Hacksaw Ridge, the latest directorial outing by Mel Gibson is a big, emotionally manipulative blockbuster of a war film. But, based on the true story of seventh day adventist Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to win the Medal of Valor, there’s an over reliance on faith and patriotism to fill in the slots between the battle scenes.
An endearing Andrew Garfield plays Doss straight down the line, overcoming the barrack-room bullying. But the real star of the US-Australian co-production that is Hacksaw Ridge is the stunningly filmed gruesome battles. Cinematographer Simon Duggan and editor John Gilbert should be in the running for Oscars.
Update: Nominated for 6 Oscars in 2017 including best film, director, actor, sound editing, won 2 – editing & sound mixing.
Rating: 63%
Director: Mel Gibson (Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ)
Writer: Robert Schenkkan (The Quiet American, TV’s The Pacific), Andrew Knight (The Water Diviner, TV’s Rake)
Main cast: Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spiderman, The Social Network), Sam Worthington (Avatar, Clash of the Titans), Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, The Dressmaker)
Cinematographer: Simon Duggan (The Great Gatsby, I Robot)
Editor: John Gilbert (The Lord of the Rings, The World’s Fastest Indian)
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