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Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield: Poetic, Brutal and Beautiful

Posted on December 5, 2016 Written by Pinar Tarhan

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Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield
Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn, Sam Worthington and Teresa Palmer. Directed by Mel Gibson.

 

UPDATED: HACKSAW RIDGE Awards, Nominations and Box Office

Hacksaw Ridge is currently (as on January 1st, 2017) is rated at 8.5 on ?MDB voted by over 42,000 people. It’s Metascore is 71, and is currently at number 90 on IMDB’s Top 250 Films list.

The budget is about 40 million, and its current box office (domestic and international) has surpassed 136. The movie was nominated for 3 Golden Globes: Best Motion Picure (Drama), Best Actor (Drama, Andrew Garfield), and Best Director (Mel Gibson). It won AFI for Movie of the Year, and won several Australian Film Institute Awards including Best Actor, Best Direction and Best Screenplay.

Hacksaw Ridge starring Andrew Garfield, Vince Vaughn & Sam Worthington

Based on the incredible true story of Desmond Doss, Hacksaw Ridge is a movie about how a young combat medic didn’t bend his pacifist beliefs for anyone, and ended up being a war hero without having fired a gun or used a weapon (with the wonderful exception where he used a rifle to make a makeshift sliding stretcher for his wounded sergeant).

Plot Summary

Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) grows up in a violent home. Even though he has a loving mother (Rachel Griffiths), his father (Hugo Weaving) frequently uses violence on them, including his brother Hal (Nathaniel Buzolic; Kol from The Vampire Diaries and The Originals).

Their father is not necessarily evil; he is just a war veteran dealing with survivor’s guilt and PTSD horribly.

Doss boys seem to have a violent streak themselves. During one fight, Desmond almost injures Hal beyond repair, which triggers Desmond to embrace the peace-loving nature of his religion.

Desmond Doss grows up to be a loving, caring and determined man. He falls in love with beautiful nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), which further ignites his love for medicine. Not having been educated well, being a paramedic seems to be his only option. Fuelled to serve his country and do something while others are also risking lives, he enlists. However, he objects to doing any weapon training and gets treated horribly by most of his fellow soldiers in training and superiors.

However, he eventually manages to get what he wants. And as horrifying violence and mayhem surround them, everyone who ridiculed him gets to see what he is truly made of – again and again and again.

rsz_hacksaw-ridge
Actual scene. Image via The Independent.

 

Hacksaw Ridge was directed by Mel Gibson. Unlike his other directed films, he is not a producer this time. He also doesn’t star in it either, unlike Braveheart, or The Man Without a Face.

I haven’t seen Apocalypto or The Passion of the Christ. However, I have seen Braveheart (and The Man Without a Face, which is not a war film.) – and while Hacksaw Ridge isn’t quite there, it is pretty damn impressive.

Hacksaw Ridge is also understandably more violent. Braveheart had swords and arrows. Hacksaw Ridge doesn’t shy away from any shot that might make you cringe or want to look away. It has more blood, more severed limbs, and people in more pain. It makes you uncomfortable, and not for the sake of show or art. War is hell, and Mel Gibson makes sure you feel that in your veins.

Many people, including the cast argue Hacksaw Ridge is both a love story and a war story; you might consider it one or the other. But I disagree. Hacksaw Ridge is an epic anti-war movie with beautiful romantic scenes and horrifying war scenes. But it is more a respectful, albeit glorious, biography of a humane man of faith than a war film or a romance.

Teresa Palmer and Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge.
Teresa Palmer and Andrew Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge.

I’m agnostic. I don’t like religious motives or messages much. But you see, Hacksaw Ridge might show a Bible, but anyone with a heart can’t disagree of how Doss has interpreted the message: “Don’t harm anyone. And absolutely, do not kill.”

And he does exactly that. He doesn’t fight back when people hit him, which might be considered extreme. But he is proving a point. He is proving his principles. And he ends up saving 75 people in the course of about 12 hours. He helps a lot more.

He gets shocked and wounded and tested. But he doesn’t give up. He prays to be able to save another man. And then prays to be able to save the next.

