Product Details

• Actors: documentary
• Directors: Terry L. Benedict
• Writers: Terry L. Benedict, Jeff Wood
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Cinequest
• DVD Release Date: November 8, 2010
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000VDZ8Z8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,730 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Conscientious Objector, The" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Cinequest Inc. Release Date: 12/11/2007

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing story...., November 10, 2007

By 

Alvin K. Trace "Tracer" (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conscientious Objector, The (DVD)

Am amazing story about a man who stood for his principles despite the challenges and difficulties he had to face during WWII. Director Terry Benedict, does a great job telling the story of Desmond Doss, the only winner of the Congressionl Medal of Honor in WWII, who refused to carry a gun. The documentary follows Doss and a group of his fellow soldiers, some of whom had previously ridiculed Doss, back to Okinawa and the place where Doss had saved almost 100 of his fellow soldiers by personally lowered them down the escarpment knowns as "Hacksaw Ridge." Check this one for Veterans Day!

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We need more men/women like Desmond Doss, May 24, 2008

By 

MotherLodeBeth "MotherLodeBeth" (Sierras of California) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Conscientious Objector, The (DVD)

This is one amazing DVD and I am sure many people have never even heard of Private First Class Desmond Doss, U S Army Medical Detachment of the 307th Infantry and then 77th Infantry Division. And as the subtitle notes: The story of bravery, loyality and faith.

I sat spell bound listening to those who served with him, and hearing how so many men in the service mocked him, demeaned him, and tried to get him to give up his Christian faith, even when they knew he didn't have to serve as a medic because of his religious beliefs but wanted to in order to serve others. And he was nothing short of miraculous and unselfish even when he was badly wounded and was being carried to safety and saw another soldier badly hurt, and Doss rolled off the stretcher and went to help the man and asked that they take him to get further help first.

And 400 feet up a cliff area he went, and over twelve hours with the rope set up he devised, he lowered one by one, injured men, at the rate of roughly one every 10-15 minutes. This was while he and his unit were in Urasoe Mura, Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands, April-May 1945. What was so interesting was an Army guy named Cunningham who was in charge of him and ridiculed him and basically called him a coward, ran away when the Japanese were attacking, according to numerous men who served in the same unit and saw the guy run or basically desert.

But not once did Doss flinch in any job he was given even when Cunningham and other officers gave him KP duty where his hands were raw from all the cleaning. Or when on Sunday he was made to clean bathrooms. And he always rested on the sabbath and always had his Bible with him.

Some members of his unit even said after he prayed for them, their unit was the only one that didnt loose on man. As the movie shows, those who didnt understand him or disagreed with him at the time, saw a real man once they saw him in action.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Story of a True Hero, November 17, 2008

By 

kone "kone" (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conscientious Objector, The (DVD)

This is the inspirational story of Army Infantry Corporal Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who served in the Pacific Theatre in WWII. Frankly, it is one of the most moving pictures I have ever seen and I highly recommend it.

Desmond Doss grew up as a Seventh Day Adventist, his mother being the spiritual leader of the family. She hung a picture of the 10 commandments in the Doss living room, and young Desmond studied those commandments and took them to heart - literally. He was particularly affected by the picture depicting the commandment "You shall not kill", where Cain stood over a slain Abel, holding a club in his hand. After being convicted in his heart, he vowed then and there that he would never take a human life.

Fastforward 15 years and Desmond Doss enlists in the US Army, intent on becoming a medic. The Army accepted him, but instead did not accept his request to become a medic. Instead, they tried to break Doss and turn him into a fighting soldier. Thus came a series of hard-nosed company commanders who rode young Private Doss hard and persecuted him to give up his religious beliefs and take up a rifle. The men of his own company rejected and ridiculed him, believing he was weak, a coward, thinking he would get them killed in battle. They threw Army boots at him as he prayed on bended knees at his cot. The persecution went on for months, yet Doss stood firm and refused to learn the task of killing. He was totally isolated and alone, yet, remarkably, this young man did not give up his belief that killing was wrong. He stood firm. Finally, the Army relented and Doss entered the medical corp.

It was in Okinowa that Doss proved himself. In the weeklong struggle to take "Hacksaw Ridge" from the tenaciously dug-in Japanese, Doss single-handedly saved over 75 men from certain death, many of the men who had ridiculed him for being a coward. Doss evidently had divine protection, for all the men who saw him wade into the Japanese machinegunners to rescue yet another downed American, said what he did was miraculous. For his bravery in the face of certain death, Doss received the Silver Star, personally awarded by President Harry S. Truman.

This DVD documentary depicts the story of Desomnd Doss using stark visual images, the personal accounts of Doss' fellow soldiers, (some of whom Doss saved from certain death), and a return to the site of Hacksaw Ridge (now a children's playground). Told through the words and tears of his fellow soldiers, the struggle to take Hacksaw Ridge did more than scar the physical body; these men are emotionally scarred by what they have witnessed and done. Yet, Doss remains sigularly faithful to his beliefs. He refuses to hate the Japanese, even going so far as to treat the wounds of several Japanese soldiers. Doss's faith and beliefs learned as a child hold him up during the brutality of all-out war, and he earns the respect and admiration of a nation for his bravery and selfless actions.

The world is fortunate to have men of faith like Desmond Doss, for there are so few men like him. You will be inspired by his story, shocked at the graphic brutality of war, and in the end, you will be blessed having known the story of a true man of courage and faith.

The Bible says faith can move mountains. Desmond Doss moved his mountain on Hacksaw Ridge. It is a story of a man you will never forget. Buy it used, buy it new, share it with others, but GET it. You will be blessed.

Jim Koenig