The Great Raid

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The Great Raid
The Great Raid movie poster
Directed by	John Dahl
Produced by	Lawrence Bender Marty Katz
Written by	Carlo Bernard Doug Miro
Starring	Benjamin Bratt Joseph Fiennes James Franco
Music by	Trevor Rabin
Cinematography	Peter Menzies Jr.
Editing by	Scott Chestnut Pietro Scalia
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	August 12, 2005
Running time	132 minutes
Language	English and some Tagalog
Budget	$70,000,000 USD
IMDb profile

The Great Raid is a 2005 war film which tells the story of the January 1945 liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp 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, to widely mixed reviews. Film critics pointed out that it was too much like classic war movies that simply glorified American troops and demonized the enemy through predictable stereotypes and plot devices.

"Even audiences predisposed to sagas of American valor or nostalgic for the good old days of unswerving wartime coalitions will find little here beyond the retro patina to grab their attention", wrote TheHollywoodReporter.com.

The film has a notable difference in tone from other World War II films. Instead of a chaotic battle sequence (such as the one in Saving Private Ryan), it shows a carefully choreographed U.S. Army Rangers raid in the climactic scene, paralleling more closely the actual raid.

The real-life efforts of Filipino National Forces are also uniquely highlighted. These units fought alongside Americans against Japanese occupiers during the war.

One criticism noted in film critics' reviews was that the Japanese soldiers were portrayed as brutal and inhumane. While it is true that there are no positive Japanese characters in the film, it should be noted that the film uses historical footage of the captives after they are freed, that inhumane treatment by Japanese troops of American POWs was widespread (because of a Japanese cultural belief that it was shameful to surrender), and that the beginning of the film clearly notes that the majority of Japanese people were victims of government and military propaganda. Thus, the Japanese portrayals are historically accurate, and the accurate level of brutality was historically the result of the occupying military forces, rather than a nationwide practice in Japan, although survivors would testify that women and children were equally brutalized.

1 The plot
2 Featured cast
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] The plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The Great Raid is based on true events. In the winter of 1945, WWII was coming to a close. Part of the American prisoners who survived the Bataan Death March were held in a notorious Japanese POW camp based in Cabanatuan, and subjected to harsh treatment by the Japanese; also many were stricken with malaria. At the time of the raid the camp held 500 prisoners. The film opens with a scene of the POW massacre on Palawan. the man who supervised the massacre is shown expressing no emotions at all, as if it was a regular part of his duty-which it probably was, because the insignia he wears is of the Kempai Tai, the Imperial Japanese military's secret police. The film then swithces over to Lingayen Gulf, showing the 6th Ranger battalion. Col. Muci learns of the Cabanatuan prison camp, and is ordered by Gen. Walter Krueger to devise a raid to make sure that all of the POWs get out alive. The plan is hatched, and the Rangers move out. The film then periodically switches between the point of view from the Filipino Resistance, the POWs at Cabanatuan, the Rangers, and finally the Japanese.

That winter, the 6th Ranger Battalion of the American Army, aided by Filipino guerillas, staged the Raid at Cabanatuan, a large attack on the camp in order to rescue the remaining prisoners. Lt. Col. Henry Mucci (Bratt) and Cpt. Robert Prince (Franco) led the attack. It was a tremendous success.

[edit] Featured cast

Actor	Role
Benjamin Bratt	Lt. Colonel Mucci
James Franco	Captain Prince
Robert Mammone	Captain Fisher
Max Martini	1st Sgt. Sid "Top" Wojo
Joseph Fiennes	Major Gibson
Cesar Montano	Juan Pajota
Marton Csokas	Captain Redding
Natalie Mendoza	Mina
Dale Dye	General Kreuger
Clayne Crawford	PFC Aldrige
Connie Nielsen	Margaret Utinsky

[edit] Trivia

The aircraft utilized by the Americans to provide a diversion while the Rangers were crawling toward the camp was a P-61 Black Widow night fighter. In the movie, the aircraft used is a Lockheed Hudson; this is because there are only four surviving P-61s in the world today and none of them were airworthy at the time the film was made (one is currently being restored).