Non-Violence in the Heat of Battle

Rating: 7/10 (15 September 2017)

Due to his upbringing as a Seventh Day Adventist, "Desmond Doss" (Andrew Garfield) does not believe in killing his fellow man-even in war. However, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent enlistment of every able bodied person that he knows, Desmond enlists in the Army as a combat medic. Yet, even though he is told he would not have to shoulder a rifle, Desmond discovers that his entire chain-of-command requires him to do so anyway. This results in an incredible strain on him when he decides to follow his religious convictions but refuses to accept any kind of discharge which might be prejudicial to him or his religious beliefs. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film featured intense action in addition to some decent human drama. On the minus side, I thought that the combat scenes went on a bit too long and the computer graphics utilized were somewhat obvious. Likewise the interviews at the end were a bit redundant as well. But all things considered I thought that this was a good movie and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.