There have probably been worse films released this year, but I've not seen any of them.

Rating: 2/10 (21 March 2017)

Remember before Private Ryan, when war films were all gung-ho, shooting from the hip, and an inspiring speech was the answer to everything? Hacksaw Ridge is a throwback to those dark days. It's like Mel watched Private Ryan and Band Of Brothers and liked some parts, but didn't really understand the whole, so just stole the best bits without realising that things only work as a whole. It's so stupid that it feels like you're watching a load of kids playing soldiers, it doesn't feel like a glimpse of war. And all that military jargon that was well researched and difficult to understand, like when they come under fire, "Over there, those bunkers", or when the sarge gets on the radio to give the enemy position, "they're straight ahead." These gems sandwiched between about a dozen "cover my/his/their/our ass/asses", and the rather poetic, "let's go to work". Just as an example of how gung-ho silly it is, when they take the ridge, about half way through, and then the next morning the Japs counter charge, and hundreds of them pour out of their tunnel network, all the soldiers, who were all laying relatively safely in artillery their holes, and other appropriate cover where they couldn't be shot, all jumped out of them to start shooting at the attackers. Why? Because it might look good on camera. Kids playing soldiers. And yeah, the bit where he carries the upper half of that blokes body with one hand while hip shooting dozen or so Japs with his infinite ammo BAR (in fairness there wasn't a single reload throughout the entire film (no wonder the Americans won the war, they used hax)) was barmy, I just wish I could say it was the silliest thing about the film.
Vince Vaughn has a good try at a Sgt Hartman impression though, but it wasn't enough to save the most disrespectful, idiotic film I've seen in a long time. This film portrays WW2 as accurately as working class school life was portrayed in Grange Hill.