12 Most Desperate Oscar Grab Movies Of 2016

From All Quiet on the Western Front and The Bridge on the River Kwai to more recent movies like Saving Private Ryan and The Hurt Locker, wartime dramas usually do pretty well at the Oscars and if the buzz around Mel Gibson’s latest directorial effort Hacksaw Ridge is anything to go by it could well be in the running too.

Set during World War II’s bloody Battle of Okinawa, the film stars Andrew Garfield as real-life pacifist and combat medic Desmond Doss and has been showered with praise for its brutally realistic depiction of warfare and gripping exploration of one man’s unwavering faith.

Already boasting a slot on the American Film Institute’s Movies of the Year list and practically wiping the board at the AACTA Awards, Australia’s version of the Oscars, no doubt Gibson and Co are hopeful Hacksaw Ridge will repeat this success at the Oscars.

Mind, the last time Mel Gibson came into contact with an Academy Award was back in 1995 when Braveheart scored a double win with Best Picture and Best Director and the last time he made a film focusing on faith and violence, The Passion of the Christ, it was snubbed despite gaining three Oscar nominations.

Then there’s the fact Gibson kind of fell out of favour with Hollywood after his racist rantings came to light. Whether Hacksaw Ridge is a good enough film to forgive that remains to be seen.