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When thinking about war films, it's very hard not to go straight to the classics such as Apocalypse Now, Platoon or Saving Private Ryan. You have to make something very special to be mentioned in the same sentence as films like those and in Hacksaw Ridge, I think Mel Gibson has made one of the all time great war films.

Some war films use a particular war from history to tell a fictional story, all three of the above for example however, a war film for me becomes something else entirely when it tells a true story, especially one as remarkable as the story that Hacksaw Ridge is based on.

Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) became the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honour even though he refused to kill or even carry a rifle while serving as a medic during the Battle of Okinawa in World War II. Doss' phenomenal story of courage saw him single-handedly save the lives of over 75 of his comrades while under constant enemy fire.

Hacksaw Ridge is very much a film of two halves; the first introducing us to Doss, exploring both his personal life and his motivations for choosing to become a Conscientious Objector and serve as a medic, the second depicting the Battle of Okinawa at Hacksaw Ridge, the site of one of the bravest human feats in history. Both tell the story of the determined individual that Doss was and Mel Gibson does a wonderful job in directing the film.

Gibson has attracted a lot of bad press over the years but there is no denying that he is a good director, and in Hacksaw Ridge, he may just have made his best film yet. It's the emotional power of the story that Gibson taps into so successfully that makes Hacksaw Ridge such compelling viewing, whether it be Doss' arduous journey through combat training or the visceral war sequences. I was an emotional wreck as the credits started to roll.

Speaking of war sequences, Hacksaw Ridge possesses some of the most brutal and harrowing you'll ever see, reminiscent of the opening to Saving Private Ryan. Due to the fact that Doss served as a medic, there are parts where a strong stomach is needed as he obviously has to tend to a number of seriously wounded soldiers. The relentlessness of the sequences is admirable from Gibson and they're wonderfully shot by Simon Duggan.

Coming to the performances, Hacksaw Ridge features an amazing lead performance from Andrew Garfield, who wanted to move away from his days as Spider-Man with a chance to play such an inspiring real life hero. I thought Garfield was always one of the best things about the Amazing Spider-Man films but it's great to see him really grow as an actor. His performance as Doss is one of the best of the year and I would love to see him get some form of recognition come awards season.

The supporting cast threw me a little but they all play their part in excelling the film, expected from the likes of Hugo Weaving and Teresa Palmer but the film surprised me with how good some of the cast were. Sam Worthington and Luke Bracey were two that come to mind but the real surprise was Vince Vaughn, who I never thought I'd see play a part in a war film, particularly that of an Army Sergeant.

Few films this year have hit me emotionally as Hacksaw Ridge did and that's why I have to say it's a most welcome return to filmmaking from Mel Gibson. It's right up there as one of the best films of the year and definitely one to see on the big screen.

I was fortunate enough to see an advanced screening of HACKSAW RIDGE in Hollywood and was impressed. The screenplay is authentically-driven to the last detail and portrays the horrors (and prejudices) of wartime conduct. I knew we were watching an epic film when at the conclusion, the audience was stunned so much so that the applause was delayed.

If you consider yourself a true patriot of America, this movie portrays YOUR values in a blessed light. For ONE gentlemen, amidst extremely adverse treatment by his own comrades and even more deadly hated by his enemy to have save SO many men... is simply epic.

I watched the advanced screening with members of the military and faith community alike. At no time did anyone retract from the horrors of war or add asinine political commentary. We all understood that soldiers fight for one another before they fight for a cause and that hatred of war is universal; even among soldiers.

"I have seen stalks of corn with better physiques." Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn)

Director Mel Gibson is an action genius and along with that compliment, let's add he knows his violence. Hacksaw Ridge is a true and heroic story of the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor for bravery in battle. Brave also could be any attempt to separate the film from its controversial director, but I'll let the film speak for itself.

The contradiction is real: Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) was a Seventh Day Adventist who not only refused to work on Saturdays, but he also refused even to touch a gun. Through the intervention at a court martial of his improbably brave and conflicted father (Hugo Weaving), Doss is allowed to serve as a medic under those conditions, proving to all that he could be braver saving men at Okinawa's Hacksaw Ridge than anyone else (75 men as a medic with a flair for ingenious rescuing).

Although Director Gibson is best known for his graphic depictions of violence in Apocalypto and The Passion of the Christ, he can also be accused, along with writers Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, of clichéd story telling. The film's two parts, at home and at war, follow some pretty trite set-ups such as the mountain boy smitten by the nurse, the call to righteous service, the tough drill sergeant ( a terrific Vince Vaughn, see opening quote), and the sentimental trench dialogue.

Yet these flaws work when the story needs them to establish Doss's kind heart, courage, and the essential goodness of fellow combatants as they confess they misread him and his conscientious objection. If you can forgive the almost unreal, lush setting for his youth in Lynchburg, Virginia, and his mooning for his future wife, Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), then you will enjoy seeing a real hero in a real war.

Yes, Gibson knows how to depict action, not just pain, and it helps make Hacksaw Ridge a welcome addition to war films that tell true stories. And lest I forget, welcome back, Mel; you have been redeemed.

Just watched this movie at the pre-screening and feel like I owe it to the creators to write a review. Having read other reviews, it is hard to stay original, so first are few thoughts that I shared with the others. Great to have Mel Gibson back in the directors seat. I will be surprised if we don't see this film in a few Oscars categories. Now, few thoughts of my own. The movie depicts brutality of war in gory details, so much so, that I had to turn my eyes away from screen couple of times. However, I do understand why this was important to the story line. It was done so that we could truly appreciate Doss's act of bravery, feel it like we were there and witnessed it firsthand - nothing was left out. The story grabs you from beginning and does not let you off until very end - after the movie I turned back and half of the girls in the theater were still wiping tears. Bottom line - instant classic that will find it's place on the shelf next to the likes of Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers.

I guess that Hacksaw Ridge could probably best be compared to the great Gary Cooper film Sergeant York which hewed pretty close to the truth about Alvin C. York, his background in Eastern Tennessee and his exploits in World War I.

Like our protagonist Desmond Doss here, York had a rural background and joined a pacifist religious sect. Unlike Doss, York grew up as a hunter and was a dead shot. He wasn't sure what he would do if a combat situation arose. But he did what he did and got every decoration imaginable including the Congressional Medal Of Honor.

Doss had a tougher row to hoe. He would not touch a weapon and the film will show you why. He felt it his patriotic duty to join, but as a combat medic, save lives rather than kill. With no weapon to defend his own person, this medic saved a lot of people at an engagement at a place dubbed Hacksaw Ridge in the Battle of Okinawa.

In Sergeant York, Walter Brennan's country preacher character says that Gary Cooper has the 'using kind of religion'. That might well be said of Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss who got a Best Actor Oscar nomination as Doss. Cooper won one of his two Oscars for Sergeant York and Garfield really suggests his character in what he does with Doss.

The battle scenes are suggestive of Saving Private Ryan, director Mel Gibson staged them well. Hacksaw Ridge did win a pair of Oscars for its Sound. Gibson got nominated for Best Director and the film itself for Best Picture.

Hacksaw Ridge shows the horrors of war and from it the beauty of heroism when people have to summon their personal best and become more than themselves. The Doss story is one that deserves telling and retelling. Thanks to Mel Gibson it will be permanently retold.