Belief and conviction. Basically those two things go hand in hand and pretty much define what makes up our personality. When going though life you will find many situations which might make you change your beliefs. Be it friends, family or other things that can make it hard for you to live by the convictions you might hold close to your heart. But how far would you go to stand by your beliefs. What if it might cost you your life in the end? It would take a very strong person to keep the faith in what you deem to be right. And if you want to talk about irony, how about a person who must have lost his beliefs and convictions through his own actions. I’m talking about the fallen Hollywood star Mel Gibson. But even though he might have fallen, he is on his way back, not as an actor, but something he is even better at, directing. With Hacksaw Ridge he has managed to deliver this year’s best movie.

Hacksaw Ridge tells the true story of Desmond Doss, an American WWII combat medic. It is right after the attack on Pearl Harbour that Desmond decides to enlist in the army, against the wishes of his soon to be wife, Dorothy. Doss still goes ahead anyway, and soon finds himself in bootcamp. Everything is going right, until weapons training begins. When offered a rifle for practice, Desmond refuses to take the gun. At first his commanding officer thinks he is making a joke, but Doss is deadly serious. From that point on, his squadmates think of him as a coward, and the army brass is trying their best to get him to drop out of the army. However Desmond keeps standing by his convictions to never fire a single bullet, and to finish his training to become a medic in order to save people. When the war eventually takes him and his squad to Japan, the horrors of war will soon become a reality. But Desmond is determined to prove that you don’t need a bullet to become a hero…

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When the end credits rolled for this movie earlier today I was completely stunned and in awe. What an utterly fantastic movie this is. However you feel about mr. Gibson, I think no one would ever deny that he is a great director. And if you might have had doubts, they would pretty much wash away after seeing this movie. Where to begin? The acting is just simply amazing. Andrew Garfield, who plays the role of Desmond is absolutely stunning. He gives his role a touch of humanity that few actors would be able to manage. He is the true star of this movie, but his fellow actors definitely do a great job as well (especially Hugo Weaving in the role of Desmond’s father and Luke Bracey as one of his comrades in arms Smitty).

With this being a warmovie, the film doesn’t shy away from violence. In fact if you thought you had seen it all with the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan, think again. This movie truly makes you feel as if you are right in the middle of hell, and convinces you at the same time how horrible war really is. But the heart of this movie is the story. With all the films already made about the second World War, I find it amazing there are still stories out there, that you have never heard before. By the end of this movie you will come to realise what a hero this man has been, and how a first opinion of someone can sometimes be truly wrong. It also teaches you to always stand by what you believe in, no matter what happens. I hope this movie will do very well at the Oscars, in fact I would be pretty surprised if it did not. It would also be a true Hollywood story if it did, as it would pretty much redeem Mel Gibson. And if that isn’t irony, I don’t know what is.

I give Hacksaw Ridge a 10 out of 10 score.