The making of a hero.

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2017)

Desmond Doss is a hero. In the middle of total carnage he is out there saving lives. This should serve as the basis for a great movie. This movie comes close to being just that, a great movie, but just misses the mark. It has lots of action and excellent acting set in a time and place that is still known and remembered with reverence today. But most of all, it is about a man who stays true to his principles, and against all odds triumphs. The battle of Okinawa is depicted in all its gory violence. Soldiers on both sides are dying by the hundreds. Through it all, Desmond Doss does his duty, which, as a medic, is to save lives. Nothing stops him, not even a grenade. And if that isn't enough, he's married to a beautiful young lady who adores him and whose photograph he carries in his Bible, which she gave him as a present and which he takes into battle. To tell this story, the director Mel Gibson, pulls out the stops. It is Hollywood through and through. From the confrontation scene in the barracks, to the presence of the overbearing sergeant, to the inclusion of the devoted girlfriend, the hero perseveres and finally proves himself on the battlefield, proving all his detractors wrong. If someone wants to watch a movie about a hero, this is the movie to watch.