Hacksaw Ridge- Movie Review.

[ROGER4314]

Bonnie and I went to the early matinee (my treat.....snicker) yesterday. We both loved the flick and I recommend it highly!

Doss is a backwoods country boy, nice as Hell and plain spoken, gentle natured and lovable. He learns the hard way that violence takes a heavy toll on a person and commits himself to living a nonviolent life.

Doss joins the Army, refuses to touch a firearm and is Court Martialed for his refusal. It gets resolved and off to war as a medic, he goes.

He finds a girl, loves her and marries her. You just hope that this charming pair survive to be together.

Okinawa enters the picture with the "Hack Saw Ridge" being a key objective that has cost many lives previously. Doss' unit is thrown into the meat grinder. He proves himself as a courageous soldier on the first assault in some of the most bloody, graphic, realistic and gory filming that I've ever seen. This battle filming is not for the faint of heart. Brains, guts, severed limbs and death by fire are everywhere.

I'm not shitting you. This is the most graphic filming imaginable!

The unit withdraws but Doss stays atop the huge cliff lowering wounded soldiers by rope.

The second assault is even worse! That's all that I'll reveal.

There wasn't much scenery to capture the viewer's interest. Just low down, dirty, gut busting action.

Language was moderate but violence was off the scale. Mel Gibson directed this and created an incredibly real portrayal of US soldier heroism. There was no sexual content. Their wedding night was really sweet.

Bonnie said it best: "You'd need to have a heart of stone not to cry during this movie." Bring lots of Kleenex!

The ending of the flick was the best!

Bonnie and I both gave this film an A++ rating. If you can handle the "off the scale" violence, don't miss it!

Flash

 

[shortround]

Flash!

Great review.

Sadly, a friend of mine who is a military historian, complained to me just the other day that the movie was not true to the story of Private Doss.

He did say the cinematography and special effects were spectacular. But as a historian, he felt let down by the story line.

I can't say one way or other, because I never heard of Private Doss until this movie was released, and if I did see the movie I would not have know how to judge the accuracy of it.

Be well.

 

[ROGER4314]

The historical comments are mystifying to me. I look carefully at details and the movie passed my inspection. Here are some highlights:
Firearms: They did a great job on authentic firearms like BAR's, grease guns, Thompson's, Garands, M1 Carbines were all in plentiful supply. The Japs had correct Arisaka rifles. Bayonets on both sides were correct. US uniforms were detailed and correct. Even the US boots and leggings were authentic.

Automobiles were period correct and in one scene when Doss' father appeared at the Court Martial in his WW1 uniform. He was dressed like a genuine Doughboy!

I have no gripes with the movie. It told the story of the first Medal of Honor winner to come from the ranks of Conscious Objectors and they did a good job of doing that.

I have NO complaints with this movie.

Flash

 

[MikePotts]

I had an ancestor, George Wales my "adoptamom's" Father, who was a conscientious objector when recruited for the last Boer War. He was given the option of becoming a 'stretcher bearer' for the 'St. John's Ambulance Brigade' and made it through the conflict.
He either remained in South Africa or returned there and pretty much starved trying to be a gold/diamond miner there.
He had a son, William. who was killed at Delville Wood in 1916, several other offspring including my adoptamom who was born in 1912 in Benoni near Jo'burg.

 

[ROGER4314]

Interesting post!

I'm a "mutt" and have lots of nationalities represented in my bloodstream. Heinz 57 all the way. Scottish is in the mainstream.

Flash