The Great Raid (movie)

[Pieman]

Went to see this movie opening night, to a less than half empty theater. I did not have much hope for this movie going in. I had seen the previews and was picturing a typical Hollywood hero movie with outrageously unrealistic battle scenes where all the good guys survive. And of course the hero would get the tall blond in the end.

Movie is a true story about the Americans breaking out POWs from a Japanese concentration camp in the Philippines.

I sat through this movie waiting for things to turn bad, but it never happened. Instead I was unexpectedly treated to one of the most detailed and carefully made movie I have ever seen. The critics have been comparing the movie to 'Saving Private Ryan' but there is no real comparison between the two.

The movie is not artistic in the sense that there is some deep meaning to it. It is artistic in the sense that you can tell the director put a tremendous amount of effort into getting it right. The sets are so well thought out and detailed you almost can smell the air. You can tell the battle scenes were made with the effort of replicating the real battle as closely as possible. This is something that almost never comes out of profit orientated hollywood.

The movie has a slow and thoughtful pace to it. This is probably guaranteed to drive away the masses.

Sadly, I think this movie is a gem that will go unnoticed by the vast majority of the people.   So if you are a war movie fan, I highly reccommend this film. I also reccomend you go see it as soon as possible if you want to see it in a theater. I can't imagine it being in theaters for very long.

I tried looking for a review of this movie that said something good about it, but I can't. The critics are tearing the movie up for being 'slow and boring' and 'predictable'. I don't know, maybe they are right. Personally I think they missed the point of this film, which in my mind was to try to recreate what happened as accurately as possible. I loved it.

Here is one not so nice reviews of the film:
http://www.leesmovieinfo.net/Article.php?a=707

The Great Raid is opening in a month that is generally referred to as a dumping ground for studios who don't have any confidence in their product. This World War II film is a classic example of an August movie; it's forgettable and reeks of something that has been delayed (as it has been). I had been hopeful because the director is John Dahl, who was behind Joy Ride (B) and Rounders (B-) â “ two films I thought were enjoyable, and I liked his tone. My hope was that Dahl's vision would be solid but I feared that the story would be lackluster, and I hoped his style would compensate in such a case. My fear turned out accurate, except the reality was a bit harsher: The picture runs by a very straightforward framework, and the material is so boring that Dahl's tone can't rescue it.

The story, which is based on actual events, revolves around 500 POW's who have been trapped for three years by the Japanese in a concentration camp in the Philippines. The prisoners are weak and are beginning to lose hope regarding their survival, when the 6th Range Battalion, lead by Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt), makes a daring attempt to rescue them.

The Great Raid is predictable and offers very few trademarks of a war film. There aren't any dissections of themes on the battlefield; there is a mentioning of faith, but that topic disappears immediately. We're supposed to assume the story is about being a hero to those in need of help, but there isn't anything analyzed in that regard. Perhaps we can apply what we already know from previous war films, but the movie doesn't even let us do that.

Benjamin Bratt is pretty good as a commanding presence, and James Franco (who plays a soldier on the 6th Range Battalion) also gives a very natural performance, but they are subjected to minor parts â “ the film mostly focuses on a few people stuck in the camp. The story cheats by merely playing off the fact that the prisoners are trapped (without making us feel trapped with them), and there is barely any depth to the individuals we follow. The Japanese are also given very little back-story and are simply antagonistic stereotypes.

The whole film felt like a by-the-book action flick, but war films aren't supposed to be just action flicks â “ their intent is to enlighten us on an event we may or may not be fully knowledgeable of. The film opens up with a captivating montage of history, but from there on the structure is very simple.

Saving Private Ryan (B+) offered an unforgettable first act and dove intimately into the idea of saving a man no one knew. The soldiers talked about courage and heroism and we saw great examples of them taking on those characteristics. The Thin Red Line (B+) delved into the emotional side of its war, and what war even means to begin with. The film expressed what it was like to be within the enemy lines, and to be so far away from loved ones.

The Great Raid is empty in comparison to those films, and is more in the league of Windtalkers (C+). It could've been an inspiring true story of heroism, but the film forgot to take the audience along for the mission.

 

[SeanPaul_031]

I went to a screening for this movie a couple weeks ago, I really liked it, especially how they went into deep detail for the final attack. I wouldnt go as far as to compare it to saving private ryan, though it was still very good.

 

[54/102 CEF]

A guy who was on the raid speaks http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002446161_prince19.html

 

[tomahawk6]

I saw the movie on sneak preview night and the theater was 80% full. Having read an account of the raid prior to the movie I had a good frame of reference. I was pleased with what I saw. It was gripping and held one's interest right to the end. The brutality of the Japanese was accurately portrayed. I enjoyed the movie and recomend it.

 

[Danjanou]

Saw this earlier in the week with the wife who is a Filipina. I'd already read Ghost Soldiers one of the books it's based on. Very well done movie, covered the actual raid and the treatment of the POWs well. As noted the barbaric behaviour of the Japanese both to the POWs and the people of the Philippines in general was accurately portrayed here, no glossed over revisionist PC pap here.

Also nice to see the producers didn't resort to the oft used formulaic Hollywood version of the war and showed the crucial part the guerrillas played in the raid.

I'll probably be writing a detailed review on this for another website and when I do I'll ensure it's copied/linked here.

In the interim well worth seeing at the theatre now as opposed to waiting until it comes out on DVD/video, although as we we leaving the theatre the wife said we had to pick it up when it came out on DVD.

 

[triniman]

I found The Great Raid too long with too many slow moving parts and not enough character development. No one person stood out as the protagonist. It's not the landmark film that it set out to be. It's based on a true story and I found the historical aspects interesting.

The film was supposed to be released first in 2003, then in 2004, but it was delayed by the disolution of the Disney-Miramax partnership. With the lack of advertising, I believe Miramax doesn't believe in this film.

really longer review: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/08/07/011730.php

 

[JBoyd]

I just watched this tonight, I must say despite being long I thought it was a well done movie, As far as character development goes I dont know why some people think that it should matter much when something is based on true events.. the object of the story is to tell the story, not to elaborate on the people involved. However, they did a good job letting you know who the key figures were, and the part they played. I will most definately add this to my top movie lists.

As well, does anyone know how historically accurate the film is? regarding actual events, people, and equipment used in the film?

 

[1feral1]

I was at the Australian premier of it. Due to 9-11, it never was shown here until Jan 06. Wine, and cheese, a social gathering of the local who's who, and some extras who were in the film.

I thought it was a well presented movie overall. No big names, or so I thought anyways.

For the record, it was filmed right here on Bribie Island, and also near Beaudesert, about 1.5 hrs SSW of here.

I even scrounged up an original movie poster from the premier night, as I asked for it, and since the bloke new I was off to Iraq, he gave it to me.

In reality Bribie was the major staging area for training of the US island hopping campaign against the Japs. Lots of bunkers and forts around here, and the HMAS Centaur, an Australian hospital ship was torpedoed by a Jap I Boat just 40km NE of Bribie Island. Many lost their lives that night.

Lots of military history around these parts.


Cheers,

Wes

 

[Mike Baker]

I saw the movie several times and I love it.

Hey Wes, I think you just gave me more good reasons to visit Australia

 

[Kilo_302]

I didn't think the movie was that great. Sure the combat scenes seemed realistic. But there was no character development, and while the film accurately portrayed the Japanese brutality towards Allied POWs, it glossed over the colonial nature of the American presence in the Philippines. Overall I found the movie very formulaic, the subject matter was already dramatic, so the it didn't seem that the director or the writers tried very much. The acting was also poor (why was that guy from "Annapolis" even considered?!).