Mel Gibson's World War II drama follows Desmond Doss, a combat medic who carried a moral conviction onto the bloodiest ridge of the Battle of Okinawa and refused to compromise it under fire.
What is Hacksaw Ridge about?
Desmond T. Doss enlists as an Army medic determined to serve his country without ever picking up a weapon, a stance rooted in his religious upbringing that puts him at odds with his commanding officers and fellow soldiers before he ever reaches the front. Once his unit is sent to Okinawa and up the cliff face known as Hacksaw Ridge, the film shifts from barracks-room conflict to sustained combat, following Doss as he works to pull wounded men off the exposed plateau while the assault around him collapses into chaos. His actions during that single, prolonged engagement form the spine of the story, and the film builds toward the recognition that made him the first man in American military history to receive the nation's highest military honor without ever firing a shot.
About the cast
Andrew Garfield anchors the film as Doss, playing conviction as quiet stubbornness rather than speechmaking. Vince Vaughn and Sam Worthington provide the military-command friction around him as his sergeant and captain, while Teresa Palmer plays the nurse he courts before shipping out. Hugo Weaving appears as Doss's father, a World War I veteran whose own unresolved history shapes the household Desmond grows up in.
Context & significance
The production reconstructs the Battle of Okinawa's ridge assault with a scale and intensity that places it among the more physically demanding war films of its decade, contrasting an unusually gentle courtship narrative in its first half with a sustained, unflinching combat sequence in its second. It draws on the same historical episode covered in documentary form elsewhere, but tells it entirely through Doss's personal experience rather than a broader campaign overview.
Watching Hacksaw Ridge on Ktime
Hacksaw Ridge is available to watch on K-Time with a free account login, with Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles both available for viewers who prefer to follow the film in Farsi. K-Time's Farsi-first interface makes it easy for the Iranian diaspora audience to find and queue titles like this one alongside the rest of the catalogue.