Hacksaw Ridge (2016) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

So which is it? You agree with Robert when he says it's a good film? Or that it's a low point in Gibson's directing career?[emoji848]

Also perhaps your local reviews were disappointing but the majority of the reviews are overwhelmingly positive.

Never heard of Come And See. Sounds interesting.

A noteworthy film! However, it's not a good analogy to compare these two films as Hacksaw Ridge involves one of the biggest battles in WWII while the other film is more limited in its scope.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Saw it Saturday afternoon and enjoyed it. I knew going in that there would be violence. It is after all, a story about a medic in one of the worst battles of WWII. I didn't feel that it was too much. It seemed appropriate to the story being told. I found it to be a very relatable story. I appreciate the background story showing how he decided to become a medic and the development of his pacifist nature. I am glad to see that Mel has directed another film. I hope he gets more chances to direct. I believe this is where his future lies.

As a history buff, I always enjoy learning more about our past and the people who just did their part. "Lord, give me just one more!" Saving 75 men, amazing.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Come and See *feels* incredibly violent and brutal, despite featuring almost no actual on-screen violence.

FWIW, compared with most war films, it's very slow-paced and artsy. It's quite interesting, though.

 

[bujaki]

Come and See *feels* incredibly violent and brutal, despite featuring almost no actual on-screen violence.

I left the screening room in a state of shock. It took me years to muster the courage to re-watch COME AND SEE. It is a remarkable work of art.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just got back from my second viewing of this film. I liked it more this time so my final grade for the film is 4 out of 5 stars. The battle scenes were some of the best I've seen and I liked the back story before the battle scenes. Some of the sentimental stuff at the end of the film didn't resonate for me, but other than that, I liked this film a lot. I hope there is an extended cut of the film.

 

[Mark Booth]

I was impressed with how the first half of the film (which is pretty much nonviolent compared to the second half) really made me care about the main character. Then, bam, the second half made me care even more. Awesome film!

The Booth Bijou gives 'Hacksaw Ridge' 5 out of 5 stars!

Mark

 

[AshJW]

The film starts in January here in Germany, so I will have to wait a bit longer.

But it is a must see.

 

[Tino]

Box office from Deadline.

When it came to Mel Gibson’s WWII epic Hacksaw Ridge, it was Lionsgate’s plan to play into Veterans Day and it’s a distribution plan that is succeeding with a second FSS of $11.5M, down an amazing 24% with a 10-day of $32.9M.

 

[Ahab]

My reaction to this film is more lukewarm than I expected it to be. I doubt I'll ever spend the time to watch it again, though I don't regret having watched it.

Though I thought the film did a good job of showing the horror of battle, some of the fighting sequences seemed to borrow too heavily from video games or superhero movies . One example being the scene showing Doss kicking away the grenade.

 

[Edwin-S]

It was a decent film, but it felt a little bit by the numbers to me. From the "let's-kick-the-crap-out-of-you-even-though-it's-our-commanding-officers-being-dicks" scene to the obligatory "Japanese-General-commits-Seppuku" scene, the film just felt shop-worn. I mean from the point-of-view of moving the story forward, why even have that "Seppuku" scene? It did nothing to build on Doss's story and just felt like it was thrown in as a "we have to show this because it is a war film with Japanese in it". In a lot of respects, this film felt like the WW2 equivalent of Gibson's "We Were Soldiers": right down to the slow motion shots of brutal battle action.

Frankly, Eastwood did a better job depicting the Pacific war with "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Sands of Iwo Jima". At least, he managed to create some balance by showing the battle from the both perspectives, instead of just using the Japanese as bullet magnet ciphers.

3 and 1/2 bullets out of five for this film. Mostly because the man, himself, was amazing

Edit: Make that 3 and 1/2 morphine shots out of five in recognition of the man's resolve to not carry a rifle..

 

[Tino]

Btw, Letters From Iwo Jima was the second Eastwood film.

I liked Flags Of Our Fathers but LFI felt like it whitewashed the Japanese atrocities in that battle.

 

[Edwin-S]

Whoops. You are right. I mixed up "Sands of Iwo Jima" ( a John Wayne film) with Letters. Embarrassing.

 

[Edwin-S]

Btw, Letters From Iwo Jima was the second Eastwood film.

I liked Flags Of Our Fathers but LFI felt like it whitewashed the Japanese atrocities in that battle.

It's been a while since I saw LFIJ. That may be a valid criticism, but I like the film because he decided to show it from their perspective. Instead, of just showing them as the stereotypical mindless yellow horde.

 

[Tino]

Ya know I'm a big WWII buff. So I've read countless books and stories of the atrocities committed by the Japanese so it's hard for me to sympathize with them during that period. So when I see a scene where a Japanese commander cares for and shows compassion towards a wounded American soldier during the battle of Iwo Jima, as was the case in LFIJ, I just roll my eyes and get angry. Not saying I'm right it's just a visceral reaction to what I consider a Hollywood manufactured scene.

