Desmond Doss : With the world so set on tearing itself apart, it don't seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of it back together.





THE FEATURES ⭐⭐⭐

The Soul of War: Making Hacksaw Ridge (1h 9m, HD)





In 1955, producer Hal B. Wallis approached Desmond Doss about turning his story into a feature film. Doss turned Wallis down because he did not want his story turned into a typical Hollywood film. 45 years later, Desmond was convinced to do a documentary about his life. He wanted to be able to tell his story in a way that made sense. To Doss, a documentary made sense.





This doc, and a few other books, were the basis for the screenplay that would be kicked around Hollywood for 14 years. The producers took the film to Walden Media, who wanted to make the film, but had reservations about the violence in the film. They told the producers that the film had to receive a PG-13 rating. After not being able to cut the screenplay down to the rating Walden wanted, the producers took the film to another company.





Thus is the story about how the film ended up being made. This doc focuses on the background, in a lot more detail than I provided, and the making of the film.





Hacksaw Ridge . I learned quite a bit about the film and grew more appreciative towards the film. A lot of heart and soul went into making this film and this doc does a really good job at showing us the ins and outs about the making of





Veteran’s Day Greeting (1m 2s, HD)





Gibson tells us how important veterans to Americans and then shamelessly plus the film.





Deleted Scenes (4m 32s, HD)





There are five scenes presented here. None of them are substantial and were right to be cut.





Theatrical Trailer (2m 33s, HD)





We also get four trailers at the beginning of the disc for Patriot’s Day, Deepwater Horizon, Hell or

High Water, and Blood Father. These trailers can also be watched from the special features menu.





THE PACKAGING ⭐⭐⭐⭐





I am reviewing the steelbook that is exclusive to Target. The film is also available in a normal blu-ray package.

Click the picture to order This is the second steelbook that Lionsgate has released in 2017, This is the second steelbook that Lionsgate has released in 2017, Deepwater Horizon being the other one and a review of that can be found here, and they have done an amazing job again.





The front cover displays the film’s theatrical poster, which depicts Desmond Doss on the battlefield. A thick cloud of smoke lies ahead of him as he runs towards it. The sunlight is breaking through the smoke as if God were leading Desmond to his next save. Very little wording is one this cover, with the title, the film’s tagline, and “From Academy Award Winner Mel Gibson” being the only wording on the cover. The front cover displays the film’s theatrical poster, which depicts Desmond Doss on the battlefield. A thick cloud of smoke lies ahead of him as he runs towards it. The sunlight is breaking through the smoke as if God were leading Desmond to his next save. Very little wording is one this cover, with the title, the film’s tagline, and “From Academy Award Winner Mel Gibson” being the only wording on the cover.





The steelbook has a matte finish and is gorgeous to look at.





The back cover shows the rope net that the soldiers had to climb to face off against the Japanese. Doss is shown at the top, as he is in the film, getting ready to lower an injured soldier down with a rope. The back cover shows the rope net that the soldiers had to climb to face off against the Japanese. Doss is shown at the top, as he is in the film, getting ready to lower an injured soldier down with a rope.





The inner art work shows soldiers shooting at an unseen enemy on the left side and Doss dragging an injured soldier to safety on the right side. The inner art work shows soldiers shooting at an unseen enemy on the left side and Doss dragging an injured soldier to safety on the right side.





Two discs can be found in this set: a DVD and a Blu-ray of the film. Both disc carry the same artwork: Doss carrying an injured soldier to safety as the battle rages behind him. I am not a big fan of the discs in the package having the same artwork. When I opened the package for the first time I thought that I had gotten two DVDs. The symbols for the formats are very tiny and may be had to read for some. Two discs can be found in this set: a DVD and a Blu-ray of the film. Both disc carry the same artwork: Doss carrying an injured soldier to safety as the battle rages behind him. I am not a big fan of the discs in the package having the same artwork. When I opened the package for the first time I thought that I had gotten two DVDs. The symbols for the formats are very tiny and may be had to read for some.



Also included is a slip of paper with a code redeemable for a digital copy, either through iTunes or any Ultraviolet provider like Vudu. Also included is a slip of paper with a code redeemable for a digital copy, either through iTunes or any Ultraviolet provider like Vudu.





REGION A (locked) and the DVD is REGION ONE. The blu-ray isand the DVD is





THE PICTURE ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hacksaw Ridge is no different. The scenes that take place before the war (ie the Doss’s home life and bootcamp) are bright and sunny. The greens are full of life and sun has a comforting yellow. Of course these scenes are going to be bright because they are the opposite of the war scenes, which carry more earth tone colors. The reproduction of the colors is beautifully done here and there is no trace of any digital manipulation. This is a beautiful transfer of a beautiful film. Director Mel Gibson has always had a really good eye when it came to the look of his films andis no different. The scenes that take place before the war (ie the Doss’s home life and bootcamp) are bright and sunny. The greens are full of life and sun has a comforting yellow. Of course these scenes are going to be bright because they are the opposite of the war scenes, which carry more earth tone colors. The reproduction of the colors is beautifully done here and there is no trace of any digital manipulation. This is a beautiful transfer of a beautiful film.





THE SOUND ⭐⭐⭐⭐

In the making of doc, there is a lot of talk about the music and sound effects done for the film. They talk about how they had to balance everything out so that the most important sound (music, effects, etc) are heard. This track is bombastic and loud. The earlier scenes have a quietness to them, inviting us into the world the film is creating. We get the sense that we would like to live in the town that Doss is from. Once the film gets to the war scenes we feel as if we are there. The track goes into overdrive in these scenes and the work done by the sound mixers comes to full fruition. We hear every bullet hit, whether it is in the ground or flesh. This is the best track for a war film that I have heard since Saving Private Ryan.





THE FILM ⭐⭐⭐1/2





My review for the film can be found here.

OVERALL ⭐⭐⭐1/2

While I wish that Lionsgate would have given us more in the special features department (maybe put the doc about Doss on the disc) I am happy with what we have. Sure, the deleted scenes are a bust, but we get a really great making of as well as the film’s theatrical trailer, which we almost never see on discs anymore. The film is really good, but I did have a few problems that will most likely become non problems over time. This is a nice package and if you can get the absolutely stunning steelbook, then that is what I would recommend.

Hacksaw Ridge is the way that a religion based film should be done. The film doesn't dumb down the characters or show that Christianity is the way to go. It tells the story of a man who sticks to his own convictions and follows his own path to get what he needs to get done.