Hacksaw Ridge

Serving up the most brutal wartime carnage on film since Saving Private Ryan, director Mel Gibson's multiple Oscar-nominated (including Best Picture) true-life biopic centers on a pacifist whose unconventional beliefs made him a pariah among his peers. Raised as a Seventh-Day Adventist in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains, idealistic Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) enlists in the U.S. Army during WWII as a medic—to save lives. A conscientious objector, he refuses to use a weapon, which confuses his tough drill sergeant (Vince Vaughn) and infuriates fellow recruits. Refusing to quit boot camp, pious Doss is threatened with a court martial because he won't obey Army regulations. And then his platoon is shipped out to the Pacific island of Okinawa, where they are ordered to take Hacksaw Ridge, a steep, 35-foot cliff where the Japanese have hunkered down in bunkers. Savage battles ensue, in the aftermath of which Doss reveals remarkable courage: instead of retreating, he stays atop the Ridge for five hours, bravely retrieving one wounded comrade after another, while praying, “Lord, help me get just one more…” An intense war drama about the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include deleted scenes (5 min.), a brief segment with director Mel Gibson, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is “The Soul of War” making-of documentary (70 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid set of extras on the Blu-ray release for this Best Picture nominee.] (S. Granger)