You know that feeling when the credits roll on Hacksaw Ridge and you’re just sitting there, staring at the screen? It’s heavy. Mel Gibson’s 2016 masterpiece about Desmond Doss—the guy who saved 75 men without ever touching a gun—hits different because it’s not just about the shooting. It’s about that weird, beautiful, and terrifying intersection of faith and absolute carnage.
Finding similar movies to hacksaw ridge is actually kinda tricky. Most war movies just want to show you things blowing up. But if you’re looking for that specific "Hacksaw" flavor—the "one man against the world" vibe, the "I can't believe this really happened" factor, or just the visceral, mud-in-your-teeth realism—I've got you.
I’ve spent way too much time watching these (and probably need to watch a comedy or something soon), so here is the definitive list of what to queue up next.
Sergeant York: The Original Pacifist Hero
Honestly, you can't talk about Desmond Doss without talking about Alvin York. This 1941 classic is basically the blueprint.
Sergeant York stars Gary Cooper as a simple country guy who, much like Doss, has a major religious crisis about going to war. He’s a crack shot but doesn’t want to kill. The movie follows his struggle from being a conscientious objector to becoming one of the most decorated soldiers of World War I.
It’s an older film, sure. It doesn't have the "limbs flying everywhere" gore of a Mel Gibson flick. But the heart? It’s the exact same. It captures that specific American "humble hero" energy that made Andrew Garfield’s performance so captivating.
Saving Private Ryan: The Gold Standard for Chaos
If what you loved about Hacksaw Ridge was the sheer, terrifying intensity of the Battle of Okinawa, then you’ve probably already seen Saving Private Ryan. If you haven't, stop reading this and go watch it. Now.
Steven Spielberg changed everything with that opening 20 minutes on Omaha Beach. It’s the only movie that rivals the "meat grinder" feeling of the ridge.
Why it fits:
- The Medic Factor: Giovanni Ribisi plays T-4 Medic Wade, and his scenes are some of the most gut-wrenching in the movie. It shows the "angel on the battlefield" role from a much grittier, less miraculous perspective than Doss’s story.
- The Mission: It’s about the value of a single life in a sea of thousands.
To Hell and Back: Real Life is Weirder than Fiction
This is a wild one. To Hell and Back (1955) is the true story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated U.S. soldier of WWII.
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Here’s the kicker: Audie Murphy plays himself. Can you imagine? A guy lived through the most horrific battles in Europe, came home, and then recreated them for a Hollywood camera. Like Doss, Murphy was a "runt" whom the Army didn't want. He was too small, too young-looking. Then he went out and held off an entire company of German infantry by himself while standing on top of a burning tank destroyer.
If you liked the "underdog proves everyone wrong" arc of Hacksaw Ridge, this is your movie. It’s essentially the action-heavy flip side of the Doss story.
Unbroken: Survival is its Own Victory
Directed by Angelina Jolie, Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini. He was an Olympic runner who ended up in a Japanese POW camp after his plane went down in the Pacific.
This movie doesn’t focus on the front-line combat as much as the internal "refusal to break." It shares that spiritual DNA with Hacksaw Ridge—the idea that a man’s convictions are his strongest weapon. Jack O’Connell’s performance is raw. The scene where he’s forced to hold a heavy wooden beam over his head while being beaten? That’s pure Desmond Doss energy. It’s about enduring the unendurable.
The Pacific (Miniseries)
Okay, it's not a movie, it's an HBO miniseries. But it's 10 hours of the best WWII content ever made.
If you want to understand the environment where Desmond Doss actually fought, The Pacific is mandatory viewing. It covers the 1st Marine Division’s trek through Guadalcanal, Peleliu, and finally Okinawa.
Okinawa in this series is portrayed as a literal hell on earth. Constant rain, rotting bodies, and a total loss of humanity. Watching this makes Doss’s real-life actions seem even more impossible. It provides the context that a two-hour movie sometimes has to gloss over.
1917: The Relentless Journey
Sam Mendes did something crazy with 1917. He filmed it to look like one continuous shot.
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The story follows two young British soldiers sent on a suicide mission to deliver a message. It’s a "man on a mission" story that feels incredibly personal. Much like the scenes of Doss running back into the smoke to find "just one more," 1917 focuses on the singular, desperate drive of an individual caught in a massive machine of death.
It’s beautiful to look at, which is a weird thing to say about a war movie, but the cinematography is breathtaking.
We Were Soldiers: Leadership Under Fire
Mel Gibson actually stars in this one (directed by Randall Wallace). It’s about the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam.
What makes it similar to hacksaw ridge is the focus on the "shepherd" mentality. Gibson plays Lt. Col. Hal Moore, a man who deeply cares for his soldiers and stays on the ground with them. It also features a very strong religious subtext and a journalist character (played by Barry Pepper) who, like Doss, is technically a non-combatant caught in the middle of a nightmare.
A Hidden Life: The Ultimate Conscientious Objector
If the "conscientious objector" part of Hacksaw Ridge was what stayed with you, you need to see Terrence Malick’s A Hidden Life.
It’s the true story of Franz Jägerstätter, an Austrian farmer who refused to fight for the Nazis. It’s a slow burn. It’s more of a philosophical meditation than an action movie. But it deals with the cost of saying "no" when the entire world is saying "yes."
It’s the quiet version of Desmond Doss’s struggle. There are no explosions, just the crushing weight of the state trying to break a man’s soul.
Lone Survivor: Brotherhood and Brutality
While it’s set in modern-day Afghanistan, Lone Survivor captures that same sense of being trapped on a literal ridge with nowhere to go.
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It’s based on Marcus Luttrell’s account of Operation Red Wings. The middle hour of the movie is just one long, harrowing gunfight as four SEALs are pushed down a mountain. The camaraderie and the "leave no man behind" ethos are dialed up to eleven here. It’s a tough watch—very violent—but it echoes the intensity of the Hacksaw Ridge battle sequences.
Fury: The Grime of the Trenches
Fury is basically the "anti-Hacksaw."
Where Doss is about preserving life and maintaining purity, the crew of the tank "Fury" (led by Brad Pitt) has lost almost all of their humanity. But it’s a great companion piece because it shows the "before and after" of what war does to the soul.
The final stand at the crossroads has that same "hopeless odds" feeling that makes these movies so addictive. It’s gritty, it’s dirty, and it doesn't apologize for being ugly.
Where do you go from here?
If you really want to dive deep into these stories, your best bet is to start with the true accounts. The movies are great, but the reality is often even more insane.
- Step 1: Watch The Pacific on Max. It gives you the best historical "grounding" for the Okinawa campaign.
- Step 2: Look up the documentary The Conscientious Objector (2004). It features interviews with the real Desmond Doss before he passed away.
- Step 3: Read To Hell and Back by Audie Murphy. It’s one of the best-selling war memoirs of all time for a reason.
War movies like these aren't just about the fight; they’re about the people who survive it without losing who they are. Whether it's Doss on the ridge or Jägerstätter in his cell, the best stories are always the ones where the human spirit is the last thing standing.
Practical Next Steps: Start your marathon with Saving Private Ryan for the action or Sergeant York for the thematic parallels. If you have the time, the 10-episode commitment to The Pacific will provide the most comprehensive understanding of the brutal Pacific Theater context seen in Hacksaw Ridge.