Comparisons to Saving Private Ryan

Comparisons are being made for better and worse, and it’s only natural.

– Like Saving Private Ryan (aff. link), Hacksaw Ridge asks some very hard questions about humanity.

“Is the life of 8 men more or less important than the life one 1, if the mother of that one kid has lost three of her four kids in the same war.”

vs.

“Is it ever okay to kill and go against your beliefs? Or is it okay to risk everything to make the world a better place?”

– Both films have disturbingly realistic battle scenes. Both films have great casts, though SPR’s might have been slightly more famous. Both are critically acclaimed; both have amazing directors.

– Both films have solid anti-war messages.

– Both films must be seen as movie lovers, and people.

– I liked them both. I just liked HR a bit better.

Mel Gibson is my favorite actor, and he is one of my favorite directors. So there is a positive bias. But HR assaults your emotions for a shorter time. It’s ultimately less depressing despite being equally terrifying at times.

It’s a matter of personal preference. I’m pretty sure I can’t sit through SPR again one more time, just like I’d have to fast-forward HR’s battle scenes. Once is enough.

– Both movies have achieved greatness at shockingly low budgets for movies this size: Saving Private Ryan at 70 mil and Hacksaw Ridge at 40 mil.

Some more reasons to see Hacksaw Ridge

– The training scenes have some good humor. I loved the sergeant’s (Vince Vaughn) reaction to the naked soldier “Hollywood.” Also, Vince Vaughn is in a dramatic role again.

I have loved Vince Vaughn as an actor since Return to Paradise, which is one of my favorite films. It provides one of the most humane, enthralling and impossible-to-make decisions ever, and Vaughn shines in a dramatic role. Sure, he almost always talks fast, but he is as good as drama as he is at comedy. HR takes him to deeper lengths than The Interns ever could or wanted to (which is really entertaining film). The point is, Vaughn has more substance than just being the king of R-rated comedies.

– The romance is very well-done. It’s not sappy or corny. It has a pureness to it we haven’t quite seen since the relationship between Wallace and Murron. It feels real (and well, it was real.) So if like me, you really didn’t enjoy The Choice, here’s Teresa Palmer’s second chance to win you over in a romantic story.

*

Hacksaw Ridge is a must-see war film. It’s, in my opinion, not the best movie or the best war movie ever made. It’s however a very exquisite one that deserves to be seen on the big screen. It’s not always easy to watch, but you will feel intensely. You will occasionally escape your reality and the depressing things going on around the world. However, you’ll also be faced with the uncensored ugliness of war. I’d say it is great entertainment, but that’d not be the best choice of words. I wasn’t entertained. I felt. A lot, and all the time.

*

Written by Robert Schenkkan and Andrew Knight. Also featuring Luke Bracey and Milo Gibson (one of Mel Gibson’s 8 kids). Directed by Mel Gibson.

*

How about you? Have you seen Hacksaw Ridge? What did you think?

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: andrew garfield, Braveheart, hacksaw ridge, hacksaw ridge cast, hacksaw ridge movie, hacksaw ridge movie review, hugo weaving, Mel Gibson, mel gibson director, Mel Gibson movies, Rachel Griffiths, Sam Worthington, saving private ryan, Teresa Palmer, The Man Without A Face, Vince Vaughn

I Am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer & Dianna Agron

Posted on April 8, 2011 Written by ripitup

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I Am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron & Teresa Palmer
I Am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron & Teresa Palmer

John (Alex Pettyfer) looks like your high school popular kid, however he is anything but.  He lives with Henri (Timothy Olyphant),  a warrior assigned to protect him. They are both from another planet.  Unfortunately, a viloent race from another planet, The Mogadorians , have wiped out John’ race, except from a few gifted kids with special powers. These kids have been sent to Earth, along with their protectors. Unfortunately, Mogadorians have been able to track and kill three of these kids. John is next.

