In war, Fathers bury their sons......

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2017)

The story of Desmond Doss, the conscientious objector who, at the Battle of Okinawa, won the Medal of Honour for his bravery and regard for his fellow soldiers.
The film shows his upbringing and how this shaped his views, especially his religious view and anti-killing stance.
We see Doss's trials and tribulations after enlisting in the Army and trying to become a medic.
Then we get to the titular ridge.......
Whatever your opinions are on Mel Gibson, no one can deny that the man is a master film maker, worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Scorcese, Spielberg, and De Palma.
His films are challenging, important, edging a little too much on religion, but one thing is that Gibson pulls no punches when it comes to visceral cinema, and if you thought the opening of Private Ryan was tough, this outdoes that scene tenfold, because Gibson makes you care about the characters, thanks to an extended training act, which isn't just tough, it's quite endearing as you know that the rest of his barracks are vexed at his choices, but still give him respect for standing by his rules.
Gibson does turn on the Schmaltz in the feisty act, and at times, Garfield becomes almost a Forrest Gump-alike. When he first meets his wife to be. It's as if Gibson wants to put you in some sort off comfort zone, before he throws you into the middle of a terrifying situation.
And what a spectacle the actual war zone is. It's haunting, dangerous, threatening and unpredictable, and you can almost feel the troops fear when they know that this could be their last day on this planet.
Even though your aware of the story/miracle of Dobbs, you cannot help but fear for him when he goes for another injured soldier. There is one particular scene where he has to covertly hide an injured troop, and it's unexplainably tense.
If you've ever doubted Vince Vaughn or Sam Worthington in film, see this, because Gibson makes them give the performances of their lives. This makes films like Clash/Wrath of the titans, and anything Vaughn has done in the last nine years, seem like such a long time ago.
Gibson has made a wonderful epic, with each act so totally different from one another, yet working so very well.
A really well made film, which will be surprising if it doesn't make my top ten of the year.