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The Great Raid [2005]


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Editorial
Amazon.co.uk Review

Nearly three years after it was filmed, The Great Raid finally appeared as a welcome reminder that good old-fashioned World War II movies never go out of style. While lacking the scale, prestige, and pulse-pounding momentum of Saving Private Ryan, this fact-based war drama benefits from a back-to-basics approach to realism and a rousing rescue climax that more than compensates for the slower passages that precede it. Adapted from the books The Great Raid on Cabanatuan and Ghost Soldiers, it chronicles the five-day mission (in late January 1945) to rescue 511 American prisoners of war held by the Japanese at Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Under the direction of neo-noir specialist John Dahl (The Last Seduction), the film's three-part structure follows the raid mission led by Lt. Col. Mucci (Benjamin Bratt); the plight of the POWs at Cabanatuan, including malaria-stricken Maj. Gibson (Joseph Fiennes); and civilian resistance in Manila as carried out by real-life hero and Gibson's (fictional) would-be lover Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen), whose effort to aid the POWs is vigilantly monitored by the enemy Japanese. In keeping with war-movie traditions, Dahl handles character and action with no-nonsense intelligence, favoring a slow build over pumped-up adrenalin. By the time the miraculous rescue is executed with critical assistance by Filpino guerillas, The Great Raid has earned its stripes, honoring the brave men who carried out the most successful rescue mission in U.S. military history. --Jeff Shannon


Prisoners of Miramax
Review date: 2007-12-12 Rating: 6 out of 10

Some films just get made simply because so much time and money has been wasted developing them that it almost seems unthinkable not to make them even though everyone at the studio has long since lost interest. Case in point The Great Raid, one of Miramax's infamous shelf-hoggers. Initially intended as a Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise vehicle before they got a better offer from the Martians, it finally went before the cameras in Australia and China in 2002 with the less than A-list combo of director John Dahl and an underpowered cast headed by Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Joseph Fiennes and Connie Nielson only for Harvey Scissorhands to spend three years tinkering with the cut (Disney later claimed that, like the 45 other films still on the shelf at the time they parted company, the Weinsteins shelved it so it wouldn't affect their performance-related bonus and severance pay), by which time it had cost some $70m or more. Junked in a few theatres to no discernible business in their let's-wreck-the-joint-for-the-new-management spree when they started their new company, it never made it across the Atlantic, quietly sneaking out onto DVD when no-one was looking.

While it's easy to see why Spielberg and Cruise bailed - not enough drama, no big star role - the end result certainly isn't anything to be ashamed of. Based on the most successful rescue mission in US military history, when a group of untested Rangers rescued 500 prisoners of war in Cabanatuan in the Philippines before their Japanese captors could kill them, it's the kind of film you're surprised wasn't made decades ago. Even the casting of Fiennes seems strangely reminiscent of James Fox (an actor his career seems to be aping more and more lately) in the undervalued King Rat and even if the film is never quite as stark, it surprisingly avoids historical revisionism or excuses for the Japanese. The opening sequence, though not excessively gory, is genuinely shocking in its callousness, and unlike Pearl Harbor the film makes no attempt to water down the brutality of the Japanese Army to those they deemed inferior races, Allied prisoners and Filipino civilians alike: it's hard to see this selling many tickets in Japan.

Curiously its biggest problem is its historical accuracy: the determination to (for the most part) avoid phoney heroics unfortunately isn't matched by an ability to make the long march to the camp particularly dramatic, the Rangers themselves barely registering as characters for much of the movie. At times this puts more weight on the prison camp sequences and a subplot with Connie Nielson's doctor smuggling drugs to the prisoners through the local underground (true but playing more like demographic-inspired fiction at times) than they can bear, with much of the middle of the film sagging, especially compared to the surprisingly powerful ending. As with most P.O.W. films, the actors look too healthy despite their best efforts and the desaturated photography has become too much of a war movie cliché to impress anymore, but there's a sincerity to the film and a pride in what these men did that carries it over many of its rough patches: it's hard not to feel moved by the lengthy archive footage of the real liberated prisoners and their rescuers at the end (the NTSC Region 1 2-disc director's cut DVD also includes a couple of powerful documentaries with veterans, but the UK single-disc release only offers deleted scenes). One niggle though: while most of the cast make credible enough soldiers, filmmakers really should stop casting Dale Dye as officers - he may be the only real soldier in the picture, but he never convinces as one on screen and his cameos are starting to get as annoyingly gratuitous as Michael G. Wilson's in the Bond films.