So Henri takes him to a small Ohio town called Paradise, where he feels it will be easier to stay off the grid. Despite Henri’s objections, John decides to go to the local high school. But being invisible will be harder than he imagined as he meets and falls for the pretty Sarah (Dianna Agron) who enjoys seeing the world through her photographs. Then there is Sam (Callan McAuliffe) , a nice kid who keeps being bullied around by the gang of popular kids (jocks), led by Mark (Jake Abel). It doesn’t help matters that Mark is still not over Sarah.Despite what his common sense tells him, John keeps hanging around Sarah and protecting Sam. In the meantime, Mogadorians are getting closer. Fortunately, John’s discovering that he is a lot stronger than he thinks…

**

I Am Number Four delivers what it promises:  good entertainment. It has all the typical, yet required elements: Lots of action and special effects (although I could have done without the gigantic monsters fighting around), charismatic actors (hello, Timothy Olyphant!), funny one-liners, a couple to root for, the likable sidekick, the likeable hero, bullies, the villains and a kick-ass female character (Teresa Palmer), who shows up just in time to help save the day. Nothing extraordinary, but plain fun.

I like the relationship between Henri and John. They are like father and son (with special skills who are being hunted by villainous creatures, but like father and son all the same). John, in many ways, is a typical teen- despite the dangers, he still wants to live his life. And he likes not doing what John tells him to do. John’s primary concern is to live his life, whereas Henri makes sure John has a life to live.

Full of action, romance and attitude, a movie doesn’t get more unisex than this.  Based on the novel by the same name (written by Jobie Hughes (as Pittacus Lore) & James Frey (as Pittacus Lore). Directed by D.J. Caruso. Produced by Michael Bay.

Favorite Scenes:

–          John having to use his skills at the carnival.

–          John and number 6 (Teresa Palmer) fighting together.

Fun notes:

–          Mark, played by Jake Abel, is no stranger to Supernatural fans as he played Adam in Supernatural.

 

–          The cast is pretty international. Teresa Palmer and Callan McAuliffe are Australian, Alex Pettyfer is English and Timothy Olyphant is American.

Entertainment Value: 8/10.

Also on Alex Pettyfer

Beastly Review – starring Alex Pettyfer

Also on Timothy Olyphant:

Justified TV Series starring Timothy Olyphant

Timothy  Olyphant Trivia

Sex and The City

A Perfect Getaway starring Timothy Olyphant

Damages Season 2- co-starring Timothy Olyphant

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-year-olds Jealous

 

Also Teresa Palmer:

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage, Monica Belluci, Jay Baruchel and Teresa Palmer

6 Solid Films with Low Budgets and Enclosed Locations Featuring Uma Thurman, Colin Farrell and Timothy Hutton(feat. Restraint starring Teresa Palmer & Stephen Moyer.)


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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, Alex Pettyfer, Callan McAuliffe, D.J. Caruso, Dianna Agron, i am number four, I am number four book, i am number four cast, i am number four movie, jake abel, James Frey, Jobie Hughes, michael bay, movies, Pittacus Lore, sci fi, Teresa Palmer, thriller, Timothy Olyphant

I am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron & Teresa Palmer

Posted on January 1, 2011 Written by ripitup

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I am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron & Teresa Palmer
I am Number Four starring Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron & Teresa Palmer.

Teen show-off John (Alex Pettyfer) is actually not your average kid. He has special powers that make it difficult for him to lead a normal life. He is also the target of a group that hunt people like him.

With the help of Henri (Timothy Olyphant), he relocates. He resumes his life as an ordinary student. He is even romantically interested in a pretty girl (Dianna Agron). But he is number four- meaning that he is the fourth one to be hunted down and killed and the first three were already taken care of.

Contradicting Henri’s common sense, he decides to stay and fight. After all, why shouldn’t he unite with the others and kick some villain ass?

Teresa Palmer plays number six.

You can watch the trailer here.

Directed by D.J.Caruso, based on the book written by James Frey & Jobie Hughes.

The story is fun and the effects look pretty good. Can’t wait to see it.

