History defines the individual by actions as well as beliefs. For Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), going to Okinawa during World War II didn’t mean taking lives but saving them. He’s the catalyst behind Mel Gibson’s extraordinary movie, Hacksaw Ridge. While Gibson stages the action, Garfield draws upon every emotional fibre. The latter gives the performance of his career, capturing the moral compass behind a noteworthy conscientious objector.

Had I seen Hacksaw Ridge in 2016 it would have made my top ten of the year. Ultimately, Gibson’s project rewards patience with a gift of excellence. Every moment held my curiosity in anticipation for the next. Above all, there are images in this film I shall never forget: 1) The look from Desmond when he first sees nurse Dorothy (Teresa Palmer), absolutely Golden Age in terms of sincerity; 2) Soldiers fighting on the ridge, and a dead carcass being used as a shield; 3) The many instances a flame thrower comes into play; 4) The rats (lots of these); and 5) Desmond’s refusal to pick up a rifle. He just stands in line, no matter what his superiors yell at him.

Notably, the film allows several supporting players to excel. For example, Hugo Weaving charts the various degrees of a drunken father using textbook precision. Quite simply, emotions have no place to hide when he’s in close-up. Meanwhile, Vince Vaughn captures the harshness of a drill instructor only a step or two removed from R. Lee Ermey’s definitive portrayal in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. Faced with a potential no-hoper in Doss, this commander shows us his side of the argument.

Greater still, there’s Andrew Garfield, simply superb in a role he was meant to play. For creating a believable hero, an everyman whose morality and religious beliefs struck deep chords, the Oscar nomination ends up well deserved.

Essentially, we’re talking battlefields where scale matters as much as brotherhood. Therefore, editor John Gilbert tracks each dilemma as a study in human interaction. Priorities alter when the wounded and fatalities clash with gung-ho ideals. Certain war movies such as The Deer Hunter and Black Hawk Down capture this pain. As of this writing, Hacksaw Ridge earns a place alongside the finest military spectacles ever put on screen.

(Released by Lionsgate and rated “R” for intense prolonged realistically graphic sequences of war violence including grisly bloody images.)