At the movies - From the couch

No issue with the story. It is pretty mind blowing.

The movie was terrible

Interesting. I loved it.

What didn’t you like about it?

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Agree to majorly disagree.

Firstly, I liked some of the cinematography, and some ok acting. I think a chunk of it was filmed in Australia, so the scenes with vehicles are flipped to make them LHD.

Scene 1.

This was as schmaltzy and tired as it gets. Just phoning in the ultimate stereotype that’s been played out in so many movies and books. All American good boy. Perfect girl. Wouldn’t hurt a fly, but wants to take on the Nazi and Japanese war machine so bad, that he will leave his Mrs behind.

Scene 2 boot camp

Again. Could we have another stereotype here? The conflict between individual versus the group. The group itself consisted of the usual suspects, the good looking guy, the Italian guy, the bully (you guessed it, later this guy will respect the guy he first hates), the fat guy, the card playing guy, the tough guy that’s really just scared like everyone else. No blacks, sorry….

And you take these cookie cutter guys and, I dunno, copy the entire first scene from full metal jacket or some other movie. It was just so samey.

Now, the battle scenes…

No one ran out of ammunition or needed to reload…. A guy who is pinned down picks up the torso of a dead soldier and runs Rambo style toward the enemy.

But the BIGGEST DUMB thing about this movie is the big wide rope ladder that they use to access the battleground.

They say they’ve been repelled 3 times back down the ladder before we follow our guys going back up. They keep battling, most people die, some climb back down, except our one hero.

But the Japanese finally out number them, and even push them back off the ridge and down the ladder. They even and stand at the top of the ladder, shooting down.

Then the next day/week whatever the Americans form up at the base of the ladder. That the Japanese simply left there (for the 4th time).

The Japanese never once thought to set up defenses or remove the ladder. Instead they built a bunker 50m back from the edge where they could be sitting ducks for our band of brothers.

The real life story is pretty remarkable, but the movie was just stupid Hollywood tropes and stereotypes.

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AI BOT alert

Remarkable what a little bit of research can show you.

When I first saw the movie, the one thing that bemused/confused me was the cargo net and why the Japanese didn’t destroy it or cut it down.

So I looked it up (just did it again for you) via google

Why didn’t the Japanese cut the ropes at Hacksaw Ridge?

AI Overview

The Japanese did not cut the ropes or cargo nets at Hacksaw Ridge because exposing themselves at the cliff edge meant certain death from American artillery, naval gunfire, and snipers. Keeping the ropes served as a tactical choke point, allowing the Japanese to trap and bleed incoming American waves.

Tactical and Strategic Reasons

  • Lethal Exposure: Crawling to the edge of the escarpment to sever the ropes exposed Japanese soldiers to heavy fire from the base of the cliff and offshore U.S. warships.

  • Using the Choke Point: The Japanese preferred to let U.S. troops funnel up into a designated killing zone where pre-sighted machine guns and caves could inflict maximum casualties.

  • Defensive Positioning: Japanese forces were deeply entrenched in a network of reverse-slope caves and tunnels rather than standing guard right on the precipice.

  • Redundancy: If the ropes were cut, American engineering units could easily rig replacement cargo nets or scale alternative points along the ridge

Also

Which parts of Hacksaw Ridge are true?

AI Overview

The core events of Hacksaw Ridge are largely true, including Desmond Doss being an unarmed medic, saving roughly 75 men, and winning the Medal of Honor. The film actually toned down his real-life bravery because directors felt audiences would think the raw truth was fake.

What Was True

  • The Rescues: Doss stayed behind under heavy fire on the Maeda Escarpment in Okinawa. He prayed “Lord, please help me get one more” as he lowered around 75 wounded men down the cliff face one by one

  • The Conscientious Objector Status: Doss truly refused to carry a weapon or kill an enemy due to his Seventh-day Adventist beliefs, becoming the first objector to win the Medal of Honor.

  • The Injuries:

    He was wounded by a grenade blast and later had his arm shattered by a sniper. Incredible as it seems, he really did roll off his own stretcher to let a more critical patient use it, and he used a rifle stock as a splint before crawling 300 yards to safety.

What Was Changed or Fictionalized

  • The Cliff Height: The actual Maeda Escarpment cliff was roughly 35 to 40 feet high, much shorter than the massive, dramatic mountain wall shown in Hollywood’s visual style.

  • The Court-Martial: The movie dramatizes Doss being arrested and nearly court-martialed for refusing to pick up a rifle. In reality, while he faced friction and teasing from peers, he was never jailed or put on trial.

  • Family Background: The intense scene where Doss aims a gun at his drunken father and the details of how he met his wife Dorothy were altered or embellished for dramatic effect.

  • Character Companions: Fellow soldier “Smitty” was a fictional composite character created to represent the men who initially doubted Doss.

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Not disputing the real life events or why the Japanese left the ladder, it just played out really poorly, and much differently in the movie.

It wouldn’t have taken much (in true Hollywood fashion) to have someone casually explain to the newly arriving soldiers (and movie viewers) that this was the case.

Great story, ■■■■ movie.

wikipedia is more entertaining than the movie

Great story, great movie :squinting_face_with_tongue:

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I agree about the boot camp and the different troops having the different characteristics and tropes that you would expect

At first I found the ropes silly, but I thought they explained it well in the movie where the navy/artillery would bomb the hell out of that thing to either kill or stop the Japanese from camping up there. Plus the Japanese was relying more on the element of surprise and just sheer outnumbering the enemy

I appreciate the detailed reply fwiw

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Hahahaha

Watched with Jnr, and having seen it previously I just waited til the end to tee off about it.

He wasn’t anywhere near as bothered as I was.

So I was just getting it off my chest.

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What did you think of Hail Mary Project or whatever it was? That’s the other stupid movie I watched recently.

That’s what blitz and the movie thread is all about

That’s why I love movies, 100 people can watch the same movie and everyone will have a different opinion on what they think worked, didn’t work etc

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Amen. I am still trying to get past the first half of Clockwork Orange. And almost feel like I’ll never get there, but when I do it might not be worth it.

It’s worth it.

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AI responder…. Duuuuude!

This may surprise you…I really liked it :laughing:

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Have you watched the telly series

Yes.

Some classic moments that eclipse both the original and the remake.

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