Also on Alex Pettyfer

Beastly starring Alex Pettyfer, Vanessa Hudgens, Neil Patrick Harris & Mary-Kate Olsen

Also on Timothy Olyphant

Justified TV Series starring Timothy Olyphant

Timothy  Olyphant Trivia

Sex and The City

A Perfect Getaway starring Timothy Olyphant

Damages Season 2- co-starring Timothy Olyphant

6 Hollywood Stars That Would Make 20-year-olds Jealous

Also on Teresa Palmer

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage, Monica Belluci, Jay Baruchel and Teresa Palmer

6 Solid Films with Low Budgets and Enclosed Locations feat. Restraint starring Teresa Palmer

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, adventure, Alex Pettyfer, D.J. Caruso, Dianna Agron, i am number four, i am number four movie, James Frey, Jobie Hughes, movies, Teresa Palmer, Timothy Olyphant

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage, Monica Belluci, Jay Baruchel and Teresa Palmer

Posted on July 23, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Sorcerer's Apprentice movie poster, starring Nicholas Cage
The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Nicholas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Monica Belluci and Teresa Palmer. Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Image via disnology.com

Balthazar Blake (Nicholas Cage), Veronica (Monica Belluci) and Horvath (Alfred Molina) are sorcerer apprentices to Merlin. They are all very powerful and are supposed to use magic for humanity. When Horvath makes a deal with the evil sorcerer Morgana (Alice Krige), steals a powerful magic and attacks them,  Veronica imprisons Morgana in herself ;and herself in a “grimhold” to save Balthazar and the world. Before Merlin dies, he tells Balthazar that he needs to find ther “premerlinian” (I have no idea how to spell that!!)- a sorcerer so powerful that he will be able to destroy Morgana.  So Baltahazar searches for this special person for over a thousand years, with no avail.

Come 2000 and by coincidence, the child he is looking for walks into Balthazar’s shop. His name is David Strutter, he is 10 and he is in love with his classmate Becky. Just when Balthazar gives him his special ring and tries to explain his purpose, David accidentally sets Horvath free. This ends in Balthazar imprisoning himself and Horvath in a grimhold and David running away.

Come 2010,David (Jay Baruchel) is a total physics nerd, working on a Tesla related thesis. When he runs into Becky (Teresa Palmer) at the university, he can’t believe his luck. But just when he believes he has a shot with her, Balthazar and Horvath reappear. Balthazar starts training David and involuntarily lets him date as well. In the meantime, Horvath is trying to find himself other sorcerers who can help him with his mission.

Of course Horvath can’t be trusted, Balthazar has a hard time convincing David he is the one and we find about the real reason why Horvath betrayed them.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an absolute summer fun. This summer gave us totally entertaining action/adventure films with romantic subplots on the side and really good jokes. After Iron Man 2, Prince of Persia The Sands of Time and Knight and Day, we get another fun movie that totally entertains. I couldn’t have cared less if Inception topped this one at the box office.  The script is really well-balanced, Nicholas Cage is totally lovely and funny as Balthazar, Alfred Molina makes a fine villain (Chocolat, Spider Man 2) and Monica Belluci is gorgeous as always.

I really liked Jay Baruchel and Teresa Palmer’s performances as well. The comic timing, action sequences with magic , special affects and chemistry between the cast complement each other perfectly. I laughed a lot and had a great time. This movie is directed by Jon Turteltaub, and I have always loved his directing, regardless of the genre. He has also directed the National Treasure films starring Nicholas Cage, While You Were Sleeping and Phenomenon.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is a Jerry Bruckheimer production. It was written by Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal, Matt Lopez, Doug Miro and Carlo Bernhard.




But of course keep in mind I love the combination of action/comedy/romance and I am not that into magic.I don’t likethe Harry Potter series. But I am a fan of Cage and Molina and they deliver, big time.

Trailer 1

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZllR44gdA[/pro-player]

Trailer 2

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZL3XjwL0E[/pro-player]

8/10. Perfect escapism!

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, adventure, Alfred Molina, comedy, fantasy, Jay Baruchel, Jon Turteltaub, merlin, monica belluci, movies, Nicholas Cage, nicolas cage, romance, Teresa Palmer, The Sorcerer's Apprentice

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