Welcome to Thunderdome

Directed by Mel Gibson, this tells the true story of Desmond Doss during WWII. He was an Army medic who refused to touch a weapon or kill anyone. However, he fully believed the war was just, his religion just prevented him from doing anything about it except help those who could fight. He saved anywhere from 50-100 people at Hacksaw Ridge and was a conscientious objector who won the Medal of Honor.

Desmond, played by a really weak looking Andrew Garfield, was not a tough man or a bad ass, but he was a man of principle. He was a hero in a peaceful way.

This movie is slow in the first half as they setup the players, but the war scenes are pretty gritty and captivating. The single most jarring thing in the film is Vince Vaughn. My apologies to Vince as I'm a fan, but he's hard to believe as a tough as nails Sergeant. He is no R. Lee Ermey.

A very good war film, but not one that'll affect you like Saving Private Ryan.

Desmond Doss is a hell of a brave man and his story deserves to be told.

There was an achievement in Team Fortress 2 about having the highest score with a medic without a kill.

Good movie here so far, but some very movie things throwing me off.

Vince isn't any sergeant I've seen depicted on TV. Especially like the Full Metal guy. On the other hand, his character is fine compared to some sergeants I've met in real life. I guess i'm not getting their war faces.

There's a big plot hole they could have done better with. They show these Japanese soldiers scouring the ridge looking for wounded Americans to kill. Which is totally reasonable. But if Dawes was really up on that ridge by himself with no support, surely they would have just come over and killed him, and cut the rope ladder. I'm sure there was a "Ladder Garrison" or something? Looks better from a dramatic standpoint if Dawes did the whole thing solo.

e: ok so they try to kill him at the end, I wasn't there yet. Somehow nobody thinks to cut the ladder bringing waves of hostiles up though?

That bugged me too. Now I have to go to the interwebs to do some research.

Leisher wrote: That bugged me too. Now I have to go to the interwebs to do some research.

Ladder more covert than movie suggests

Liked it. I went in thinking it was a Clint Eastwood movie... and 75% of the way through I was surprised there were no "both sides are monsters" moments (looking at you, Letters from Iwo Jima).... and by the end I thought it might be one of the best war movies I'd ever seen.

Then I saw "Directed by Mel Gibson," and thought.... shit. Mel's good. I wish he hadn't torpedoed his acting career.