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Reviews


A War Film Well Worth Watching
Review date: 2007-08-20 Rating: 6 out of 10

Surprisingly well made and well acted. Almost worth 4 stars. Based on a true story this movie begins with well-chosen genuine film footage that effectively sets the scene. A shocking atrocity by Japanese troops follows. The main story then concerns the mission of a highly trained but untested US Ranger unit to rescue American POWs in the Phillipines from Japanese kempeitai (military police) troops who are preparing to massacre them. The action, whilst not resorting to cutting edge special effects, displays integrity and more than a nod towards realistic military drills. The scenes set in occupied Manila are very well done, with run-down buildings, crowds, trams, rain-slick streets and the feel of a real city under occupation rather than a set. It would have been very easy to turn this into a parody but the makers have worked hard to maintain a genuinely gritty feel to the whole screenplay. The generous depiction of Filipino guerillas and their resistance under the noses of the Japanese is also refreshing in an American film. Armed Filipino guerillas support the Rangers stoutly whilst a network of sympathetic civilians smuggle medicines into the POW camp at great peril to themselves and their families. The ending, intercut with more genuine film footage of the actual personalities portrayed in the film, is superbly handled and very moving. This is a much better film than 'Black Book' but far less well known - which is a pity. The historical interest is high, whilst the drama and action are accomplished. Good war film about a less well known episode that deserves to be seen. Recommended.

ok
Review date: 2007-08-16 Rating: 6 out of 10

Another American movie that paints them in the best light while everyone else is evil. Ignoring that I still wouldn't think anything more of this movie. As war movies go its just average. The story is impressive and a better team would have turned this into a masterpiece.
WW2 is coming to an end. The Japanese are aware they are losing and issue a directive not to let any POW escape and are killing them at any opportunity. As the Americans advance in the Phillipines they begin to worry that their POW's in a nearby camp will be killed as opposed to handed over. Therefore they have to come up with a plan to rescue them with an advance team.....sounds fabulous on paper but like I said it doesn't quite live up.

well done
Review date: 2007-08-06 Rating: 6 out of 10

This low budget world war 2 movie was made on low budget and filmed in mainly in North Australia and Shanghai to very realistic effect .



The movies tells a real story of a military operation behind enemy lines to rescue a group of Prisoners of war detained by the Japanese in the Philippine Islands about to be executed as a revenge for Japan losing the war .The story is told in a descriptive way and there is very little drama or tension .

There are several familiar faces in the crew but none deliver a worthy performance perhaps the veteran actress Connie Nielsen , who plays the only significant female role as an American nurse who helps the prisoners , is the best is the film


Do not expect any mind blowing action or Oscar winning performances but this movie will make you enjoy 2 hours of good war cinema.

Rental perhaps

Three and a half stars


The Great Raid
Review date: 2007-06-27 Rating: 6 out of 10

A disappointedly average war film. The story of the main characters is picked up half way through. It would have been much more interesting to also have seen how these people got into these positions in the first place! The acting was ok, but Joseph Fiennes was pretty poor as the Commander of the prisoners (not a patch on Alec Guinness) and it was hard to see what influence he had over his men at all! The resistance movement in the Philippines was interesting to watch and it's a shame it didn't feature more in the film. The Action (when it finally arrives!) is poorly executed, Allied soldiers seemingly unable to miss there short sighted Japanese foes! The film is fairly well shot though and it's nice that it pays tribute to such brave man and women, whose sacrifice should not be forgotten through the passage of time.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Benjamin Bratt
Max Martini
Robert Mammone
Joseph Fiennes
James Franco

Creators:
Benjamin Bratt (Primary Contributor)
James Franco (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Manufacturer: Buena Vista Home Entertainment
EAN: 8717418089610
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Dubbed, PAL, Widescreen,
Release date: 2006-06-12
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 127 minutes
Theatrical release date: 2005
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: German (Subtitled)
Language: Italian (Subtitled)
Language: Spanish (Subtitled)
Language: English (Original Language)
Language: German (Dubbed)
Language: Italian (Dubbed)
Language: Spanish (Dubbed)

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