The Great Raid
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| The Great Raid | |
|---|---|
 The Great Raid movie poster |
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| Directed by | John Dahl |
| Produced by | Lawrence Bender Marty Katz |
| Written by | Carlo Bernard Doug Miro |
| Starring | Benjamin Bratt Joseph Fiennes James Franco Marton Csokas Connie Nielsen Cesar Montano |
| 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 |
| 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 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.
Contents |
[edit] 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 of the US 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 was airworthy when the film was made).
[edit] Featured cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Benjamin Bratt | Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci |
| James Franco | Captain Robert Prince |
| Robert Mammone | Captain Fisher |
| Max Martini | 1st Sgt. Sid "Top" Wojo |
| Joseph Fiennes | Major Gibson |
| Cesar Montano | Captain Juan Pajota |
| Marton Csokas | Captain Redding |
| Natalie Mendoza | Mina |
| Dale Dye | General Walter Krueger |
| Clayne Crawford | PFC Aldrige |
| Connie Nielsen | Margaret Utinsky |
[edit] 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 four stars.
