Andrew Garfield Hacksaw Ridge

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Sam Worthington, Luke Bracey, Teresa Palmer, Hugo Weaving, Rachel Griffiths, Vince Vaughn
Director: Mel Gibson
Genre: Biography, Drama, Romance
Running Time: 138 minutes

Synopsis: Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) as a young man in Lynchburg, Virginia, manages to shut out the harsh conditions of the real world and create one of his own choosing.

His family–his violent, alcoholic father Tom (Hugo Weaving), suffering from PTSD long before such a disease was ever recognized, his Fundamentalist mother, Bertha (Rachel Griffths), and his older brother Hal (Nathaniel Buzolic)– has a profound influence on his development.

Raised as a Seventh Day Adventist, Desmond's religious faith is profound, but it's a quiet, intimate faith. Desmond believes what he believes, and because of a couple of traumatic childhood events, he most strongly believes that 'Thou Shalt Not Kill." By chance, Desmond meets a young nurse, Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Pamler), and with his usual decisiveness, Desmond knows immediately that they're destined to be married.

As the U.S. enters World War II, Hal signs up to serve. Desmond finds himself in a complex dilemma " he wants to serve his country as he feels this is a just war, but he's compelled to serve in a way that doesn't compromise his values. He enlists to serve as a medic, but is assigned to the infantry.

Desmond is sent to train with the newly formed 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B " a motley crew led by the fierce Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn), and presided over by -alpha dog' Smitty Ryker (Luke Bracey).

That very lives of the men are threatened, in the eyes of Howell, his men, and the forcible Captain Glover (Sam Worthington), when it emerges that Desmond won't touch a weapon. He'll save lives, but he won't carry a knife, let alone a gun, and he won't work on the Sabbath. In his own words hee's not a conscientious objector – he voluntarily enlisted – he's a -conscientious co-operator'. Desmond is pressured physically and mentally, and is unsuccessfully court-martialed, but in 1944 finally wins the right to serve as the only American solider on the frontlines without a weapon. The living hell of the Battle Okinawa, and the jagged escarpment 400 feet high – Hacksaw Ridge – that leads to the battleground, i serves as a crucible for Doss' beliefs.

In this impossible situation, Desmond Doss performed acts of bravery that seem, by any normal measure, impossible. The army officially credited him with saving 75 men, in the most dire of circumstances. The men finally see he badly they misjudged his courage. On his return home, Desmond Doss earns the Congressional Medal of Honor, the first Conscientious Objector to ever do so.

Hacksaw Ridge
Release Date: November 3rd, 2016

About The Production

Director's Statement

When I heard the story of Desmond Doss, the first conscientious objector to receive the U.S. Medal of Honor, I was astounded by the extent of his sacrifice. Here was a man who, in the most pure, selfless, and almost unconscious way, repeatedly risked his own life to save the lives of his brothers. Desmond was a completely ordinary man who did extraordinary things.

When WWII broke out and young men raced to enlist, Desmond faced a predicament – he was as eager to serve as any man, but violence conflicted with his religious and moral beliefs. He refused to even touch a weapon. Desmond underwent intense persecution for his refusal to waver in his conviction, then went on to enter the hell of war armed with nothing more than his faith, and emerge one of the greatest war heroes of all time.

Desmond Doss was singular. There are few, if any people, who could or would replicate his actions. The humility he maintained in discussing his heroics is a testament to the mettle of the man. In fact, Desmond was asked permission for years to adapt his story into a film, and repeatedly declined, insisting that the 'real heroes" were the ones in the ground. In a cinematic landscape overrun with fictional 'superheroes," I thought it was time to celebrate a real one.

Andrew Garfield truly inhabited the character and captured the essence of Desmond Doss, and the supporting cast and crew delivered in spades. I'm grateful for everyone's contributions. It was a privilege and an honor to tell this story.
- Mel Gibson

Genesis Of The Film

The journey to bring the story of Desmond Doss to audiences was a long one, which had gone on since the end of World War II.

Desmond Doss was a man who, as a Private and medic, achieved the unthinkable in that War, and whose heroic story was for almost 60 years largely unknown, except in military circles and within the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Producer of Hacksaw Ridge, Bill Mechanic, explains: 'Desmond Doss never wanted to sell his life rights, he didn't want to popularise himself, feeling that that would be a contradiction to who he was. It wasn't until late in his life that people convinced him that it was time to tell the story so that it would live on."

Documentary filmmaker Terry Benedict had secured the rights to produce a documentary about Doss, which was released in 2004, and at the same time secured the life rights of his story. Terry Benedict approached producer David Permut, who approached Bill Mechanic. In 2001, Mechanic bought the life rights from Benedict, and started the process that would lead to Hacksaw Ridge.

Bill Mechanic engaged writer Robert Schenkkan to transform Doss' story into a screenplay. Robert Schenkkan had won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his Kentucky Cycle plays, and in 2014 won the Outstanding Play Tony for All The Way.

The question of how to adapt and structure his true story into a film was a complex one. There is little written about Doss but from the documentary produced by Terry Benedict, Doss' own verbal accounts of what happened, and accounts from Army records, Bill Mechanic and Robert Schenkkan were able to create a compelling narrative.

Bill Mechanic explains: 'You want to understand where the character came from. We discussed at one point starting in Okinawa, but we felt that if we didn't explain the impact of Doss' parents, of meeting Dorothy, the formation of his rudimentary belief system, then the audience wouldn't understand the character."

The screenplay would, when necessary, create secondary characters from amalgams of real people, and dramatically streamline events in Desmond Doss' early life, but would adhere to the core and remarkable facts of his incredible feats on Hacksaw Ridge. After several drafts, Bill Mechanic sold the rights to a production company, who held onto the rights for many years.

'I was making another movie," says Bill Mechanic, 'and the production company wanted to move forward with a version of the film that I thought was wrong. Okinawa was the bloodiest battle of World War II, and they wanted a soft PG13, with a director who I didn't think was right for the picture, so I froze it and decided I had to get the movie back. The only way to really do the film was to force it out there, by putting on a director who could not deliver a PG13, and that was Mel Gibson."

Getting Mel Gibson on board as the director of Hacksaw Ridge was a long process " Bill Mechanic had seen Mel Gibson as the ideal director for more than a decade.

