“The Great Raid” (Miramax)
“The Great Raid” is a movie worth seeing for its story if for no other reason. It tells about a true raid that was entered into by American forces at the end of World War II to rescue some of the men who had been captured on the island of Bataan and then kept in a prisoner of war camp. It is a story of heroism and valor that makes us feel proud and patriotic all these decades later.
What is missing from the film is major star power. Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Joseph Fiennes and Connie Nielsen are all good actors but none of them can draw a crowd.
The movie takes place three years after the men at Cabanatuan POW Camp were taken prisoners. They have been starved and maltreated. Some have died and some have been killed. Still they are holding on hoping for a rescue. The leader of these men is Major Gibson (Fiennes).
Gibson and his men are aided by the underground forces nearby, one of who is named Margaret (Nielsen). She and Gibson are in love and that love keeps them strong during their ordeals.
Meanwhile a young Captain named Prince (Franco) has come up with a plan to raid the camp and rescue the prisoners. Lt Colonel Henry Mucci (Bratt) gets a group of men together and they make their plans to implement it. This planning and assembling of the troops takes up most of the movie.
When the raid takes place it is a very heroic undertaking and shows the absolute bravery of the men involved. It would have made a better film had the raid been longer and the planning shorter, but that would have been unrealistic and realism is the selling point of this movie.
The film is rated R for violence and profanity.
“The Great Raid” is a good movie if not a great one. It tells an important story and does so with diligence and respect for the subject matter. With bigger stars the film might have had more of an impact. As is, it just goes down as a history movie that John Wayne would have loved being in.
I scored “The Great Raid” a warring 5 out of 10.
