Hacksaw Ridge Nominated for Three Golden Globe Awards

The nominees for the 2017 Golden Globe Awards have been released, and Mel Gibson’s "Hacksaw Ridge" collected three nominations. The trio of nominations marks the completion of Gibson’s Hollywood comeback after his 2006 fall from grace. Gibson was arrested for drunk driving and went on an anti-Semitic tirade to the officer that arrested him. His last Golden Globe nomination came in 2001 for his acting role in “What Women Want.”

Hacksaw Ridge marks Gibson’s first directorial project since Apocalypto in 2006. It tells the story of Seventh-day Adventist conscientious objector Desmond T. Doss, who was the first non-combatant to be awarded the congressional Medal of Honor for his acts of valor during wartime. During the World War II Battle of Okinawa, American troops engaged Japanese forces in heavy fighting on an escarpment the Americans named Hacksaw Ridge. Doss saved approximately 75 wounded soldiers from the battlefield while refusing to carry a weapon.

Hacksaw Ridge has captured the imagination of many Seventh-day Adventists who hope the film will bring positive publicity to the church to which Doss belonged.

The Golden Globe Awards mark the beginning of Hollywood’s awards season, and Hacksaw Ridge’s three nominations may portend more nominations to come for the film. It received Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director – Motion Picture (Mel Gibson) and Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Andrew Garfield).

The 74th Golden Globe Awards, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, will take place at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on January 8, 2017. The ceremony recognizes excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign.

Jared Wright is Managing Editor of SpectrumMagazine.org.