'I'd sent Mel Gibson the script in 2002, and in 2010, and then again in 2014" explains Bill Mechanic. 'His people had read it earlier, but up until the third time I sent it, Mel had been more interested in directing projects that he'd developed himself. In 2014, he read it overnight and by the morning he was essentially in."

For Bill Mechanic, Mel Gibson's rarity was the key to his persistence. 'Very few actors become great directors. There are a lot who've directed a very good movie or two, but very few keep going and get better as they go along. Mel Gibson's films, from The Man Without A Face to Braveheart is a giant jump, but when I watched the movies he's done since, The Passion Of The Christ and Apocalypto, I thought he'd become a consummate director. You've got a guy who understands the story he's telling, believes in the characters, he's great with actors and great with camera and the editing process – he's a complete director."

Mel Gibson himself was drawn by the singularity of Desmond Doss. 'Desmond Doss abhorred violence, it was against his principles, his religious beliefs, but he wanted to serve his country in World War II as a medic. How does somebody go into the worst place on earth without a weapon? It was all the more compelling to me, because it was a true story, and I thought I could bring my visual language to it."

The working relationship between Mel Gibson and Bill Mechanic had started years before, with Braveheart, made when Bill Mechanic was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment.

Bill Mechanic c sees parallels between the stories and the situation he'd found himself in. 'Braveheart was stalled, same as with Hacksaw Ridge, nobody would make the movie, they felt that it was period, and who cared about Scottish freedom and William Wallace. I'd just gone to Fox, and Mel Gibson's agent called me with the script of Braveheart. It was a beautiful story, and I met with Mel Gibson, who knew everything he wanted to do, and so we supervised the film. Hacksaw Ridge felt like a companion piece to Braveheart. It pulls together the dual things that Mel Gibson does, which are religion, and violence and war. He's different than just about any filmmaker in terms of how experiential the filmmaking is, how visceral the storytelling is."

Bill Mechanic knew that they had a good script before Mel Gibson came on board, but they worked for four or five months on it, with Bill Mechanic doing rewrites with Andrew Knight. 'Mel Gibson would go through and would question the character and question the motivations in everything and made those characters better. He was the real creator of all the battle sequences, regardless of who wrote the scenes."

The film would shoot in Australia. Besides making economic sense, in 2002 when Bill Mechanic had first tried to get the film greenlit, he'd tasked location scouts with searching for the ideal key location, using images of the unusual Okinawa escarpment " a cliff face which lands on a plateau. Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii were the three places that seemed most likely, and Bill Mechanic pored over the potential lists, until he found exactly the right location in Australia.

Finding the actor to encapsulate the extraordinary man who was Desmond Doss, would be key. Bill Mechanic explains: 'It was 14 years making the film, so I've always looked for actors to play Desmond Doss. He's a difficult character to play because he's so inward, he's not going to explain himself a lot of times in the movie, so it had to be somebody who could inhabit the person so that you could understand Desmond."

'If he was a Superman, with a body built like The Rock, you still wouldn't believe that a person still could do what Desmond did, these are almost superhuman feats, but in movie terms, if you saw a big guy you'd believe that he could do that. So I felt that it could never be a big guy, it had to be a slight man, it had to be somebody like the real Desmond. A lot of people came forward who wanted to play him, but it came down to two people that I thought could play Desmond and play it internalised, and the one who I thought could best become Desmond Doss was Andrew Garfield."

Desmond Doss, The -Conscientious Co-Operator' – portrayed by Andrew Garfield

What drew British actor Andrew Garfield to the part was the singular man at the center of the story.

'There wasn't any hesitation when I read the script" says Andrew Garfield. 'I think it's rare in this world to have someone that is so tuned into themselves, tuned into that still, small voice inside, so that no matter what is thrown at them, they know what they can do, and what they can't do." Desmond Doss was not technically a conscientious objector, in our understanding of the term – he willingly enlisted. He himself used an interesting and apt term; a -conscientious co-operator'.

Mel Gibson says of Doss: 'He was a co-operator in the sense that he wanted to be part of the war, but he wanted to enter it not to take life but to save it – he figured that there were a lot of people killing one another, he should be there trying to at least go in the other direction and save lives. Which he did " there were a lot of guys walking around after the war specifically because he dragged them to safety, or patched their wounds."

On October 12, 1945, Desmond Doss was awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor by President Harry Truman, for single-handedly saving, during the Battle of Okinawa, 75 wounded soldiers and getting them off the 400 foot high escarpment, while under fire and mortars and bullets. Mel Gibson thinks of Doss as -the bravest of the brave'. 'What kind of madman goes into that kind of a conflagration without being armed? Somebody mentioned to me that the Congressional Medal of Honour is usually given to people who have a moment where they make a snap decision " they could run, but they end up doing something heroic. This guy did it 24/7, for a month. It was a whole other level."
Andrew Garfield was also impressed by Doss' respect for the enemy. 'Desmond treated the enemy with as much care as he would treat his fellow Americans. I don't really understand that, but I wanted to understand it more, and to learn from his perspective on life and on the world " this beautiful perspective that we're all one. Even though Desmond Doss was a Seventh Day Adventist, I believe this is a story that transcends any specific religion or spiritual belief system. I believe it's a very spiritual film, a spiritual story and his way just happened to be this way, it's not merely a Christian story."

For Mel Gibson, it was Doss' profound strength of character and his exceptionalness, which resonated with Mel Gibson himself, which would inspire a rallying call in the hearts and minds of each and every audience member.

'Desmond Doss did estimable things," Mel Gibson explains. 'He went way beyond what most of us could do, and I think when you see that some other human being can go to that place, it makes you think -Well, maybe I could too, maybe that stuff is inside me too'. Doss was exceptional, and it's always important to point out the exceptional ones amongst us."

Actress Rachel Griffiths, who plays Desmond's mother, Bertha, identified with this sentiment. 'Fighting the Japanese in the last months before the end of the War, when you read those accounts they're like 14th century paintings of apocalypse, like an Hieronymus Bosch painting of hell. And in this hell, this man is able to find this courage that is so just extraordinary."

Although Desmond Doss passed away at the age of 87, in 2006, Andrew Garfield was conscious of the heavy weight of responsibility of honoring Doss' life, and spent three months focused on the process.

'The preparation was extensive. I visited Desmond's hometown, the place where he retired, the home that he grew up in, the home where he passed away. I walked the walks that he walked. I read all the books about him, absorbing as much as I possibly could, and that was just scratching the surface, really. One of the joys of doing a story like this is that you get to dive into someone else's being, the time in which they were alive, which is endlessly fascinating. You get to be an historian and a researcher."

