The Great Raid (2005)

Director:

John Dahl

Writers (WGA):

William B. Breuer (book)
Hampton Sides (book) (additional material)

Release Date:

12 August 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | War

Tagline:

Two proud races, brothers-in-arms... A daring mission that will earn them the respect and admiration of the entire world.

Plot:

Taking place towards the end of WWII, 500 American Soldiers have been entrapped in a camp for 3 years. Beginning to give up hope they will ever be rescued, a group of Rangers goes on a dangerous mission to try and save them.

Plot Keywords:

Sergeant | Poker | Bataan Death March | Arrest | Japanese Occupation

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 29

10:30 AM

AMC

Cast

Benjamin Bratt	...	Lt. Colonel Mucci
James Franco	...	Captain Prince
Robert Mammone	...	Captain Fisher
Max Martini	...	1st Sgt. Sid "Top" Wojo
James Carpinello	...	Cpl. Aliteri
Mark Consuelos	...	Cpl. Guttierez
Craig McLachlan	...	2nd Lt. Riley
Freddie Joe Farnsworth	...	2nd Lt. Foley
Laird Macintosh	...	2nd Lt. O'Grady
Jeremy Callaghan	...	Lt. Able
Scott McLean	...	Lt. LeClaire
Paolo Montalban	...	Sgt. Valera
Clayne Crawford	...	PFC Aldrige
Sam Worthington	...	PFC Lucas
Royston Innes	...	Sgt. Adams

MPAA:

Rated R for strong war violence and brief language.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

Filipino | English | Tagalog | Japanese

Colour:

Black and White | Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #40855) | UK:15 | Iceland:16 | USA:Unrated (director's cut) | Germany:18 | Australia:MA | South Korea:15 | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:R13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Malaysia:U | Philippines:PG-13 | Canada:13+ (Quebec)

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Originally set for a US theatrical release in 2003 and then in 2004; the film was then pushed back indefinitely by Miramax. Two massive waves of layoffs were sustained at the studio, and the Disney-Miramax split reached its height. The movie remained in the Miramax vaults unreleased during this time of uncertainty. When the Disney and Miramax divorce was finally completed, numerous films like this one under the Miramax and Dimension label were finally released theatrically.

Goofs:

Continuity: When one of Major Nagai's men shoots a prisoner, the prisoner falls of the steps and the radio he was carrying falls to his side. When Nagai and the man walk up the steps into the guard house, the radio is gone.

Quotes:

Lt. Colonel Mucci: How you feelin?
Captain Prince: Alright.
Lt. Colonel Mucci: I'm proud of you.
Captain Prince: Thank-you Sir.
[They salute each other and walk off]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Hannity & Colmes: (2005-08-12)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

You Go To My Head

Good movie, good ensemble cast

Old fashioned movie with an ensemble cast instead of A list powered star who uses the movie as a vehicle to command top dollar is rare these days in Hollywood. That's why this movie worked. They assembled a great cast of fine, top notched actors together from the USA and the Philippines but no "superstar". They all portrayed their characters and meshed out the story without any modern day politicking and criticism. I don't know about you but that is truly refreshing in this day and age of movies.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone. Major criticisms seem to be that there's no deep complex characters and no protagonist. I think that is a positive for this movie because the POWs are the main characters themselves. The men and women just did what needed to be done for their countrymen and their country. There was deep motivation because someone had been scarred when they were 15 and thus acts this way. Most of the characters are real life people and you can't focus on one or two characters like in a fictional story that someone wrote.

It's too bad this movie won't do well at the office because it doesn't cater to the teens and their expendable income. The limited wide release also won't help it but I know for those who watch it they'll be touched. They'll know that there were and are sacrifices being made to ensure that the country they live in are safe and protected.