THE GREAT RAID ... the Cabanatuan POW's ... even the Canadians like it.

[A4sForever]

(Don't know whether this goes here or War Zone ... but since it's not "controversial" and "Over There" is "over here" on this forum .... )

The Great Raid: an engaging hybrid of The Great Escape and Saving Private Ryan

David GermainCanadian Press
Tuesday, August 09, 2005

In this photo provided by Miramax Films,Left to right: Colonel Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) and Captain Prince (James Franco) lead an effort to liberate more than 500 American prisoners of war from the Japanese camp in "The Great Raid. (AP/Miramax Films/Pierre Vinet)

(AP) - Miramax should clean out its closets more often. The Great Raid, one of a spate of delayed films the company finally is releasing, turns out to be an engaging Second World War tale spotlighting a forgotten engagement in the Pacific campaign.

A hybrid of The Great Escape and Saving Private Ryan, though it's a cinematic skirmish compared to those masterpieces of war, The Great Raid presents a stirring story that puts a human face on the despair of POWs simply hoping to survive until their liberators arrive.

3 stars out of 4 ..... let's hope it's good .... for the rest of the article .... http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=b364451e-425d-4c0f-86e0-852a4a75408f

 

[zuggerat]

who ever made the TV trailor spots needs to be shot, i thought it was a cheap made-for-TV-movie type of deal, something they were gonna be showing on FX...say after Over There perhaps? daaaaammmnnnnn yooouuuuuu miramax!

 

[gaijin6423]

I'm really looking forward to seeing how this movie measures up. If it's half as good as the book** it's based on, then it'll be more than worth the 8 bucks (16 if I go w/ the chica) a ticket costs. Because this is absolutely one of the best stories to come out of WW2, hands down, and hopefully Miramax does it justice.

**--There are probably others that tell the story, but the book I'm thinking of is called "Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides. Easily one of the best books (war, other non-fiction, fiction) I've ever read. ($5 used on amazon if anyone's interested)

 

[McNamara]

Gaijin, remember what our mutual friend told us about the time he saw Thin Red Line on the flight deck of the Boxer? They had heard it was "like Saving Private Ryan with Marines." Of course it turned out to be a completely different kind of movie and involved an Army unit instead. I hope The Great Raid lives up to expectations.

Zuggerat, I almost thought the same thing as I've only seen previews on TV!

 

[Fly Navy]

Gaijin, remember what our mutual friend told us about the time he saw Thin Red Line on the flight deck of the Boxer?

What a terrible movie. And I like artsy movies.

 

[gaijin6423]

The Thin Red Line blew, big time. I'm still bitter about the money wasted on that one, and I have yet to figure out what the hell that dying bird scene was all about.

If this movie even approaches that level of suck... Well, I don't know what I'll be forced to do.

 

[Slammer2]

who ever made the TV trailor spots needs to be shot, i thought it was a cheap made-for-TV-movie type of deal, something they were gonna be showing on FX...say after Over There perhaps? daaaaammmnnnnn yooouuuuuu miramax!

Yeah the quality of it kinda blew, but it still looked like a pretty good movie. Actually, I think I only saw the preview while watching Over There

 

[gaijin6423]

Anyone see this yet? I'm just curious if Miramax F-ed it up or not.

 

[NeoCortex]

not even playing around Corups

 

[SteveG75]

Saw it yesterday. No local theaters had it so had to drive 45 min. :icon_rage

Anyway. Good movie. Story was an amalgamation of the two books, The Great Raid and Ghost Soldiers. I have both books and the biggest liberty that Hollywood took was with the romance angle. They didn't over do it like Pearl Harbor though. They did a good job with the execution part though. 96 hours from idea to execution. The movie managed to capture the tension of the operation. BTW, in real life, the camp was buzzed by a P-61 Black Widow as a distraction but in the movie, they used a Navy PV-1 Ventura. Guess they couldn't find a flying P-61. :icon_wink

I would also love to see them do a movie on the Los Banos Internment camp raid. The 11th Airborne Divison jumped at dawn on 23 February 1945 and rescued 2,122 civilian internees from the Japanese. Read Angels at Dawn for the story.

 

[CommodoreMid]

Just saw the movie tonight...the critics that gave it bad reviews must have been smoking crack...

 

[A4sForever]

....the critics that gave it bad reviews must have been smoking crack...

I have not seen the movie as of yet, but no suprise on the review, right? One who seemed to like it was Roger Ebert:
BY ROGER EBERT / Aug 12, 2005 Ebert Rating: ***

"Here is a war movie that understands how wars are actually fought. After "Stealth" and its high-tech look-alikes, which make warfare look like a video game, "The Great Raid" shows the hard work and courage of troops whose reality is danger and death. The difference between "Stealth" and "The Great Raid" is the difference between the fantasies of the Pentagon architects of "shock and awe" and the reality of the Marines who were killed in Iraq last week."

I think that is part of the problem ... his last sentence. The media and Hollywood are generally loathe to give credence to anything martial especially when being supportive of the military might fly in the face of their present anti-Iraq war bias. Or maybe I just "think this stuff" out too much .....

 

[CommodoreMid]

Didn't see his review, but the one in the Baltimore Sun gave it I think 1.5 stars of 4. But then again, it's the Baltimore Sun...

 

[highlyrandom]

"which make warfare look like a video game"

...it still involves flying bits of metal dismembering other people to stop them from taking this or that piece of ground...hasn't basically changed since the invention of the bow and arrow. Tactics, sure...flying bits of metal...no. It's always "shock and awe" from quite a distance away, but a bit different up close, I imagine.

 

[Fezz CB]

I just saw the movie tonight. WOW! After all the stories my grandpa told me about the Jap invasion in the PI and the Bataan March (my gramps was in the bataan march) it really came to life in this film.

The filipino guerillas fighting along side the Americans was a great feelings since I am of filipino heritage. What Truman did to them was unacceptable and many of these "vets" still have not received any compensation for their sacrifices. Just ask my grandfather.

"When World War II (WWII) broke out, the Philippines was a U.S. territory with Filipinos as U.S. nationals. In 1941, President Roosevelt issued a military order that called “into service of the Armed Forces of the U.S....all of the organized military forces of the government of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.” Approximately 142,000 Filipinos fought along side U.S. soldiers under the American flag. For their equal sacrifice, the U.S. government promised them veteran benefits. However, this promise has yet to be kept.

Ever since, Filipino WWII Veterans, now in their 70s and older, have sought full veterans benefits from the U.S. for their services during WWII. There is a pending Filipino Veterans Equity Bill in Congress that would finally honor the promise of veteran benefits to Filipino WWII veterans."

http://www.capaa.wa.gov/filipinoamericans.html