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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.

Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

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

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1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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When the rescue operation finally begins, this well-filmed movie comes alive.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/10/05
Betty Jo Tucker
Betty Jo Tucker
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine | comment Comment
08/12/05
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Now Playing Magazine

... 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.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal | comment Comment
08/12/05
Carol Cling
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal

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.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
08/12/05
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

A thrilling and inspiring true-life war drama.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
08/12/05
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

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.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
08/11/05
Duane Dudek
Duane Dudek
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Nicely dramatizes an event almost as impressive as Israel's freeing of hostages from Idi Amin at Entebbe airport.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
08/05/05
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

Not a great movie, but it certainly does justice to the great historical event it dramatizes.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
08/12/05
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News

An honest, well-crafted, engrossing story

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
08/11/05
Janos Gereben
Janos Gereben
culturevulture.net

The mission of the film is to inspire. Mission accomplished.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
08/11/05
Jeff Strickler
Jeff Strickler
Minneapolis Star Tribune

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. . . .

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
08/12/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Click to read the article

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

There's genuine tension in the film.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
08/11/05
John Anderson
John Anderson
Christian Science Monitor

Dahl's approach may be somewhat pedestrian, but he tells his story clearly and with few unnecessary detours.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
08/12/05
John Hartl
John Hartl
Seattle Times

The Great Raid works well as a film when it concentrates on the planning and completion of the mission.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
08/14/05
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

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

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
07/22/05
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: MovieWeb | comment Comment
08/14/05
Julian Roman
Julian Roman
MovieWeb

When the raid actually starts, it becomes a great war film.

Full Review Source: 7M Pictures | comment Comment
08/12/05
Kevin Carr
Kevin Carr
7M Pictures

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.

Full Review Source: San Antonio Express-News | comment Comment
08/12/05
Larry Ratliff
Larry Ratliff
San Antonio Express-News

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
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Great Raid

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