it's like to have something as your beliefs tested and questioned while struggling to stay faithful in what you believe in.

The film itself is a shockingly realistic re-enactment of of the pinnacle of the pacific theater of war during WWII, Mel Gibson re-catches the attention of the world as he makes his comeback to the directing world with a film so emotionally deep and such frighteningly realistic scenes of brutal war violence that it's easily comparable to Saving Private Ryan when it comes to showing the audience what it's like to see the horrors of war through someone else's eyes.

Andrew Garfield surprised me so much, he really held the film up, when I first heard he was going to have the lead role I was very nervous because his role as Spider-Man in the Amazing Spider-Man films was not that great so to hear that he was taking the helm in a very serious role such as Desmond Doss made me very skeptical of how he might portray his character in this film, but after seeing this film I was totally blown away by how much dedication he gave to Desmond, honestly if he does not get at least a Golden Globe or Oscar Nomination I will be really mad.

The supporting cast was amazing, I was surprised to see Vince Vaughn in serious role compared to comedian Hollywood normally views him as. Sam Worthington was also amazing, before this, I have not seen him in very many movies since Avatar but this was definitely one of his better roles that he has ever done.

As for Luke Bracey, Hugo Weaving, and Teresa Palmer, they were also amazing in the roles they had. The acting in this film is one the best aspects of the film, but to me what really made this film unbelievably great was the cinematography, the production design, and the make-up made this film really shine with undeniably realistic and graphic battle scenes, beautiful wide shots, and the gore in this film is so gruesome that it's very difficult to forget it all, but that's how war is.

Out of all the World War II films I have seen in my life, Hacksaw Ridge is now one of my favorite WWII films I have ever seen, and I am very impressed with Mel Gibson's directing work in this film, I can't wait to see other films in the future that he will direct because Hacksaw Ridge is in my opinion a unforgettable masterpiece, and one of Mel Gibson's best director work since Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ.

Hacksaw Ridge is a film to remember in the coming future.