Desmond Doss And His Family
Tom Doss – portrayed by Hugo Weaving

Desmond Doss and the man he became was shaped by his environment – by the Great Depression and the pre-War years, by the dynamics small town life, by his church and faith, but more than anything by his family.

Mel Gibson says: 'If you're making a film about someone who really existed, you have to investigate the other people in his life, those he loved, those who loved him, and the forces exerted on him by the people around him."

The key and at times almost overwhelming force was that exerted by his father, Tom. It's a defining relationship in the film, because of the intense love but also deep shame shared between them.

Tom Doss is a damaged individual, a man whose inner being was shattered by the horrors of the Western Front and the loss of his childhood friends in World War I. These traumas, and his inability to return fully to the world of the living, have led him to become a self-loathing and violent alcoholic. Desmond Doss is the center of the film, but Tom anchors something profound for Desmond's journey.

Australian actor Hugo Weaving, who plays Tom Doss, says: 'Throughout the course of the story there's enough to make you understand what has brought all this about in this man. He feels very human and very real. Tom Doss is introduced talking to friends who've died in World War I, and so you get the sense of this cycle of male aggression being passed from one generation to the next. To me he's a very critical structural character within the whole arc of the film, but it was the fact that he was a very complex, damaged, and ultimately very sad character that drew me to him."

Andrew Garfield's perspective is that 'they both share this shame, this family curse that Tom's passed on to Desmond, but Desmond has sublimated it into this fierce determination to serve, and to not be his father. Growing up, Desmond's desire was to heal his father and he could never do it. That inability to heal his father of his alcoholism and his self-loathing gives Desmond this deep drive to serve others. He never felt like he was ever serving enough until he was depleted and literally couldn't move anymore."

Of this awkward but profound relationship, Hugo Weaving says: 'Hal, Tom's older son, is the alpha male who'll jump in and just do something. Desmond has a tendency to be more circumspect and thoughtful. Tom understands that about his son, knows that he's more sensitive, that he's less cut out for war. Tom tries to shield his sons, but Hal's off and in uniform, and there's not much that Tom can do about that, so Tom tries to pre-empt Desmond going but it's too late."

Tom indeed plays a crucial and seemingly contradictory role " he is a voice that is anti-war, but is a lynchpin in allowing his son to go into battle with his personal integrity maintained.

For Hugo Weaving, a key aspect of preparation was reading not just the screenplay but the documented life of Tom Doss, and understanding what the screenwriters had chosen to focus in on.

Hugo Weaving explains: 'When you see differences there you go well obviously they've made a choice to focus on this rather than that, and why, and then you understand what the tone of the film is going to be, or what the film's trying to project."

'For me it was a matter of understanding something about post-traumatic stress, what it would be like to be on the front lines in World War I. It's something I've been interested in for a long time; that particular war and the effects of that particular war, so I did a lot of research, and imaginative research as well, into what that would be like."

Bertha Doss – Portrayed By Rachel Griffiths

Bertha Doss, Desmond's mother, is a robust woman who has long had to keep her family together, physically and emotionally. Her family is compromised of three men - a husband traumatised by a world war and two sons who resent him, and who'll soon enlist in a second global conflict.

Bertha's principles anchor her younger son, Desmond, and guide his own moral conscience, which is the key to the story of Hacksaw Ridge. Desmond's drive to protect his mother is likewise crucial to the plot.

For Rachel Griffiths, who plays the character, the research and the connection to this woman would be very personal.

'When I was researching Bertha, I looked at the lives of women who endured the Great Depression into the War years, in the U.S. but it's very true of the Australian situation as well " it's my grandmother's story, so I pulled on that as well. The uncles and brothers of these women were often felled or damaged in World War I, and if they were lucky enough to get married, they married men who'd been terribly affected by World War I. They're raising families through one of the most difficult financial times in modern history, and just as they're coming out of it, the world looks like it's going to send another few million men off to their deaths. It was a particularly difficult time in human history, I think, to be a woman."

Rachel Griffiths also drew on the grim but tender portraits taken by American documentary photographer Dorothea Lange of women in rural USA during the Great Depression. 'Their children are hungry, they are in adverse circumstances, they're broken, and yet in the faces of these women you can see that they're drawing on a deep strength and a faith that I'm not sure that we have to really dig down for so much in modern times."

The actress also researched the Seventh Day Adventist church, its foundations as well as its philosophy. 'It was really important to me that faith is not a didactic character in this film. It's an underlying force that informs people's moral choices in the screenplay, and that's very authentic."

Of the story overall, Rachel Griffiths says: 'I'm fascinated by stories of conscience, when somebody has to lean so hard against the tide of public opinion. People like the Germans and Austrians and Dutch who stood up against their neighbours and hid Jews during World War II, who put their lives at risk. Who has the courage when it really matters to stand up for what they believe in? Sometimes the price those people pay is a huge price. What's wonderful about this story is that in many ways, Desmond doesn't pay a price, he's vindicated in his faith, and his values turn out to be justified."

Dorothy Schutte – portrayed by Teresa Palmer

Dorothy Schutte was Desmond Doss' beloved wife, and for the filmmakers it was crucial to distill the truth of who Dorothy was within the character onscreen - a woman who has an equally strong belief system to Desmond, and who would be a beacon in Desmond's darkest moments. Producer Bill Mechanic explains: 'You wanted somebody who the audience could see in shorthand who represented all the things that Desmond Doss needed, who kept his faith alive, who when he's at war, is a respite from the war."

'There's the dynamic, in story terms, that the alcoholic violent, father in Tom and the strong matriarch in Bertha would inform the warring sides of who Desmond is. Dorothy " who would be attracted to him, and who he would be attracted to " had to be a counterpart to all that." Australian actress Teresa Palmer, who plays Dorothy, was drawn, as Rachel Griffiths had been, partly by the element of personal resonance.

Teresa Palmer explains: 'I wanted to play Dorothy because she's a strong woman, she knows what she wants yet has vulnerability and a complexity, and I loved the idea of playing a woman from that era. My grandmother and my grandfather served in the war " my grandfather was a fireman and my grandmother sent Morse code. I remember them telling me stories about their romance during that time, and the script felt reminiscent of the stories I grew up listening to."

