Hacksaw Ridge was a very enjoyable (based on) true story, but almost two different movies. The first half focused of family and love and the second half was a bloody war scene depicting true bravery by a determined idealist. I would recommend seeing it on the big screen for the sound and cinematography.
The film " Hacksaw Ridge" tells the heroic and poignant story of a field orderly named Desmond Doss, who picked up a rifle only once in the entire film (he did not pick up a weapon because of his deep beliefs), but despite this, managed to receive the highest U.S. A military award for heroism and courage.
Rex Reed of Observer rated it four out of five, and called it "the best war film since Saving Private Ryan... [I]t is violent, harrowing, heartbreaking and unforgettable. And yes, it was directed by Mel Gibson. He deserves a medal, too".
Real-life hero Desmond Doss saved 75 soldiers in WWII without firing a shot, as depicted in the 2016 biographical war film Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson. Despite some minor changes to the story, Hacksaw Ridge was praised by Doss's son for its historical accuracy.
While Hacksaw Ridge may have been average at the box office when it first hit theatres, it certainly did not go unnoticed by critics and industry professionals. The film received widespread critical acclaim and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Hacksaw Ridge (2016) Full Movie Review | Andrew Garfield | Sam Worthington
How many died on Hacksaw Ridge?
About 2,500 Americans lost their lives and nearly twice as many Japanese troops. In the movie Hacksaw Ridge, they show Japanese soldiers killing wounded American soldiers.
Desmond Thomas Doss (February 7, 1919 – March 23, 2006) was an American United States Army corporal who served as a combat medic with an infantry company in World War II. Due to his religious beliefs, he refused to carry a weapon.
On May 4, 1945, Doss spent 12 hours single-handedly retrieving and lowering wounded soldiers from the battlefield to safety, down the edge of the cliff at Hacksaw Ridge. He tried to rescue both American and Japanese soldiers, though no Japanese soldiers survived.
This clip from the 2016 blockbuster film Hacksaw Ridge powerfully depicts the efforts of Desmond Doss to rescue the wounded and lower them down to safety from the 400-foot-high jagged cliff. Desmond Doss' heroics did not end after his miraculous efforts to rescue 75 soldiers atop Hacksaw Ridge.
The battle scenes are very graphic, realistic, and absolutely spine chilling to watch. They are long, and filled with bloody gunfire, graphic stabbings with knives and bayonets, and many explosions which separate limbs and leave blood everywhere. Guts, limbs, intestines, and blood everywhere.
[1]Desmond Doss is credited with saving 75 soldiers during one of the bloodiest battles of World War II in the Pacific — and he did it without ever carrying a weapon. The battle at Hacksaw Ridge, on the island of Okinawa, was a close combat fight with heavy weaponry.
His iron determination and unflagging courage resulted in at least 75 lives saved that day, May 5, 1945, his Sabbath. Eventually, the Americans took Hacksaw Ridge.
In doing so, the Allied forces had a foothold for the planned invasion of mainland Japan. However, the development of the atomic bomb led to the surrender of Japan, meaning the war ended only a few months after the successful capture of Hacksaw Ridge.
Hiroo Onoda (Japanese: 小野田 寛郎, Hepburn: Onoda Hiroo, 19 March 1922 – 16 January 2014) was a Japanese intelligence officer of the Imperial Japanese Army who fought in World War II and did not surrender at the war's end in August 1945.
Why didn't the Japanese cut the ladder in Hacksaw Ridge?
If the US took the time to put a mesh rope ladder up, they would leave enough forces to defend it. Any Japanese soldiers that came close enough to the ridge to attempt to cut it would have been gunned down.
They say “behind every great man is a great woman”. Yet even this quote fails to aptly describe Dorothy Schutte Doss. In 49 years of marriage she was right by her husband's side as his spiritual counterpart, and the two of them accomplished great things for God as a result.
The Sixth stuck out: “Thou shalt not kill.” Even before he entered the military, young Desmond's faith was tested by his father, William Doss, who was abusive toward his mother. That struggle is depicted in the film, too. Desmond Doss Sr. did not always receive considerate treatment in return.
The Japanese liked to target corpsmen and Army medics, as well as doctors. They knew if they hurt or killed someone with medical training, they wouldn't be able to help other wounded Marines or soldiers.
“Hacksaw Ridge,” a box-office hit with more than $150 million worldwide, had already shown its strength with Screen Actors Guild, Producers Guild of America and Golden Globe nominations, and it was deemed a stealth contender from the moment it premiered to a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in the fall.
The movie was filmed in various locations in Australia, including Goulburn, New South Wales, Richmond, and Sydney Olympic Park. Some scenes were also filmed in the United States, including the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.
Desmond Thomas Doss died at his home in Piedmont, Alabama, of a respiratory ailment on 23 March 2006 and was buried in the Chattanooga National Cemetery, in Tennessee.
