Hacksaw ridge

Soldato
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This new film directed by Mel Gibson looks epic and based on a true story.


Amazing what this guy did. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Doss

He was a company aid man when the 1st Battalion assaulted a jagged escarpment 400 feet high. As our troops gained the summit, a heavy concentration of artillery, mortar and machinegun fire crashed into them, inflicting approximately 75 casualties and driving the others back. Pfc. Doss refused to seek cover and remained in the fire-swept area with the many stricken, carrying all 75 casualties one-by-one to the edge of the escarpment and there lowering them on a rope-supported litter down the face of a cliff to friendly hands. On May 2, he exposed himself to heavy rifle and mortar fire in rescuing a wounded man 200 yards forward of the lines on the same escarpment; and 2 days later he treated 4 men who had been cut down while assaulting a strongly defended cave, advancing through a shower of grenades to within eight yards of enemy forces in a cave's mouth, where he dressed his comrades' wounds before making 4 separate trips under fire to evacuate them to safety. On May 5, he unhesitatingly braved enemy shelling and small arms fire to assist an artillery officer. He applied bandages, moved his patient to a spot that offered protection from small arms fire and, while artillery and mortar shells fell close by, painstakingly administered plasma. Later that day, when an American was severely wounded by fire from a cave, Pfc. Doss crawled to him where he had fallen 25 feet from the enemy position, rendered aid, and carried him 100 yards to safety while continually exposed to enemy fire. On May 21, in a night attack on high ground near Shuri, he remained in exposed territory while the rest of his company took cover, fearlessly risking the chance that he would be mistaken for an infiltrating Japanese and giving aid to the injured until he was himself seriously wounded in the legs by the explosion of a grenade. Rather than call another aid man from cover, he cared for his own injuries and waited 5 hours before litter bearers reached him and started carrying him to cover. The trio was caught in an enemy tank attack and Pfc. Doss, seeing a more critically wounded man nearby, crawled off the litter; and directed the bearers to give their first attention to the other man. Awaiting the litter bearers' return, he was again struck, by a sniper bullet while being carried off the field by a comrade, this time suffering a compound fracture of one arm. With magnificent fortitude he bound a rifle stock to his shattered arm as a splint and then crawled 300 yards over rough terrain to the aid station. Through his outstanding bravery and unflinching determination in the face of desperately dangerous conditions Pfc. Doss saved the lives of many soldiers. His name became a symbol throughout the 77th Infantry Division for outstanding gallantry far above and beyond the call of duty.
 
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Even more impressive considering that he refused to carry a weapon and fight, immensely courageous.

Film could be very good.
 
The number of casualties mentioned - 75 is approximated because eye witnesses claim it was well over 100 but the official line was 75. He was awarded the Medal of Honor but was also awarded a second Medal of Honor but refused to accept it. I am also not sure how accurate that wikipedia quote is (wow Wikipedia not being accurate ? never!) as supposedly on Okinawa there were no trained corpman (first aid) and random soldiers were just designated as an aid man and go do the job.
 
The number of casualties mentioned - 75 is approximated because eye witnesses claim it was well over 100 but the official line was 75. He was awarded the Medal of Honor but was also awarded a second Medal of Honor but refused to accept it. I am also not sure how accurate that wikipedia quote is (wow Wikipedia not being accurate ? never!) as supposedly on Okinawa there were no trained corpman (first aid) and random soldiers were just designated as an aid man and go do the job.

If you really want to know about Desmond T Doss, then I thoroughly recommend watching the following documentary, it's rather long but well worth watching as it features the man himself, & his story is truly remarkable when you find out he had a string of superior officers who tried to break him & force him out of the army, eventually he wore them down & became an unarmed combat medic, the rest is history.

 
Holy crap saw this tonight

2h20m long.... after about what i perceived to be 20 mins it ended and i was very emotionally shocked.

On par with Saving Private Ryan.

9.5/10 easy all day.

What a guy. Utterly insane, should be the benchmark for heroism.

90% historically and factually accurate. A lot OTT in some of the fighting scenes but hey! HOLLYWOOD!
 
just finished watching this omfg what a film still wiping a tear from my eye ... one of the best films I've watched ..
kept putting it off just another war film .. had nowt to do and put it on .. wow yep and wow .. so much emotion and with it being a true story makes it even better
 
Have to agree I put watching this off for ages and then when I did get round to it I was completely engrossed, fantastic film and Andrew Garfield was great in it.

Did a fair bit of reading around Desmond Doss after watching, interesting person to say the least!
 
I kinda liked the flick, but I have a real issue with Gibson's direction. I actually think it's creepy. His obsession with sadomasochistic martyr complexes bleeds through into almost every flick he's ever directed. He revels in the imagined gore and it feels so odd to me.

I usually have no issue separating the art from the artist (though it's difficult with someone like Polanski...), but there's just something about Gibson.
 
I kinda liked the flick, but I have a real issue with Gibson's direction. I actually think it's creepy. His obsession with sadomasochistic martyr complexes bleeds through into almost every flick he's ever directed. He revels in the imagined gore and it feels so odd to me.

I usually have no issue separating the art from the artist (though it's difficult with someone like Polanski...), but there's just something about Gibson.

I feel like I missed everything you had an issue with, which probably makes me terribly unobservant. For me Gibson merely amplifies character traits to enhance the blockbuster experience and make an entertaining film. For me It's not primarily a biopic, but an interpretation of the actions of a selfless man in a terrible situation. Doss' actions showed how one man can go above and beyond and inspire others to be better.
 
I enjoyed it for the most part. Some of the slow mo scenes were a little over the top and actually detracted from the horror of everything and the direction was slightly cheesy, but still pretty solid. The guy did indeed sound like a super brave, super lucky, religious nutcase.
 
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