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Movies / On DVD / The Great Raid
The Great Raid

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The Great Raid (2005)

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Reviews Counted:116

Fresh:41

Rotten:75

Average Rating:5.3/10

Consensus: Though the climax of the film -- the actual raid -- is exciting, the rest of it is bogged down in too many subplots and runs on for too long.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong war violence and brief language

Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:Aug 12, 2005 Wide

Box Office: $10,074,830

Synopsis: Director John Dahl switches genres from film noir (THE LAST SEDUCTION, RED ROCK WEST) to military actioner with THE GREAT RAID. Following the 1942 Bataan Death March, thousands of U.S. and Filipino... Director John Dahl switches genres from film noir (THE LAST SEDUCTION, RED ROCK WEST) to military actioner with THE GREAT RAID. Following the 1942 Bataan Death March, thousands of U.S. and Filipino soldiers were imprisoned by the Japanese in a POW camp in Cabantauan in the Philippines. Brutalized, starved, and tortured, the prisoners languished in the camp for nearly three years. But in January 1945, an American battalion, with the help of Filipino guerrillas, planned a daring mission--some called it suicide--to rescue the five hundred U.S. soldiers still alive there. The film is told in glorious detail. The story is based on two books, THE GREAT RAID: RESCUING THE DOOMED GHOSTS OF BATAAN AND CORREGIDOR by William B. Breuer and GHOST SOLDIERS: THE EPIC ACCOUNT OF WORLD WAR II'S GREATEST RESCUE MISSION by Hampton Sides. In addition, several men involved in the raid served as consultants on the project. The result is a thrilling, agonizing, and unforgettable war movie like they used to make in the 1940s and 1950s, a celebration of the human spirit. THE GREAT RAID stars Benjamin Bratt as Lt. Colonel Mucci, an offbeat military man who puts his faith in young Captain Prince (James Franco) to lead the dangerous mission. Among the men imprisoned in the camp are Joseph Fiennes as the ailing Major Gibson and Marton Csokas as Captain Redding, who is always trying to escape. Connie Nielsen adds romantic tension as a war widow smuggling much-needed medicine into the camp. [More]

Starring: Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Robert Mammone, Max Martini

Starring: Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Robert Mammone, Max Martini, Joseph Fiennes, Marton Csokas, Natalie Mendoza, Dale Dye

Director: John Dahl

Director: John Dahl
Screenwriter: Carlo Bernard, Doug Miro
Producer: Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein, Jonathan Gordon, Lawrence Bender, Marty Katz
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: Miramax Films

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Release:

Sep 19, 2006

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Reviews for The Great Raid

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Undeveloped secondary characters and awkward pacing thwarts the movie from achieving its '60s war film ethos similar to "The Great Escape."

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/15/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Instead of a tribute to a fine chapter in the annals of the Greatest Generation, we have a second-rate romance right out of a cheesy, pulp fiction novel.

Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics | comment Comment
05/25/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Princeton Town Topics

A well-produced, rousing feature based on one of those forgotten World War II episodes that make for great cinema.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

While the historical events depicted were unusual and cause for genuine celebration, the film that depicts these events is a dull, by-the-numbers set of war-movie clichés.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/25/06
Peter T. Chattaway
Peter T. Chattaway
Christianity Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

It moves slowly and methodically, showing us the minutest particulars of every facet of the operation. There's more here than we need to know.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
12/28/05
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

The Great Raid has one amazing action sequence. You just have to watch the whole story in order to earn and appreciate it.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
12/25/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

The true story part of it works. The spy and romance stuff doesn't.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
12/16/05
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

It couldn't hold my attention despite the event being such a celebrated one in American history.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/01/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/10/05
Peter Sobczynski
Peter Sobczynski
eFilmCritic.com

More of a skimpy skirmish that lasts way too short and has too little peril to be great

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
09/01/05
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

War is hell, and so are some war movies.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
08/25/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Might have gotten some attention if John Wayne had been around to star in it

Full Review Source: jackiekcooper.com | comment Comment
08/22/05
Jackie K. Cooper
Jackie K. Cooper
jackiekcooper.com

This is strictly for WWII buffs.

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
08/20/05
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

For a man dying of malaria, Fiennes shivers impressively but also talks too much.

Full Review Source: New Times | comment Comment
08/19/05
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
New Times

[D]eliciously old-fashioned... Like in how Dahl assembled a cast of perfectly 1940s faces that pop off the screen with a suave anti-Technicolor urgency...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
08/18/05
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Raid may move, but it isn’t particularly moving.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Weekly | comment Comment
08/16/05
Sean O'Connell
Sean O'Connell
Charlotte Weekly

John Dahl’s solemn staging of the rescue mission will likely earn him points from military aficionados, but The Great Raid is terminally dull.

Full Review Source: Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema | comment Comment
08/16/05
Mark Pfeiffer
Mark Pfeiffer
Reel Times: Reflections on Cinema

The three unwieldy story lines might even have daunted someone like David Lean. They utterly defeat director John Dahl, a director used to working in miniature

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
08/15/05
Pam Grady
Pam Grady
FilmStew.com
 
 
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