The period role was a departure for Teresa Palmer, so preparation for the actress was across a number of aspects, including dialect, setting and the depth of Dorothy's faith.

'I studied women of the time - how they spoke, how they walked, their elegance," Teresa Palmer says. 'Dorothy's faith is important to her. My mother is very religious, so I took on a lot of my mother's characteristics, especially her gentle way of looking at the world. Dorothy's faith is what helps her keep everything together. She so fiercely loves Desmond, and her belief in him is completely unwavering. I wanted to ensure that this love felt authentic and real and connected."

For Andrew Garfield, capturing the truth with Teresa Palmer was equally important. 'There's this amazing This is Your Life episode about Desmond, he's probably in his early 40s, and you see how he and Dorothy interact together on stage, and they're these very simple, direct, no games, sweet, joyous, emotionally available, people - uncomfortable on television, as is the rational response. It's remarkable to see this this purity. I think that's what Teresa and I were excited about playing."

For Andrew Garfield, the romance was a fait accompli that Dorothy had to catch up to.

'Desmond can hear very clearly all the hidden things in the universe, and in other human beings. As soon as he sees Dorothy, he has the image of their marriage, and he trusts that. Dorothy has to catch up, and he's confused because he feels that it's inevitable, that they're soulmates. It's a beautiful thing."

The Men Of The 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B Smitty Ryker – Portrayed By Luke Bracey

Smitty Ryker, the alpha male of the Company, was a crucial element of the script. Ryker was not a real person, but was emblematic of men who presented a challenge to Doss, and would function as a pivotal character through which the audience would experience Desmond Doss. For Producer Bill Mechanic, this was mapped out early on in the scriptwriting process.

'I always felt that Smitty was like a doppelganger. There's an iconic part to Desmond, the classic hero, completely unique hero, and when he and Smitty meet, it breaks apart."

Rising Australian actor Luke Bracey, who plays the role, says: 'I'm a history buff and World War II has always fascinated me. That's what drew me in initially, but then the unique story of Desmond Doss, on top of that having Mel Gibson directing it, that's a no-brainer."

Of Smitty and his relationship with Desmond Doss, Luke Bracey feels that the mistrust of Desmond, a mistrust shared by many other characters in the film, is key.

'That's where the real conflict for Desmond comes," explains Luke Bracey. 'For Smitty, the mistrust evolves. Smitty initially doesn't understand Desmond. Smitty prides himself on being able to read people immediately, and treats them accordingly. Desmond keeps making these strange decisions that contradict who Smitty perceives this man to be."

'Over time it edges away, and these bricks in the wall that Smitty has built between the two of them get knocked away by these moments in battle, which show a strength of character in Desmond. Smitty comes to understand that they're similar guys, they have this brotherly connection by the end of the film."

Luke Bracey had seen many World War II films and documentaries, but prepared by watching as many as he could find, especially based in Okinawa and the Pacific.

'I also tried to get physical in my preparation " Smitty's an alpha male, and I wanted to get my blood pumping and make sure I was fit and healthy, almost like a kind of predator. I wanted to get into a state where I could hunt for my food if I needed to."

Sergeant Howell - Portrayed By Vince Vaughn

Sergeant Howell is the Drill Sergeant of Company B. He's quick tongued, quick witted, and hard but fair on his men. His rigor is of course, purposeful " he's preparing these young men for bloody war. Any slight slip up, any loss of focus, could be fatal.

Within this framework, a soldier like Desmond Doss who refuses to pick up a weapon, that he could use to kill the enemy, to protect himself, and to protect the other soldiers who Howell is tasked with looking after, makes no sense.

The American actor Vince Vaughn, who plays Howell, looked at the conundrum from Doss' side, in order to integrate his portrayal, as well as to explore the transition that occurs in what Howell represents to Doss.

'In the beginning, Sergeant Howell is a shadow character in that he seems to be in conflict with what Desmond wants," Vince Vaughn explains. 'He's an adversary who's attempting to prevent Desmond from following his instincts. However, Howell becomes a mentor as well. He gives Desmond skills that he's able to use when they go into battle. It's a very rewarding journey " rather than signifying one archetype, Sergeant Howell gets to represent different archetypes."

Vince Vaughn perceives that what Howell see as unique in Desmond Doss, in the end, is an authenticity " it becomes clear to Howell that Doss' position is not a ploy to avoid being in battle.

'Sergeant Howell had probably seen a lot of people with excuses or reasons to avoid things," says Vince Vaughn, 'but to see someone who's willing to go through what he goes through to hold onto that, it becomes very evident that this person is being true to who he is. You respect that in people ultimately, if someone has conviction in their actions and willing to pay that kind of a price for that. I think that's to be admired."

Vince Vaughn researched drill sergeants, formulating a thorough background for Howell, and coming to a proper understanding of the military point of view that Howell would have subscribed to, to give his men the best opportunities to survive. Part of this insight for Vince Vaughn came from having military in his own family, and also having visited troops in combat.

'I've gone over to Iraq and Afghanistan in the past with the USO to visit the troops, to entertain them, and if I can take their mind off the conflict, or just reach out to them even briefly, I've enjoyed being able to do that."

Also drawing Vince Vaughn to the role was the opportunity to work with Mel Gibson. 'I think Mel Gibson is one of the great directors alive," he says. 'Apocalypto was incredible, on another level. To do things that are pioneering in cinema, it's very unique. I felt that with Apocalypto, Mel Gibson really advanced things and did something quite wonderful with that movie."

Captain Glover – portrayed by Sam Worthington

Captain Jack Glover was a real person - a former Detroit policeman, who was made Commanding Officer of the 307th Infantry, 77th Army Division, 1st Battalion, Company B, and tasked to create an entirely new unit from scratch. He's a man who sees the world in black and white, and doesn't have time for anomalies like Desmond Doss.

For Captain Glover, the US Army doesn't make mistakes. Hence, when the issue of bearing arms arises – it must be Private Doss who is the problem. Glover tries to move Doss out on a psychiatric discharge, but when that doesn't stick, he places restrictions and pressures on Doss, who refuses to buckle. When Glover tries to court martial him, and that too doesn't work, his hand is forced, and Doss goes to Okinawa armed only with his medical supplies.

Captain Glover, in life as well as in the film, did later regret how he'd treated Doss, and saw this Private, who'd given him so much grief, as a rare hero.

