Even before Mel Gibson’s career suffered a steep decline following his anti-sematic rant in the 2000s, Producer Bill Mechanic was adamant about convincing Gibson to craft Hacksaw Ridge. But despite failing to convince Gibson on 2 separate occasions, Gibson would eventually come on board to bring the story of Desmond T. Doss to the big screens after the story finally clicked with him.
Not only the movie scored six Oscar nominations with two wins under its belt, but it also revived Gibson’s Hollywood career, earning him a Best Director nomination. But it seems, the scandal-scarred star initially had ideas of going more deep into the grittiness and horrors of War.
Mel Gibson brushed off his initial plans of making Hacksaw Ridge more intense
It’s impressive to see how even with a limited budget, Mel Gibson succeeded in bringing the intense and jolting nature of warfare into the film. But it appears, the director had more intense ideas to showcase the brutality of war, making it more graphic as a result. However, this idea was short-lived as exceeding the limits could’ve turned a major portion of the audience away, and according to Gibson, the end product does the job perfectly. He explained,
“Well you were saying how it was intense. I wanted to get inside of it more. It would have taken more time than money. I had some ideas that were really crazy ideas. Investigating the area between the man and the bullet. Just getting on the inside of that stuff. But this was pretty graphic, you get the idea that it’s realistic and it has the right edits and it moves along. I think it does its job. Too much more might have pushed it over an edge.”
Although the War movie trope was done to death by the time Hacksaw Ridge arrived, it felt like a breath of fresh year, as Gibson did an excellent job telling the inspiring story of Desmond T. Doss.
Hacksaw Ridge is a love story according to Mel Gibson
Even though Hacksaw Ridge stands as one of the best War films of the last decade, alongside 1917, Dunkirk, etc, Mel Gibson doesn’t see his Oscar-nominated film as a War film.
The movie follows the true story of Desmond T. Doss, played by Andrew Garfield, who transcended the horrors of war by saving 75 wounded men and was awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in combat as a medic. And To Gibson, the story of Doss is “the greatest act of love”, as he saved both Japanese and American men without regard for his safety. Gibson said,
“What he did was the greatest act of love there is. That’s why I call this movie a love story, not a war story.”
Not only the movie did exceptionally well among critics and fans, but it also put the Braveheart star’s career back on track, as he is now ready to get back in the director’s chair for his upcoming project.
Hacksaw Ridge is available to stream on Apple TV.
Source: Deadline
