A daring and inspiring break from the conventional celebration of heroism

Rating: 9/10 (4 September 2017)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
As World War 2 draws to a close, Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) enlists in the military, much to the disdain of his embittered former vet father (Hugo Weaving.) However, he wishes to serve as a medic, and, owing to his religious principles, refuses to bear arms. Initially, he's dismissed as weak and spineless by his comrades and commanding officers, and is even made to serve some time in jail, but on the outbreak of the Battle of Okinawa, he comes to earn respect and admiration from his former deriders, as he risks his life to ferry injured men over enemy lines and to safety, saving many lives.
At a time in his career when he has more credibility behind the camera than in front of it, Mel Gibson has helmed this promising and inspiring tale, that was rich in potential for a big screen dramatisation. Essentially a turning on the head of all the traditional war-time yarns of righteous infliction and gung-ho machismo, this relays a story of incredulous truth, almost in the 'fact is stranger than fiction' league. And, thankfully, it hits all the right notes at just about all the right times.
For a wartime film, it spends surprisingly most of the first half focusing on the human drama unfolding at home and later in the army regiment, as Private Doss is tested for his beliefs by his peers and superiors, giving lead star Garfield the chance to display his dramatic range and capability, and he just about manages to carry the film perfectly. In the later stages, the horror and unrelenting impact of the battleground come terrifyingly to light, in a Saving Private Ryan style portrayal that is just as blood soaked and realistic as Spielberg's film.
Above all else, Gibson has delivered a searing examination of a different type of courage, measured in individual conviction of beliefs and an unwavering moral devotion to them, the sort that probably wouldn't have been appreciated as much in the days of John Wayne and Humphrey Bogart. ****