The Australian actor Sam Worthington, who portrays Glover, says: 'The real Captain Glover was a very strong man. I liked the idea that the script was coming at this idea of saving lives from two different angles " one man wants to do it without a weapon and be a medic, and the other, Glover, believes you're only as good as the man next to you, and if the man next to you doesn't have a weapon and you're in a warzone it will most likely end tragically. I liked that nature of the arguments."

Sam Worthington, who has starred in a number of films based on war, says: 'I think war brings out the worst in man, and I think it also brings out the very best. We've been inundated with so many movies about it - you've got to find a different angle, and to find the angle of a pacifist within a bloody war is a great angle."

Portraying War In Hacksaw Ridge

Mel Gibson had been in war films before, on both sides of camera, but from the outset his perception of how to film the battle scenes would be informed by his desire, as evidenced in his earlier directorial work, of achieving a visceral immediacy.

The approach would be about achieving as many in camera effects as possible, with very little reliance on CGI – which would lead to the creation of new live special effects by the Hacksaw Ridge practical effects team, led by Second Unit Director and Stunt Coordinator Mic Rodgers, Special Effects Supervisor Dan Oliver and Lloyd Finnemore as Assistant Special Effects Supervisor.

Producer Bill Mechanic says: 'The film world's gone more towards the Peter Jackson way, the Star Wars way, the Marvel way where it's digital action, digital characters, and digital wars. I find, as an audience member, that unless it's done spectacularly well, it takes me out of the movie. I feel like it's artificial and fake, and I can see the seams."

'The interesting thing about Mel Gibson's approach, for his three major pictures, from Braveheart to Apocalypto to The Passion Of The Christ, is to essentially do everything practically."

The Hacksaw Ridge Special Effects team created a -bomb box', an alternative to the standard battle scene tools like pot bombs, which don't emit a great deal of debris and can be dangerous. Assistant Special Effects Supervisor Lloyd Finnemore describes the device as: 'An explosive that lives inside a cardboard box, sitting above the ground, which also contains safe debris that is thrown out at speed. It also houses an element that produces a flash, so that it creates a strong, high explosive looking signature. With it, we can create special effects that would normally require massive amounts of computer generation."

Director Mel Gibson explains: 'These devices create explosions which the stunt artists can get really close to " and by close I mean they can stand right over them, or three feet away, or whatever it takes. They might burn some nose hairs, but these stunt guys had a blast being blasted, and it looks horrific. I would show clips to people of dudes being blown up, on fire, flying into the camera, and they would say -Wow, great CGI, it looks real', and I'd say -Well it is real – our special effects team is real good.'"

The successful crafting of the final scenes would require the on set Special Effects team, using explosions, atmospheric effects, bullets, and squibs, and the CGI team at the backend who, Mel Gibson says, 'have to do many things and hopefully you won't notice. When you notice them, you know, your slip is showing."

For Mel Gibson, battle scenes immediately introduce a complexity which other types of scenes of violence don't necessarily demand.

'It's a lot easier to conk somebody with a blunt instrument than it is to orchestrate bombs and bullets," he explains. 'I had less time and less money to do it than usual, so it's a trick. What you're trying to do is make something clear, find the truth of it and find a way to show it, and at the same time have a semblance of chaos. It's all a trick."

Producer Bill Mechanic felt that the story was a -descent into hell', and that for the story to work, Desmond Doss goes into absolute hell and has to come out of it. The violence of war, and its successful portrayal, was vital to the film.

'It's men fighting men with weapons, not laser beams," Bill Mechanic says. 'It's explosions that are real explosions, they makes you feel like you're immersed in battle, it becomes experiential, you're seeing a bomb go off and a guy being blown-up and you think -that's a real guy, how did they do that?' The film has all the latest technology in terms of how you do those stunts, but it's shot in a way that you're right in the middle of everything."

What was like for Mel Gibson to direct these scenes? 'I'm getting a bit creaky now," he says, 'but the actors and stunt actors were running all over the place. I'm just a traffic cop, but occasionally you'll get into it, and then later that evening you realise you shouldn't have, and you get in an osteopath to fix your neck or something. Or you fall over."

Crew and cast acknowledged the physicality of Mel Gibson's direction. Visual Effects Supervisor Chris Godfrey says: 'The enthusiasm he brought on a day-to-day basis was incredible. There are directors who stay inside their tents, but directors like Mel physically embed themselves in the process. Mel would be in the tent, but if something wasn't working, he'd run out, throw himself on the ground and demonstrate what he wanted. There was our director, he's been in the game for 40 years, doing all this action stuff, then running back into the tent for another take. It's hard to say no to a man like that, who's willing to literally throw himself into the action for art."

Mic Rodgers, Second Unit Director of Hacksaw Ridge, met Mel Gibson on the first Lethal Weapon, when he was picked as Mel Gibson's stunt double, subsequently working with him on all the Lethal Weapon franchise films, as well as many others including Braveheart, Bird On A Wire, Maverick, Point Break and Ransom.

Of the suite of effects his team used, Mic Rodgers says: 'There are a lot of explosions, and wire pulls, a lot of fire gags, flame thrower fire gags, and we developed a way to actually hit a guy with a flame thrower. It's gruesome " we wanted to keep everything very kinetic and realistic."

For the actors, the immediacy of the approach helped. Andrew Garfield felt that: 'No matter how good special effects get you can't ever mimic a man on fire being thrown at the camera."

'It makes your job easy with the explosions being very real because you have stuff to react to," explains Vince Vaughn. 'The preparation makes that job easier " to have developed those interrelationships with the guys, then to have the things that you're responding to be so authentic and graphic really helps you to be able to dive into that reality."

The set creation, in line with the limited CGI approach, was complex and detailed.

'The set for the battlefield took your breath away," says actor Luke Bracey. 'When they drove us up to the set to shoot the first scene, it was confronting. There was a nice grassy hill and then a little bit of red clay, but beyond that it was desolate, an absolute wasteland, full of crater holes, and shell holes, and burnt trees " this jarring image of a landscape that's been completely torn apart."

Actress Teresa Palmer, when looking at a preview of a battle scene during production, was impressed, but also felt the connection between the actors that Vince Vaughn felt in filming it. 'It truly feels like you're a fly on the wall in a real battle," she says, 'it's heartbreaking, and traumatic and beautiful all at the same time. You can feel the connection of these soldiers - those boys at war. The level of organisation, the work and prepping of the sets " it's on an epic scale and I feel like they've really pulled it off, it's really exciting and very moving."

