'Help me get one more.'

Rating: 10/10 (28 May 2017)

Seeing and experiencing films such as HACKSAW RIDGE during Memorial Day is a strong reminder of the honor we owe to the men and women who have fought to protect us. Though wars continue, around the globe and within our strife-ridden country, the horror of war is ever present, but the courage and sacrifice veterans have made and continue to make deserve our honor.
HACKSAW RIDGE is a very fine film about the battle of WW II on Okinawa as written for the screen by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight and direct with great sensitivity by Mel Gibson. This, as we all know, is a true story of a young conscientious objector Desmond Doss (Darcy Bryce/Andrew Garfield) who entered training for WW II having had a terrifying experience as a child with his brother Hal (Roman Guerriero/Nathaniel Buzolic), enduring the PTSD alcoholic father (a brilliant performance from Hugo Weaving), growing up as a 7th Day Adventist, and how he adjusts to military life in training, nears court marshal because of his refusal to carry a gun, and ends up in Okinawa where unarmed he save the lives of 75 fellow GIs. Thankfully the script allows the first half of the film show the character development of Desmond, introducing the men in his company (Luke Pegler, Luke Bracey, Nico Cortez, Farass Dirani, Jim Robison, Goran D. Klet, Damien Thomlinson, Sam Worthington, a brilliant Vince Vaughan, and more), and Desmond's love interest (Teresa Palmer) and his mother (Rachel Griffiths).
The fighting action is brilliantly depicted and well photographed by Simon Duggan – and of course directed by Gibson. Rupert Gregson-Williams supplies the very appropriate musical score. The film is violent to watch: war is violent to watch. The message of Desmond Doss's honor is underlined by images at the end of the film. This is a very fine film – particularly on Memorial Day.