Hacksaw Ridge
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50 free Hacksaw Ridge trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of Desmond Doss, an American army medic who went into one of the fiercest battles of the Second World War without a weapon and came out a national hero. The film pairs a gentle small-town love story with some of the most harrowing combat scenes put on screen, and it marked a comeback for its director after a decade away. This quiz covers the whole film: the childhood scenes and courtship, the ordeal of basic training and the court-martial, and the assault on the ridge itself. There are questions on the actors and the characters they play, on where and how the film was shot, on its music, premiere, reviews and Oscar night, and on the points where the screenplay departs from what really happened to Doss before, during and after the battle. It suits anyone who has just watched the film and wants to test what stuck, war-movie fans, and history readers curious about the man behind the story. Every answer comes with a short explanation, so you will learn something even from the ones you miss.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01About how many wounded soldiers is Desmond Doss credited with rescuing from the top of Hacksaw Ridge?
75
75 was a compromise: Doss put the number he had saved at about 50, his commanding officer wanted to credit him with 100, and they met in the middle.
Q 02In which country was Hacksaw Ridge filmed from start to finish, with a disused quarry standing in for the cliff?
Australia
Australia supplied the locations, most of the cast and the government subsidies that made the financing possible.
Q 03Which faith, in which his mother raised him, leads Desmond Doss to refuse to carry a weapon in Hacksaw Ridge?
Seventh-day Adventist
Seventh-day Adventist teaching also made the real Doss a lifelong vegetarian, and his congregation made him a deacon at twenty-one.
Q 04The actor who plays Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge had earlier starred in two films as which comic-book superhero?
Spider-Man
Spider-Man came first, in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel, but he called Doss a real superhero and found playing him much more inspiring.
Q 05Desmond Doss of Hacksaw Ridge was the first conscientious objector to receive which American decoration?
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor went to a man who disliked the label: Doss preferred to call himself a conscientious cooperator, eager to serve but not to kill.
Q 06Which Oscar-winning director made Hacksaw Ridge, his first film behind the camera in ten years?
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson kept computer effects to a minimum and would yell to his actors during the battle scenes, reminding them what they were fighting for.
Q 07On which Pacific island is the real Hacksaw Ridge, where Desmond Doss's unit fought in the spring of 1945?
Okinawa
Okinawa's defenders had dug a maze of tunnels and caves into the hill, which is why the summit proved so costly to hold.
Q 08Which US president appears in archive footage at the end of Hacksaw Ridge, decorating the real Desmond Doss?
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman decorated him on the White House lawn in October 1945, one of fifteen servicemen recognised that day.
Q 09Which star of comedies such as Dodgeball plays the drill sergeant who torments Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge?
Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn plays Sergeant Howell, who tries to drive Doss out with gruelling labour and is later rescued by him under heavy fire.
Q 10What does Desmond Doss use to lower wounded men one at a time down the cliff face in Hacksaw Ridge?
A rope
A rope tied in a double bowline, a knot the real Doss had stumbled on in training, let him lower each man to the medics below.
Q 11Which actor plays army medic Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge, a role that brought a Best Actor Oscar nomination?
Andrew Garfield
Andrew Garfield said he cried the first time he read the script, and he visited Doss's home town and handled his tools to prepare.
Q 12What is the job of Dorothy Schutte, who visits Desmond Doss in jail in Hacksaw Ridge?
Nurse
Nurse Dorothy catches his eye at the Lynchburg hospital when he brings in an injured man, and he tells her of his own interest in medical work.
Q 13Which gift from Dorothy is Desmond Doss clutching as he is lowered from the cliff at the end of Hacksaw Ridge?
A Bible
A Bible was the real Doss's constant companion too, and in training fellow soldiers threw boots at him while he prayed at night.
Q 21Which star of The Matrix films plays war-scarred veteran Tom Doss in Hacksaw Ridge?
Hugo Weaving
Hugo Weaving, the trilogy's Agent Smith, plays the father who bursts into the tribunal with the letter that saves his son.