Expanding The Visual World Of Hacksaw Ridge

Australian Chris Godfrey, the film's Visual Effects Supervisor, had known Bill Mechanic for many years, since Mechanic's time running Fox Filmed Entertainment. They had worked together in a tangential way over the years, but when Hacksaw Ridge was slated for production in Australia, Mechanic contacted Godfrey.

For Chris Godfrey and his team, the film was split up into two areas of focus, in line with the film's two principal locations. Lynchburg – in which different Australian towns stood in for Lynchburg, Virginia – was the easier task of the two.

'Creating Okinawa was very different," Chris Godfrey explains. 'Okinawa was the last stand before the Allies reached Japan, so the Americans had been bombing it for weeks. Germany was already out of the war, so all resources were focused around Okinawa in this attack sequence. The ridge was devastated, and the townships and the farmhouses were being blown apart both by the Japanese and the encroaching Americans."

The job of the effects team was to extend the landscape that the production design team had created on sets, and that already had such an impact on the actors.

'There were about five acres of devastation, so in all directions that's where we come into play - extending it from the sets into a universe in our environment," Chris Godfrey explains. 'It's a hard thing to create because you can't repeat the same motifs constantly. There is a farmhouse, portions of it surrounded by greenery, then broken tanks nearby, burning objects, so there were different scales to the devastation."

War films present their own particular complexity for Chris Godfrey and his CGI team, because they can't pre-plan the incredible detail, and the many points of action that really only happen -on the day'.

'The visual effects have to let action and drama lead" says Godfrey. 'We chiefly support for Mel " support his vision. We come in afterwards, try to get continuity of smoke, of the explosions. When the audience looks out into the bay over Okinawa and sees a thousand boats, we give it a continuity where it doesn't feel out of place that huge explosions are happening in the background."

The effects teams worked with experts as consultants, for accuracy, such as a WW2 battleship expert, who sourced reference footage, mapped out how the ships would have attacked, the size of the weaponry they deployed, and references about the size and shape of the explosions themselves.

Chris Godfrey says: 'There are a lot of wonderful experts who know the fine minutiae of real wars like World War II. It's a lot easier than doing a Star Wars, set 5000 years into the future, and you're forced to start with a blank page, I actually have the page already set out."

Damien Thomlinson – Portraying A Lived Experience

Damien Thomlinson, who portrays a soldier named Ralph Morgan in Hacksaw Ridge, served in the Australian armed forces in East Timor, in the South Pacific, and finally in Afghanistan. In 2009, Thomlinson lost both legs in Afghanistan, in an IED strike. The injury was so severe that, as he himself says, 'there's no real reason why I should be alive."

Damien Thomlinson was studying acting, when one of my acting teachers heard about a call for an actor to play a double amputee soldier in Hacksaw Ridge, via a casting agent.

'I asked my manager to get in touch with the casting agent," says Damien Thomlinson, 'and two days later I was in a room reading for her. Two weeks later I was written into the script."

Damien Thomlinson was glad to be able to bring his military experience to the film, an experience shared by other member of the cast. 'It's great how accommodating the cast and crew were to me, and to other veterans. They had five guys on set one day who'd all been injured in service overseas. Mel Gibson had a good talk to them, Sam Worthington had plenty of time for them, and it made a huge difference. From the experience of a war veteran, I know that small things like that make a huge difference to people who've served."

The scene in which Ralph Morgan loses his legs and is rescued by Desmond Doss, a documented event, was of course going to mean reliving a very painful experience for Damien Thomlinson.

'We always knew that scene was going to be heavy," he says. 'We were worried about whether it was going to bring anything back, because I don't remember anything from the night that it happened to me. I was worried that it was going to chase me for a few day afterwards, but the next day I was content that Mel Gibson was happy with it, and that I'd brought my end game so that we could get the best out of Andrew Garfield, who was mind-blowing through the entire experience."

The fact that the rescue scene was based in fact, was moving for Damien Thomlinson. 'The character I'm playing wouldn't have been a priority to save," he says. 'Desmond Doss staying with him and saving him, because he actually did save a double amputee in the readings I did on him, was completely counter to what their standard operating procedure would have been in World War II. It shows a real strength of character, which is inspiring."

Director Mel Gibson says: 'For Damien Thomlinson, it was an odd and painful journey to do what he had to do and pull it off. I don't think he's done a lot of acting but he was great. We gave him a thank you for his sacrifice, but also for being willing go in there and explore that place where he was injured. It's no small thing, and he was having a little trouble, but he did it."

'Damien Tomlinson went in to the moment of agony and terror that he must have been reliving," recalls Andrew Garfield. 'I hope it was healing for him in some strange way to relive that, and to get a bit more clarity around that moment and what that moment was. He was amazing in the scene, it was really humbling to be around."

Thomlinson was also grateful that he was able to bring others, who had helped him so crucially, into the film family of Hacksaw Ridge.

'Through the period when I was injured, there were great people around me who I owe the fact that I'm here too," he explains. 'When I found out that I was going to be involved in the film, I was asked if I knew someone with army medical knowledge to be Andrew Garfield's direct consultant."

'It was amazing to be able to call someone who was there the night of my incident, who pulled out his A-game and went a level above to keep me alive, to be able to then give him the call that we need a medical liaison for Mel Gibson's new film, and would he be happy to do it? That meant a lot to me, to be able to give that back."

Pro-War Or Anti-War?

The film leaves space for the audience to form an individual position.

Bill Mechanic: 'If you're anti-war I think you can watch this movie and take it as an anti-war film, and if you believe in -just wars' then it's absolutely sustainable. Desmond Doss is a classic hero who goes into battle. He does it in a different way, but he's a warrior. From a filmmaking perspective, you want people talking about your film, you want discussion, you want them read more about war, to make their own minds up."

Rachel Griffiths: 'It's not a moralizing movie. It's not necessarily an anti-war movie because I think few people would argue that this war wasn't just, but there is a courage that is so admirable. Desmond Doss didn't kind of shirk his sense of responsibility, but found his way through an impossible moment. I don't think that's really asked of us. We really only have to choose between the chicken or the beef."

