A purple heart recipient with a heart of gold

Rating: 9/10 (22 February 2017)

In his first work since Apocalypto Mel Gibson takes an unpopular story matched with an unpopular hero to show that you cannot win a battle until you have won the one inside of you. Growing off of his themes of the beauty that can occur in chaos he provides his most vivid, real, yet most out of this world story to date. Stemming off of past films Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ, Hacksaw Ridge provides a glimpse of how morals can thrive in a world with immorality.
Andrew Garfield stars as Desmond Doss, a seemingly normal young man from Lynchburg Virginia who is born into unlikely circumstances. His father, a World War I veteran, is troubled by not only PTSD and alcoholism, but also his actions that come from them. Growing up Desmond sees the effects of violence and it not only shapes his life, but shapes many lives to come. World War II, the Japanese strike Pearl Harbor killing 2,403 brothers, friends, and loved ones. The country begins scrapping for anyone they can get in this desperate time. Despite their father's beliefs, Desmond, and his younger brother Harold, decide they cannot stay complacent, but have to enlist and "fight" for what they believe in.
Quicker than the attack on Pearl Harbor, Desmond's enlistment takes a turn for the worse. He refuses to carry a weapon referencing the commandment "Thou shall not kill" as his cornerstone. A soldier without a gun? In a kill or be killed savage environment, Desmond does not back down. At boot camp, he is beaten before he even joins the battle. Harassed, ridiculed, and dehumanized by his fellow soldiers, his future and his worth on the battlefield looks grim. Striving to be a doctor, the path he has now chosen is not in his comfort zone and is looked down upon by his father, who does not want his sons to witness the hell he went through. Although Desmond does not have the means to pay for medical school, he decides to risk paying the ultimate price and puts his life on the line to save the people who want him gone just as much as the enemy.
From explosive cinematics that gave it a three dimensional feel, to extensive character development that made me feel emotions that I have not felt in years, this movie grabbed my attention from round one. I am going to pull the trigger and say this movie was nothing short of exceptional. The moment the battalion charged the ridge, I felt my body go numb. From hair standing up to minutes without blinking the engrossing tale engulfed me emotionally and physically. The shots were so intimate and personal that I felt I was standing in that group myself. The producing was so masterful that the climax seemed never ending and the underlying themes served as a constant reminder of the loss that happened on more than just the battlefield. When the music cut out, the sound died, and good men took the final fall. That is when I was spoken to, when nothing was said at all.