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The Great Raid (2005)
Front Cover Actor
Benjamin Bratt
James Franco
Robert Mammone
Max Martini
James Carpinello
Mark Consuelos
Craig McLachlan
Freddie Joe Farnsworth
Laird Macintosh
Cesar Montano
Movie Details
Director John Dahl
Language English
Audience Rating Unrated
Running Time 133 mins
Country USA
Color Color
Plot
Nearly three years after it was filmed, The Great Raid finally appeared as a welcome reminder that good old-fashioned World War II movies never go out of style. While lacking the scale, prestige, and pulse-pounding momentum of Saving Private Ryan, this fact-based war drama benefits from a back-to-basics approach to realism and a rousing rescue climax that more than compensates for the slower passages that precede it. Adapted from the books The Great Raid on Cabanatuan and Ghost Soldiers, it chronicles the five-day mission (in late January 1945) to rescue 511 American prisoners of war held by the Japanese at Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Under the direction of neo-noir specialist John Dahl (The Last Seduction), the film's three-part structure follows the raid mission led by Lt. Col. Mucci (Benjamin Bratt); the plight of the POWs at Cabanatuan, including malaria-stricken Maj. Gibson (Joseph Fiennes); and civilian resistance in Manila as carried out by real-life hero and Gibson's (fictional) would-be lover Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen), whose effort to aid the POWs is vigilantly monitored by the enemy Japanese. In keeping with war-movie traditions, Dahl handles character and action with no-nonsense intelligence, favoring a slow build over pumped-up adrenalin. By the time the miraculous rescue is executed with critical assistance by Filpino guerillas, The Great Raid has earned its stripes, honoring the brave men who carried out the most successful rescue mission in U.S. military history. --Jeff Shannon
Personal Details
Seen It Yes
Index 249
Collection Status In Collection
Links Amazon US
Product Details
Edition Full Screen Edition
Format DVD
Region Region 1
UPC (Barcode) 786936688337
Release Date 12/20/2005
Nr of Disks/Tapes 1