Hugo Weaving: 'The army doesn't allow people not to carry guns, but the U.S. Constitution does allow them not to carry guns, so Desmond Doss was a test case. And in that way, the film sort of upholds the right -not to bear arms', if you like, so it's both a war film and an anti-war film at the same time, and that's expressed through the character of Desmond Doss."

The Cast And Crew Of Hacksaw Ridge Reflect On…
Working With Mel Gibson

Andrew Garfield: 'Working with Mel Gibson as a director has been a real highlight of my time being an actor so far. He tells a story in such a beautiful, pure and compelling way. He's like Desmond Doss in a strange way, he's got this real innocence and purity, everything's on the surface, you know exactly what he's feeling at all times, even if he doesn't want you to know he can't help himself. He's sincere and passionate, and it's infectious. I think it was a very happy shoot for the entire crew because everything trickles down from the top, and he's a force of light and passion and exuberance."

Andrew Garfield: 'He said he rarely enjoys making a movie, but I don't buy it, it looked like he was having a whale of a time. Having someone who's such a great actor with their eyes on you makes you feel so safe. That feeling of being able to give yourself entirely to your director is really important, because then you know that the heart and soul that you give, is going to be handled with love and care, and you're going to be taken care of, and ultimately that the story's going to be taken care of."

Hugo Weaving: 'Mel Gibson has an incredibly lively mind, and a great energy on set. He really trusts his instincts - if something's not instinctively working for him, he'll try and find out what it is that he wants. He has a broad idea of what he wants and has absolutely nutted out detail, but then is respectful on the day to allow actors to bring what they will bring to the set, and not just the actors " he'll encourage all departments to bring their best to the job."

Vince Vaughn: 'Mel Gibson's a tremendous actor to begin with, so his skillset at understanding what you're going through and communicating with you is terrific. It's not just performance-based elements too, but the compositions he creates show a real gift. He works from such a genuine place that it was a joy to be around someone who's that prolific at what he does."

Luke Bracey: 'If you're an actor, you want to work with the best people in the world, and Mel Gibson is a genius at what he does. The trust he gives you, the trust that you subsequently have in him and his decisions … for me it was a privilege."

Teresa Palmer: 'His work is poetic, beautiful, grounded in reality, and he's a director that wants to make sure every moment feels authentic. He knows how the actor's mind works, how vulnerable we can be, and he perfectly knows how to navigate that. He got some amazing performances from actors that I admire and respect. I don't know if I've ever seen that quality of work before, and I truly believe that Mel was behind that."

Rachel Griffiths: 'I've worked with some very intellectual directors, who, if you ask -Why would I be doing this?' their answers can be very detached. They talk in pictures, in a cinematic language. Mel Gibson talks in a human language, and he may say -it just seems boring, it needs to be faster, it needs to be more alive'. He's always looking for that sense of life, and his movies are always so human, the acting is always great, they're never boring, they're very kinaesthetic, the camera's always right in the action. He does that great thing of putting you in someone's shoes. I want to feel what it's like to be this person in 14th century Mexico, to be this person in the Scottish Highlands, and he does that, he puts you in the action."

Sam Worthington: 'I'd grown up watching Mel Gibson act, and I'd watched his movies as a director so I was very intimidated by him, but when you meet him you realise he has such a sense of wonder about filmmaking. He's highly adaptive. His craft of filmmaking is unbelievable. He's one of these guys that puts you at ease, allows you to do what you can do, but the direction he gave me was some of the best I've ever received, and I wish I'd received it 20 years ago."

Chris Godfrey: 'Mel Gibson is, in one word, embracing. He's hugely enthusiastic. He actually enjoys filmmaking, and it's amazing the number of people these days who actually don't enjoy the process anymore, they like the result. Mel Gibson actually gets caught up in the minutiae. He comes on set and he knows everybody's name, he gets involved in the day-to-day ramblings of what the crew are doing. When it comes to the actors he's very inventive, very down-to-earth, and he calls for very realistic performances. He gets them to embrace the characters, to get involved and wash over with the script. It's a really lovely thing to watch, and the returns were brilliant."

Damien Thomlinson: 'I'd looked up to Mel Gibson for so long, I grew up with him as a movie star. I took the experience as it came, which was an effort at the start, because you don't want to mess anything up in front of someone who's an Oscar winning director, but he's was absolutely amazing and accommodating to the way things may have affected me."

Working With Andrew Garfield

Mel Gibson: 'Andrew Garfield has a great gift. You don't quite know what age he is, he could be 22, he could be 32, he's in that grey area. He's an everyman, and he's not your typical heroic -type', although I think inside he is. He's a guy with convictions and beliefs, and he's very strongly principled, personally, so he's able to understand those things and portray them very well. Hacksaw Ridge is character-centric, so you have to have someone who can carry that ball, someone with his extraordinary acting gifts. He really is the heart of the film, so you need a quarterback in there."

Hugo Weaving: 'I have an enormous respect for Andrew Garfield. Straight away I could see this is a very good actor, a fine actor, who brings a seriousness and a particular work ethic. He's respectful of others, he comes to the set prepped, he's focused, and he's very open. I think he's a really fine actor, it was a real pleasure to work with him."

Vince Vaughn: 'Andrew Garfield's tremendous. He's very committed, he stays in accent the entire time, even during off hours. He works from a great place, and he's got a great sense of humour. I found him to be really bright, very genuine, very engaged in life, curious and very generous with his spirit."

Luke Bracey: 'Working with Andrew Garfield was an absolute pleasure. It was a learning experience like every movie is, but Andrew Garfield was amazing to watch, to see how he prepares, the way he monitors his energy and conserves it, knowing when to release it over the long shooting days. What Andrew Garfield can say without speaking is quite beautiful."

Teresa Palmer: 'Andrew Garfield was so committed to this role. He lived and breathed Desmond Doss, he stayed in accent, the way he held himself, the way he walked, the way he talked, he just was Desmond. That put a subtle pressure on me, because he is so giving to his craft, I felt that I didn't want to let him down and wanted to bring my all too. I felt like I was in one of the greatest acting schools, just bearing witness to the emotional depth that he brought to portray this character."

Sam Worthington: 'Andrew Garfield's one of those actors who flies under the radar of how good he really is. His search for truth is unbelievable, he's got such integrity, and he developed a character who isn't like him, but he brought at the essence of himself to create the character of Desmond Doss. You could see him transform. Everything he delivered and bounced off you was so true and so real."

