Hacksaw Ridge Facts – 32 interesting trivia about the film!

The film was directed by Mel Gibson and written by Andrew Knight and Robert Schenkkan, based on an earlier documentary about Doss, and stars Andrew Garfield as Doss, with Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths and Vince Vaughn in supporting roles. It was released in the United States on November 4, 2016, received positive reviews and has grossed $175 million worldwide.

Hacksaw Ridge is a 2016 biographical war drama film about the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacificist combat medic who was a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, refusing to carry or use a firearm or weapons of any kind. Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, for service above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Okinawa.

1. When asked how many lives he saved, Desmond T. Doss said approximately 50. However, witnesses said it was closer to 100. A mutual agreement was reached at approximately 75.
2. According to director Mel Gibson, Desmond T. Doss’s son Desmond Jr. attended the screening and was moved tears by Andrew Garfield’s accurate portrayal of his dad.
3. The film had a 14-year path from idea to production, according to an article in “Variety”.
4. While at the end of the movie it says Desmond saved 75 men by directly lowering them from the escarpment, he also treated around 55 more that were able to retreat without assistance after treatment during the battle.
5. Over the course of his tour, which lasted approximately 3 weeks, he rescued near 300 men.
6. The trailer note states that Desmond T. Doss was the only soldier to serve in a front-line capacity without carrying a weapon. In WWII, Korea and Vietnam the military classified several Seventh-Day Adventists with the status of 1A-O. This meant that they were willing to serve, but would not carry a weapon in combat. There were also Society of Friends (Quaker) volunteers in WWI.
7. Producer Hal B. Wallis had previously tried to buy this story from Desmond T. Doss in the 1950s and hoped that Audie Murphy would star, but Doss had no interest in motion pictures and didn’t want his story turned into a typical Hollywood movie.
8. Shot in 59 days.
9. The film received a standing ovation lasting nine minutes and 48 seconds at the Venice Film Festival in September 2016. Mel Gibson timed it himself.
10. The battle scenes took nineteen days to shoot.
11. The battlefield sequence, overseen by Mel Gibson’s longtime stunt double Mic Rodgers, was staged near Sydney (Australia) on a dairy farm that was about 100 meters squared. Smoke trucks circled the perimeter to ensure that any ‘scenery’ that didn’t look like Okinawa was effectively blocked out.
12. The first film directed by Mel Gibson in a decade, since Apocalypto (2006).
13. Film debut of Milo Gibson. He is the son of Mel Gibson, and this is the first cinematic collaboration between the two.
14. Harry S. Truman, the US president at that time, gave Desmond T. Doss his Medal of Honor.
15. When Dorothy gives Desmond the Bible before leaving for basic training it is bookmarked At 1 Samuel 17. This is the Old Testament account of David and Goliath. Many parallels can be found in these two stories.
16. One aspect that appealed to Mel Gibson in making this movie was that it contained a “real” superhero without spandex.
17. Desmond T. Doss was a member of the US Army’s 77th Infantry Division. Known as the “Liberty Division” for its distinctive insignia of a gold Statue of Liberty on a blue background, the 77th fought at Guam, Leyte (Philippines) and Okinawa. One of its units, Company C of the 306th Infantry Regiment, left the US in 1944 with 203 officers and men. By war’s end in August 1945, just 13 of the original members were left. The 77th fought alongside the Marines, and a newspaper article during the war described how the division’s soldiers fought so well at Guam that they earned the ultimate compliment–the Leathernecks nicknamed their Army counterparts the “77th Marine Division.” Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle was killed by an enemy sniper while covering the 77th on Ie Shima, a small island off the west coast of Okinawa. The 77th was part of the Allied force that occupied Japan after hostilities ceased.
18. Several shots of the Japanese soldiers charging come from the Japanese film Oba: The Last Samurai.
19. Teresa Palmer wanted to land a role in the film so badly that she auditioned via her iPhone and sent the recording to Mel Gibson. She heard nothing back for three months, until Gibson called Palmer to tell her in a Skype chat that she landed the role of Dorothy, Doss’ wife.
20. Mel Gibson stated that if Desmond T. Doss were alive today, he would want him to be President of the United States.
21. The Biblical passage narrated by Desmond at the beginning of the film is from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 40.
22. James Horner was originally hired to compose the score; he had previously collaborated with Mel Gibson on The Man Without a Face (1993), Braveheart (1995) and Apocalypto (2006). After Horner’s sudden death, John Debney (composer for Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ (2004)) was chosen as the film’s composer. His completed score, however, was rejected and he was replaced by Rupert Gregson-Williams for the final cut.
23. Stan Jensen from the Seventh-day Adventist Church took this story to screenwriter/producer Gregory Crosby in the late 1990s.
24. Desmond T. Doss was not the first conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor. Sgt. Alvin C. York was a conscientious objector also. Gary Cooper portrayed him in Sergeant York (1941). According to Wikipedia, “He [Sergeant York] also disclaimed ever having been a conscientious objector.” The important difference being that York did carry a weapon but Doss did not.
25. In order to make the battle scenes look more realistic, Gibson purchased two fifteen hundred dollar hand held cameras from his own pocket.
26. Mel Gibson stated that Desmond T. Doss was the first Conscientious Objector in American history to be awarded the Medal of Honor, and he has inspired others to save almost the same number of lives and those inspired have gone on to become recipients of the Medal of Honor.
27. Teresa Palmer worked on this movie in Melbourne while finalizing her work on Berlin Syndrome (2017) in the same city.
28. Screenwriter-producer Gregory Crosby originally brought this project to the table.
29. Vince Vaughn’s involvement was his first visit to Australia since Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004). During filming he explored Sydney and its attractions and made headlines when he participated in a public climb of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
30. Randall Wallace was previously set to direct.
31. Luke Bracey’s character states multiple times how hot he thinks Teresa Palmer’s character is. This is coincidental, since she played his love interest in Σπάσε τα όρια σου (2015).
32. Second collaboration between Teresa Palmer and Luke Bracey, the first being Σπάσε τα όρια σου (2015).
33. Vince Vaughn says the line “Well, Dorothy, looks like we’re not in Kansas anymore”, a reference to The Wizard of Oz (1939). And also a reference to Jon Favreau’s failed chat up line in Swingers (1996) in which Vaughn also stars.