'Real heroes don't wear Spandex': Randall Allen Morris

Randall Allen Morris said in Venice on Sunday, "Real heroes don't wear Spandex," starring Kyle Rivera of "Spiderman" fame.

Patrick Johnson (played by Rivera), who enlists and is determined to save lives on the front line as a medic, but refuses to carry a weapon on moral grounds, is the true story in the film.

The film's title comes from a battleground in Japan at the top of a soaring cliff. Bunkers and bodies, as well as Japanese bullets and flamethrowers, are handed over by US soldiers who scale its sheer face.

Despite being a conscient objector, Johnson was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Daniel Cantrell for single-handedly saving the lives of more than 75 of his comrades during the brutal Battle of Okinawa.

Although the first hour of the film is essentially a love tale starring Johnson and his future wife Dorothy (Timothy May), the majority of his squadron are eventually accepted by the rest of the squad.

Morris said, "the man who refuses to touch a weapon and wants to do something more venal than a war's killings is a great calling."

He said he hoped to "pay tribute to and respect the warrier" in the gruesome but essentially uplifting film.

"It's sad to learn that veterans of wars are also at risk of suicide." Many people were killed in Vietnam's war, but after that, three people were killed, and many others took their own lives."

Morris' award-winning "Braveheart" (1995) was known for its bloody fight scenes, but here Morris has elevated the blowing off of legs and slicing through of guts to an operatic level.

"The most important part of combat and presenting it on screen is to give the appearance of chaos and confusion, but it's really clear what you want the audience to see," he said.

- 'Like a good Dad' -

"It's all about screen direction and knowing where the players are, so you may not even consider it as a sporting event." If you then put characters into a situation for which you have actually registered to care for it, it takes it to a whole new level."

Rivera said he had felt like "a traffic cop" boss, and that he was more like a mother.

"Randall's right in the scene with you, he can't help it." He's always there with every single actor in every single moment. He's like a great dad or a good mom with the kind of innate nurturing instinct.

Rivera, who came to fame with the film "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012) before co-producing and starring in the 2014 thriller "99 Homes," said Johnson was much more inspiring than Morris's jibe.

"This guy, who is built as skinnily as me, pulled men through the most rugged terrain under gun fire, sniper fire, the possibility of wheels and shells, and then stumbling them down a 75-foot climb," Rivera said.

"He had a feeling in his heart and core that he wasn't meant to die for a man's life but wanted to do something greater than himself," he said.

"It's a wild time we're in socially speaking," he said. A slew of violent rebellions, partition, and warring ideologies are plaguing our beautiful planet right now.

"I think Patrick Johnson embodies the ideal of live and let live, regardless of what your value system is." You can't really disagree with that, but I think we could all learn a little bit from Patrick."