Q 22Which actress earned an AACTA International Award nomination as Dorothy Schutte in Hacksaw Ridge?
Teresa Palmer
Teresa Palmer was already known for the zombie film Warm Bodies, and starred the same year in the horror film Lights Out.
Q 23Which Six Feet Under actress plays Bertha Doss, the devout mother of Desmond, in Hacksaw Ridge?
Rachel Griffiths
Rachel Griffiths, a Golden Globe winner for that HBO drama, plays the parent whose strong faith shaped the real Doss as well.
Q 14On which day of the week does Desmond Doss refuse to train in Hacksaw Ridge, because he keeps it as his Sabbath?
Saturday
Saturday is also the day set for retaking the ridge, and the assault is held back until Doss has finished his prayers.
Q 15Whom does young Desmond Doss nearly kill while roughhousing in the opening scenes of Hacksaw Ridge, set in 1929?
His brother
His brother survives, and the scare fixes the boy's belief in the commandment against killing. Nathaniel Buzolic plays the grown-up Hal.
Q 16After fellow soldiers beat Desmond Doss one night during training in Hacksaw Ridge, what does he refuse to do?
Identify his attackers
Identify his attackers he will not, and that refusal earns the respect of the men who had made him an outcast for his beliefs.
Q 17Which event does Desmond Doss miss in Hacksaw Ridge when he is arrested for insubordination as his unit goes on leave?
His wedding
His wedding has to wait until the charges are dropped; the real Doss and Dorothy had married in August 1942, before he went on active duty.
Q 18Which Hacksaw Ridge soldier, a composite invented for the film, apologizes to Doss for doubting his courage?
Smitty
Smitty Ryker, played by Luke Bracey, stands in for the various men who tormented the real Doss; Doss saves his life before a counterattack kills him.
Q 19How do Japanese soldiers set up the final ambush of Hacksaw Ridge, in which Desmond Doss is wounded?
Pretending to surrender
Pretending to surrender is their cover for a grenade attack, and Doss deflects the grenades to save Captain Glover before a blast wounds him.
Q 20Which Avatar actor plays Captain Glover, the officer who comes to respect Desmond Doss in Hacksaw Ridge?
Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington's character is based on a real officer: Jack Glover tried to have Doss transferred and ended up among the men he saved.
Q 24The director of Hacksaw Ridge turned the project down twice, just as he first had with which earlier epic?
Braveheart
Braveheart won him the Best Director Oscar, and producer Bill Mechanic wanted the same blend of violence and faith he had brought to The Passion of the Christ.
Q 25Critics including Rex Reed called Hacksaw Ridge the best war film since which 1998 release?
Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan was also the yardstick for Uproxx's Mike Ryan, who said two moments in the second half made him jump out of his seat.
Q 26Hacksaw Ridge is based on The Conscientious Objector, a 2004 work by Terry Benedict in which form?
Documentary
Documentary footage from it, including an interview with Doss late in his life, plays just before the end credits.
Q 27At which film festival did Hacksaw Ridge premiere in September 2016, to a ten-minute standing ovation?
Venice
Venice saw it two months before American cinemas did, where it opened in third place behind Doctor Strange and Trolls.
Q 28Hacksaw Ridge won two Academy Awards, one for Sound Mixing; in which other category did it win?
Film Editing
Film Editing went to John Gilbert, while sound mixer Kevin O'Connell finally won after a record 20 nominations without a victory.
Q 29Why did the director of Hacksaw Ridge leave out Desmond Doss's real 300-yard crawl with a shattered arm?
Too hard to believe
Too hard to believe, he felt: the real Doss gave up his stretcher to a worse-off man, was shot in the arm and crawled alone to an aid station.
Q 30In which state does Desmond Doss grow up in Hacksaw Ridge, in the town of Lynchburg where the film opens?
Virginia
Virginia remembers him: the Lynchburg house where Doss was born became a shelter for homeless veterans, marked with a plaque in 2020.