HACKSAW RIDGE
Director: Mel Gibson
imdb
HACKSAW RIDGE
Director: Mel Gibson
imdb
The stuff all leading up to him signing up for the army was sorta middling, but once we step foot on the battlefield, this suddenly becomes a pretty great movie.
Yeah, it's a goofy movie but it's well shot and pretty engrossing at times.
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black widow - 8
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All the typical war movie tropes are there, from the good ol' farmboy to the alcoholic father to the overbearing sergeant*, but once they get to the ridge, it's brutal, intense and suspenseful as all get out. Garfield is fantastic, as are the cinematography and editing.
*Speaking of which, there were people laughing in my screening of this at Vince Vaughn's insults (who even after this, I can't buy as a dramatic actor no matter how hard he tries), and that's why I pose this question: does anyone find this particular trope intentionally funny? I found it hysterical when I saw Full Metal Jacket as a teenager, but when I revisit it as an adult, I find myself wondering if I should. Ermey's Kubrick stare in that movie is unsettling now.
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Gibson has never been a subtle filmmaker, but the long absence from directing seems to make him moreeeee heavy-handed. First half is an almost excruciatingly chirpy, unintentional parody of an Oscarbait film, with occasional and somewhat fascinating bursts of gore to (thankfully) interrupt that extreme earnestness from time to time. The second half almost exactly inverts this ratio, and the director is much more at home with storytelling through violence (ironic for this particular real-life story). Very good, heartstoppingly intense stuff, if unfortunately piling on the melodrama side of that ratio right around the end, which also makes its moral and thematic stances feeling (even more) murky. 6.5/10
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
First half could be trimmed by 20 minutes and you wouldn't lose the overall impact to the story. Second half was remarkable, but I question how much of it was exaggerated by Mel.
I still don't know what to think of Vince Vaughn's role in this. He was both the highlight of the film for me, but also felt completely out of place.
Really enjoyed this. Actually got emotional in some parts. I agree, the first half is a bit long-winded and I'm not sure why they dropped the brother story considering it was such an important aspect of how he became who he was. The war scenes were well shot- Hugo Weaving was a standout for me. Vince Vaughn seemed a bit of a miscast- and I don't even mean that from a typecast standpoint. I just think they could have got more out of a better actor. Every time I saw him holding a machine gun it felt out of place.
Solid as a typical underdog-makes-good tale and Garfield is excellent. However, for the first 20 minutes or so, I was wondering "Is this guy supposed to be mentally impaired?" because the "courting" scenes are ludicrous, with Garfield acting Forrest Gumpesque with that stupid grin and staring like a stalker. The film as a whole doesn't really know what to do with Doss' home life, and it comes across as a little impatient and unfocused (e.g., what happened to the brother? was the kid religious at all before the brick incident? Why have the struggle over the gun with his father as a random flashback?), as if the director just really, really wanted to get to the battlefield and fuck shit up. And boy does he. Of course, it wouldn't be a Gibson movie without ridiculously unnecessary scenes of violence - in this case, the death of the Japanese military commander, who we never see at any stage beforehand, but whose head Gibson apparently thought we really, really needed to see lopped off.
That it still works is a testament to Garfield and the natural interest in the story.
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STOP with the Drill Sergeant scenes please......
And STOP with pointless flash forwards to start off the movie.
Outside of that, I'm quite happy with the movie. It made me realize that there really aren't that many good battlefield movies from the 2000's. I came up with a list with my brother, and was surprised that in 17 years, it was a struggle to come up with ten.
MY TEN TOP WAR MOVIES SINCE 2000 (Must be battlefield war):
1)Black Hawk Down
2)Hurt Locker
3)Lone Survivor
4)Jarhead
5)Hacksaw Ridge
Inglorious Basterds and The Pianist get asterisks here.
Since he is not supposed to be mentally impaired, I don't understand.Quoting transmogrifier (view post)
Garfield has taken the leap into prestige films and is way over his head with both this and Silence. And while the second half of this movie is directed well from a strictly action-oriented point of view, there is an inherent moral disconnect between the anti-war themes and extended sequences of gruesome violence. The film is not without merit, but I pretty much hated it regardless.
I get what trans is saying with the way he stares at people for extended times and his speech patterns. Overly, inexplicably weird.
What I mean is how can he 1) be excellent and 2) portray a non-mentally impaired character as being mentally impaired?
Because I think he was directed to do it.
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(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
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In that case, bravo.
I'd include We Were Soldiers, personally.
We Were Soldiers is one of my most hated films ever.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
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Listening Habits at LastFM
In regards to Garfield, the big question mark for me is how he was nominated for his performance in this movie, as opposed to his performance in Silence. 'Cause while he may have been good here, he was terrific in the latter.
He was bad in both. And he is the best Spider-Man yet.
We agree on that much at least.
Oof. Outside of Hacksaw Ridge, each one of those movies are in my bottom 100 of all time.
Not a fan of battlefield movies eh?
What are your tops?
I am. Those I just didn't feel were very good. This list can't be right though because there's a Malick film on it.
1. The Bridge On the River Kwai
2. Full Metal Jacket
3 The Great Escape
4. Braveheart
5. Inglourious Basterds*
6. The Thin Red Line
From the 2000s.
From the 2000s.
Ah. Missed that.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi would be #1 then.
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