When the rescue operation finally begins, this well-filmed movie comes alive.
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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Reviews for The Great Raid
Feels strangely of a piece with the war films from the very period it chronicles... and will appeal to hardcore genre fans but not likely make a huge commercial impact.
... a refreshingly old-fashioned World War II drama [that], much like its central characters ... gets down to business and stays with the task until the job is done.
This has modest blood yet almost documentary fidelity, is beautifully sited (Australia's Queensland was main location), and paced to deliver the nerve surges of fear and reward and loss.
While the film is often impressive and inspirational, more of the credit for this belongs to the actual events themselves than to their re-creation.
Nicely dramatizes an event almost as impressive as Israel's freeing of hostages from Idi Amin at Entebbe airport.
Not a great movie, but it certainly does justice to the great historical event it dramatizes.
When the movie finally does show what the troops went through and how the raid itself was pulled off, it's exciting, enthralling stuff. If only there was more of that. . . .
Dahl's approach may be somewhat pedestrian, but he tells his story clearly and with few unnecessary detours.
The Great Raid works well as a film when it concentrates on the planning and completion of the mission.
Appeals to your interest in military strategy and the performance of our troops at their best. Patriots with an ounce of fervor should be willing to pay double or see it twice
Straightforward and traditional, director John Dahl's depiction of this little-chronicled World War II raid has the feel of a war movie made 30 or 40 years ago.
A well-produced, rousing feature based on one of those forgotten World War II episodes that make for great cinema.
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