The Great Raid

Infobox_Film
name = The Great Raid


caption = The Great Raid movie poster
director = John Dahl
producer = Lawrence Bender
Marty Katz
writer = Carlo Bernard
Doug Miro
starring = Benjamin Bratt
Joseph Fiennes
James Franco
Marton Csokas
Connie Nielsen
Cesar Montano
music = Trevor Rabin
cinematography = Peter Menzies Jr.
editing = Scott Chestnut
Pietro Scalia
distributor = Miramax Films
released = August 12, 2005
runtime = 132 minutes
language = English
budget = $70,000,000 USD
rating = R
imdb_id = 0326905
amg_id = 1:286557

"The Great Raid" is a 2005 war film which tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp on the Philippine island of Luzon during World War II. It is directed by John Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, James Franco and Connie Nielsen with Filipino actor Cesar Montano. In the United States, it is rated R for strong war violence and brief language. The principal photography took place from July 4, to November 6, 2002, but its release was delayed several times from the original target of fall 2003.

The film opened in theaters across America on August 12, 2005, three days before the 60th anniversary of V-J Day.

The real-life efforts of Filipino guerrillas are also specifically highlighted, especially a stand at a bridge that delayed Japanese reinforcements. These units fought alongside Americans against Japanese occupiers during the war.

Plot

"The Great Raid" was based on actual events and is adapted from William B. Breuer's book of the same name.

In the winter of 1944, World War II was coming to a close. The Japanese held some of the American prisoners who had survived the Bataan Death March in a notorious prisoner-of-war camp at Cabanatuan and subjected them to harsh treatment; many prisoners were also stricken with malaria. At the time of the raid the camp held about five hundred prisoners.

The film opens with a scene of Japanese massacre of prisoners of war on Palawan. The man who supervised the massacre is shown expressing no emotions at all, as if it were a regular part of his duty -- which it probably was, for the insignia he wears is of the Kempeitai, the Imperial Japanese military's secret police. The film then switches over to Lingayen Gulf, showing the 6th Ranger Battalion. Col. Mucci learns of the Cabanatuan prison camp and is ordered by Gen. Walter Krueger to plan a raid to liberate all of the prisoners of war. The plan is completed, and the Rangers move out. The film then periodically switches between the points of view of the Filipino Resistance, the POWs at Cabanatuan, the Rangers, and, finally, the Japanese.

That winter, the 6th Ranger Battalion and the Alamo Scouts of the 6th Army, aided by Filipino guerrillas, staged the Raid at Cabanatuan, a broad attack on the camp to rescue the remaining prisoners. Lt. Col. Henry Mucci (Bratt) and Cpt. Robert Prince (Franco) led the attack, which succeeded gloriously.

The Americans used a Lockheed P-61 Black Widow night fighter to divert Japanese attention while the Rangers were crawling toward the camp (but the aircraft used in the movie was a Lockheed Hudson, because none of the four surviving P-61s were airworthy when the film was made).

Featured cast

Reception

As of August 2007, the film had a score of 48 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 29 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film had a score of 35% based on 112 reviews. The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes was that the film was too long with too many subplots, although the actual raid was exciting. However, it received more praise from Roger Ebert, who gave it three stars.

External links

* [http://www.miramax.com/thegreatraid/ Official web site]
*imdb title|id=0326905|title=The Great Raid
*rotten-tomatoes|id=great_raid|title=The Great Raid
*metacritic film|id=greatraid|title=The Great Raid
*mojo title|id=greatraid|title=The Great Raid
* [http://www.stfrancis.edu/historyinthemovies/great%20raid.htm History in the Movies: The Great Raid]