 

[Tino]

Whoops. You are right. I mixed up "Sands of Iwo Jima" ( a John Wayne film) with Letters. Embarrassing.

I actually just bought the Wayne film as I have never seen it.

 

[Bob Cashill]

If HACKSAW RIDGE had ended right after the rescue, it would've been ideal. The "grenade fu" sequence is silly, as if to give the audience "comfort food" heroics after the very real heroics we just witnessed.

Oh, and Teresa Palmer sure is adorable. She gave heart to all the homefront scenes.

 

[Tino]

From a New York Times article when Doss passed away;

"Desmond T. Doss, who as an unarmed Army medic saved the lives of dozens of fellow soldiers under fire on Okinawa in World War II and became the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday at his home in Piedmont, Ala. He was 87. His death was announced by his wife, Frances, who said he had recently been hospitalized with breathing difficulties.

Mr. Doss, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, was guided all through his years by a framed poster of the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer that his father bought at an auction when he was growing up in Lynchburg, Va. That poster depicted Cain holding a club with the slain Abel beneath him.

"And when I looked at that picture, I came to the Sixth Commandment, 'Thou shalt not kill,' " Mr. Doss told Larry Smith in "Beyond Glory," an oral history of Medal of Honor winners. "I wondered, how in the world could a brother do such a thing? It put a horror in my heart of just killing, and as a result I took it personally: 'Desmond, if you love me, you won't kill.' "

When Mr. Doss was drafted in April 1942 after working in a shipyard, he was given conscientious objector status, having declined to bear arms because of his religious principles. He became a medic, the only way he could adhere to the Sixth Commandment as well as the Fourth Commandment, to honor the Sabbath. Seventh-day Adventists consider Saturday the Sabbath, but Mr. Doss felt he could serve as a medic seven days a week since, as he put it, "Christ healed on the Sabbath."

While training at stateside posts, Private Doss faced harassment from fellow soldiers for his devotion to prayer and his refusal to handle weapons or work on the Sabbath. At one point, he recalled, an officer sought to have him discharged on the ground of mental illness.


He went overseas with the 307th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division, in the summer of 1944 and served as a combat medic on Guam and at Leyte in the Philippines, receiving the Bronze Star, before taking part in the battle for Okinawa in the spring of 1945.

Private Doss was accompanying troops in the battle for a 400-foot-high ridge on Okinawa, the Maeda Escarpment, on Saturday, May 5 -- his Sabbath -- when the Japanese counterattacked. Many of the Americans were driven off the ridge, but wounded soldiers were stranded atop it.

Private Doss remained with the wounded, and, according to his Medal of Honor citation, he refused to seek cover, carrying them, one by one, in the face of enemy fire. He lowered each man on a rope-supported litter he had devised, using double bowline knots he had learned as a youngster and tying the makeshift litter to a tree stump serving as an anchor. Every wounded man was lowered to a safe spot 35 feet below the ridgetop, and then Private Doss came down the ridge unscathed.

After engaging in additional rescue efforts under fire over the next two weeks, Private Doss was wounded by a grenade that riddled him with shrapnel. He cared for his injuries alone for five hours, rather than have another medic emerge from cover to help him. While he was finally being carried off on a litter, he spotted a soldier who seemed worse off. He leaped off the litter, directing his aid men to help the other soldier.

Soon after that, Japanese fire hit him, and he suffered a compound arm fracture. He bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint, evidently the closest he ever came to handling a weapon, and crawled 300 yards to an aid station."

 

[Johnny Angell]

Ya know I'm a big WWII buff. So I've read countless books and stories of the atrocities committed by the Japanese so it's hard for me to sympathize with them during that period. So when I see a scene where a Japanese commander cares for and shows compassion towards a wounded American soldier during the battle of Iwo Jima, as was the case in LFIJ, I just roll my eyes and get angry. Not saying I'm right it's just a visceral reaction to what I consider a Hollywood manufactured scene.

I've just finished "Killing the Rising Sun" another one of those history books from O'Reilly. I don't claim it's the definitive history, but he certainly portrays plenty of barbarity by the Japanese. It's what you get when one race considers it's self superior to all others.

However, with any group of people you're going to find some exceptions and Gibson doesn't seem like the kind of director to make up compassion in the midst of all the war crimes.

 

[Edwin-S]

He wasn't referring to Gibson. He was referring to Eastwood "soft balling" Japanese atrocities in "Letters from Iwo Jima". Gibson didn't show any sort of "compassion" from the Japanese in "Hacksaw Ridge". The Japanese in HSR were basically bullet magnet stereotypes with no character development.

 

[Tino]

Exactly. I was referring to Eastwood's film. The Japanese in HSR are there only to show how brave Doss was in the face of battle. Gibson's film is all about him.