Hacksaw Ridge apprehends the true graphics of war while still telling an appreciable story of a courageous and willful character. The best part of this inspiring movie is that it is based on a true story. This lets the viewer realize that what is being shown, while fake in essence, is very telling of what war is equivalent to. To depict the superb realism that is presented, Mel Gibson, the director, uses several advanced filming techniques to create this war epic.
First, I would like to go into detail and talk about the war scenes in this movie. I have not seen graphic war scenes like these probably since Saving Private Ryan. Speaking of that movie, there is a lot to compare between the invasion of Normandy scene from Spielberg's masterpiece and the fight at Hacksaw Ridge in this movie. There is an abundance of things that make these scenes great. The first thing that Gibson does is that he shows the true graphic, devastating nature of war. There were dismembered bodies, intestines bursting, heads demolished, and any more indescribable visuals. Unlike most Hollywood movies, this one showed us how bad and gruesome war really is. A scene that really captured this which stuck out to me was when the Captain was talking to a survivor of the last group to fight the Japanese. As they are talking about the ambush that the previous group encountered, he stops, throws up, and continues speaking. Captain Glover then looks at the soldier with great fear in his eyes of what is coming for his group. This scene is a perfect example of the realism captured in the war aspects of this movie.
In addition, the sound editing keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I never thought I would actually be impressed with the sounds that guns make in a movie. But, the ear-popping sound of the guns and explosions really speak to the audience in their own way. It shows how loud and scary war is. The audio itself, with no visuals, could have made me feel like I was there in the line of fire.
The audio is not the only thing, however, that made me feel like I was actually there. The directing and editing choices made were that of an expert. Gibson took us to the battle with his low-angle shots and long, drawn-out war scenes. There was a scene where the Japanese were looking for American soldiers, and it showed it from a ground view as they walked passed the two hiding soldiers. This is one of the great directing choices made by Gibson. Also, the scene at battle seemed to be a big chunk of the movie. I feel this was very impactful but it could have been a little shorter. The scenes started to lose my interest a little after a while. But, this may very well have been necessary to show the development of the main character.
Speaking of the main character and stepping away from the impact of the graphic war scenes, Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Desmond Doss was his greatest performance yet. Only knowing Garfield from his roles in The Amazing Spider-Man movies and The Social Network, I was unsure of how he was going to fully adapt to this unique character. But, he gave his best acting performance yet as he grabbed hold of the character's gentle and caring personality.
The character of Desmond Doss was developed magnificently. Doss was a man who wanted to help his country in war, but without killing. So, through his many struggles to get past basic training, he became a combat medic. With his extreme and inspiring bravery, he ended up saving over 70 lives at Hacksaw Ridge without using a gun or killing a single person. His character is lovable, brave, charming, and strong-willed. Then, to end the movie, the real Desmond Doss speaks in a documentary style scene where he explains some of the events we had just watched.
This movie is the best movie I have seen in 2016, as of the movie's release date. The realism of violence in the war scenes were very impressive further proving Gibson's directing abilities. Then, on top of that, there was a stand-out acting performance for the main character. This character's arc was intertwined well into this historical war epic. I would argue that it is one of the better war movies of the 21st century.
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