Hacksaw Ridge is a 2016 biographical war film directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based off the 2004 documentary The Conscientious Objector directed by Terry Benedict.

The film is set in World War II, where Andrew Garfield stars as Desmond Doss, an American combat medic and Seventh-Day Adventist, who refused to use any weapons. After the films premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film festival on September 4 2016, Hacksaw Ridge was released in the United States on November 4, 2016. It grossed $180.5 million worldwide, and received critical acclaim, with Gibson’s direction and Garfield’s performance earning particular praise. It was widely viewed as a return to form for Gibson, whose career had been in decline following several controversies.

The movie begins with a young Desmond Doss who nearly kills his brother while roughhousing because he hit him in the head with a brick. The incident stays with Desmond for a long time. It was also his Seventh-Day-Adventist upbringing, he particularly believed in the commandment “Thou Shalt not kill”.

A few years later he takes an injured man to the hospital and while he was there he met a nurse named Dorothy Schutte. They fall in love and Desmond tells her of his interest in medical work.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brings the United States into World War II, Desmond enlists in the United States Army to serve as a combat medic and meanwhile, his father, a PTSD-ridden World War I veteran is severely upset by his decision. Before Desmond leaves, him and Dorothy get engaged.

Desmond is then placed in basic training with the 77th Infantry Division under the command of Sergeant Howell. He excels physically in training but gets mocked and berated by his Sergeant and fellow soldiers for refusing to handle a rifle and train on Saturdays. Howell and Captain Glover attempt to discharge Desmond for psychiatric reasons under section 8, but they are overruled because Desmond’s religious beliefs to not constitute mental illness.

Later on, Desmond’s unit eventually finishes basic training, Desmond intended to marry Dorothy when he gets back but he is then arrested before he can leave due to insubordination because he still refused to use a rifle. Captain Glover and Dorothy meet him in prison and try to convince him to plead guilty so he can be released without charge, but he still refuses. At his court-martial, Desmond pleads not guilty but before he’s sentenced, his father bursts into the tribunal with a letter from his former commanding officer who is now a brigadier officer, stating that his sons pacifism is protected by the US constitution. The charges are dropped and he and Dorothy are allowed to get married before Desmond is sent into war with no weapons, solely the purpose to save lives. 

Hacksaw Ridge was in development limbo for 14 years – numerous producers had tried for a long time to make a film about Desmond Doss’s story. In 2004, the director Terry Benedict won the rights to make a documentary about Desmond, and secured the film rights in the process, however, Desmond passed away in 2006, after which, the producers acquired and then sold the rights to Walden Media, the producers continued to spend years trying to get the rights back.

After they finally acquired the rights, they approached Mel Gibson, and wanted him to create a concoction of violence and faith like he had done in his film The Passion Of Christ (2004). Gibson turned down the offer twice, as he did with the film Braveheart (1995). Nearly a decade later Gibson finally agreed to direct. The decision was announced in November 2014, the same month Andrew Garfiled was confirmed to play the role of Desmond Doss.

Overall, I think this movie was a 9/10, it was surprisingly accurate to the real scenario and it did a great job actually showing how war is.