Working With Vince Vaughn

Mel Gibson: 'Vince Vaughn brings his talent to the film. He was very well cast as a drill sergeant, and he tread a fine line between being a really hard guy and being a compassionate. You can see a trace of another life where Sergeant Howell is a reasonable kind of guy, he's not the maniac that he appears to be at first. He took possession of the character and played it out. He had a lot of fun in between takes, but he never really dropped it."

Andrew Garfield: 'Vince Vaughn in Hacksaw Ridge is formidable. The humanity that he brought to the role is gorgeous. The journey that Desmond and Sergeant Howell go on is complex and interesting, and Vince Vaughn took the character on a real perspective shift throughout the film, and played it with such sensitivity and humility."

Luke Bracey: 'What Vince Vaughn brings to the character of Sergeant Howell is a humanity. These guys in World War II, they weren't all SAS soldiers, these were regular blokes. They didn't get much training, they weren't super prepared going in, and I think Vince Vaughn really brought that humanity to it."

Sam Worthington: 'I love Vince Vaughn because he's so committed. People think of him as a great comedian, but Vince Vaughn is a committed team player and he wants to do roles that are interesting and out of his wheelhouse, and I love that kind of bravery."

Damien Thomlinson: 'I'd watched Vince Vaughn in all these funny roles, in which he's hilarious, and then to see him as this drill sergeant, you could never picture him as anything else when he walked in " all of sudden he's just an intimidating presence. Watching him work was phenomenal. He's a good leader, he's such an experienced actor he's one of those people that you'll just instinctually follow based on the fact that he is relatable and a leader of people."

Working With Luke Bracey

Mel Gibson: 'Luke Bracey is a really good up and comer, a great looking guy, all the action attributes - he gives a good performance in a role that perhaps you don't expect him to do the things he does."

Vince Vaughn: 'Luke's terrific, he's such an effortless actor, very comfortable within himself, very sincere, easy going. His character's different than that, and he does a great job of stepping into that."

Mic Rodgers: 'Luke is a pleasure. I worked with him on Point Break, and I think he's the next Steve McQueen, all the physical stuff is there and I think he's ready to pop really huge." Andrew Garfield: 'There are some beautiful scenes between Luke and I, and I was so grateful to for the really beautiful relationship that we got to create."

Working With Hugo Weaving

Mel Gibson: 'Hugo Weaving is a stalwart, a benchmark of acting. His prowess is renowned, so he was a welcome addition to Hacksaw Ridge and he brings a great character, Tom Doss, to life." Andrew Garfield: 'Hugo is like a clown in the most wonderful way, he's so funny and playful, and then he played this incredibly damaged, bruised father, the raging, alcoholic that everyone's terrified of, and it was totally compelling and heartbreaking. You really feel for him, as Desmond felt for him, which is incredibly important."

Rachel Griffiths: 'One of the hardest things to do as an actor is when you turn up and have five minutes to meet the guy playing your husband, but because I've got a history with Hugo and I adore him, it really helped. He plays a very angry character, haunted by the ghosts of World War I, and what's helpful for me as an actor is I brought all that fondness and love when I looked at him in the scene. I was able to look through the man he was being. One scene in particular, we all came off set and were amazed, because it was the best work I think I've ever seen him do. It was such a privilege to be there."

Working With Teresa Palmer

Mel Gibson: 'To begin with, Teresa Palmer's really beautiful and has got a lot of warmth, and that's what her character needed, you had to get the idea that she was an angel of mercy which Teresa put out there, she has those qualities."

Andrew Garfield: 'What Teresa Palmer brought to the role of Dorothy was so gorgeous " she was this unconditionally loving, nurturing, beautiful force."

Working With Rachel Griffiths

Hugo Weaving: 'Rachel Griffiths and I worked together about 10 years ago. She's great, always lovely to work with, someone again who you've enjoyed working with before. She's pretty quirky, very smart, and fun."

Teresa Palmer: 'Rachel Griffiths is such a layered and talented actress. She brought a beautiful mix of vulnerability and dynamism to the role of Bertha Doss. Watching her work, she's a chameleon, and you believe everything that comes out of her mouth, and that's such a gift. It was an honor to work with someone of her calibre."

Shooting In Australia

Producer Bill Mechanic, actors Andrew Garfield and Vince Vaughn, Second Unit Director Mick Rodgers and composer, Rupert Gregson-Williams, are among the few non-Australians working on Hacksaw Ridge.

'Of 500 people in the cast and crew, there were probably 490 Australians," says Bill Mechanic, 'and that's a good thing for the people that work here, as we'll export around the world, and show the ability of the talent."

For Mel Gibson, there were other elements about filming in Australia that were very attractive. 'The level of the performers, and the crews, are excellent, from the craft services to the DP to the special effects team. They're right up with the rest of the world, they're as good or better than anywhere in the world. If it's cost-effective and you have all those other added bonuses as well, it's a great place to shoot and I think it will remain so."

The supporting cast includes veteran Australian actors such as Richard Roxburgh, as well as up and coming stars Ryan Corr, Jacob Werner, Luke Pegler, and Hugo Weaving's son, Harry Greenwood.

Andrew Garfield says: 'The boys in the barracks are such incredible actors. Jake Warner, Ben Mingay, Ben O'toole, Firass Dirani, to name a few, they made the experience rich, but also fun. I think we all needed to keep each other light and joyous, and the Aussie lads were good at that. It was just like being at home for me, except that I had an American accent, which confused them all when I stopped doing it."

Vince Vaughn felt similarly. 'The Australian guys were great, they were excited to be part of the film, they worked hard, took their roles seriously, and had a good amount of fun as well."

For Australian actor Sam Worthington, it was a chance to work with a community of fellow actors. 'I'd known a lot of the Australian cast in the army unit on and off for years, so there was a level of trust there. I could throw things at them in scenes and know it would propel into something entertaining."

As well as the cast, Andrew Garfield found 'the Australian crew so unpretentious, so hardworking, and without hierarchy " it was a community effort, and you don't often get that in films, you find it more often in theater in my experience, but when you find a sense of camaraderie and community on a film set, you can't get better than that."

For Australian actor Luke Bracey, the benefit that productions like Hacksaw Ridge bring is far reaching. 'Australia offers a lot to overseas productions filming here, and the country's only going to benefit if the movie industry is going strong."

Hacksaw Ridge
Release Date: November 3rd, 2016