Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Desmond Doss of Lynchburg, Virginia, enlisted in the US Army with the intention of serving as a medic during the Battle of Okinawa. As a Seventh Day Adventist and conscientious objector, his objective was to preserve life rather than take it, which inevitably created friction with his fellow soldiers; however, they eventually recognized his courage under fire. Teresa Palmer appears as Doss’s potential romantic interest while Vince Vaughn portrays the drill sergeant. Directed by Mel Gibson and based on a true story, "Hacksaw Ridge" (2016) is a respectful and engaging World War II film that incorporates standard training sequences in its first portion alongside intense combat scenes later on. What sets it apart is the protagonist’s refusal to carry a weapon and his commitment solely to saving lives amidst the chaos of war. This is an important true story worth telling, and "Hacksaw Ridge" functions as a decent war movie, though it suffers from overemphasizing the heroic elements and failing to develop the supporting characters sufficiently, making them feel bland. This contrasts with the excellent “Platoon” (1986), which presented several well-developed individuals. The film centers on someone who adheres to complete pacifism—a stance that rejects violence even in response to wrongdoing or for national security purposes. He believes this is supported by the Bible, particularly the New Testament; however, it isn’t. The Scriptures actually support a more limited view of pacifism, which only allows for violence when justified. Christ's instruction to "turn the other cheek" was meant as advice for dealing with minor insults like a slap in the face, not as a universal principle. Essentially, we could all avoid many problems in life if we learned to disregard the provocations of those who aim to distract and upset us; this is also reflected in the Old Testament: "A fool displays his annoyance immediately, but a wise person ignores an insult" (Proverbs 12:16). Christ's words were about extending grace in situations of personal offense, not about responding to serious crimes or defending one’s country. For example, Jesus’ ministry team possessed a treasury box and some members carried swords for protection against thieves and murderers during their travels. Therefore, Christ and his followers weren’t absolute pacifists. On two occasions, the Messiah used a whip to drive people out of the Temple—knocking over tables, swinging the whip, and shouting. He was a sort of holy troublemaker, which caused legalistic religious authorities to fear him and plot against him (Mark 11:15-18). Harmless pacifists don't typically inspire such reactions. Furthermore, Romans 13 clearly states that just laws established by governments are ordained by God to punish criminals—both domestic and foreign—who threaten citizens’ lives, including the right to execute when necessary. Most sensible Christians understand this, but some extremists, like Doss in the film, refuse to reconcile their views with Scripture and insist that violence is never acceptable. They're mistaken. Sometimes it’s required, such as after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor without provocation, killing over 2300 innocent people and wounding another 1100. The movie has a running time of 2 hours and 19 minutes and was filmed in New South Wales, Australia. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB