The Great Raid
According to the IMDb summary "The Great Raid tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever."
Set in the Philippines in 1945, The Great Raid is a story that needed to be told, if only to remind people that WWII truly was a world war and not just the story of Hitler, Hiroshima, and Pearl Harbor. I have lived my entire life in San Diego and I knew the reason for the large Filipino community had something to do with WWII but I never knew the specifics until now. The two countries formed a strong bond during the resistance against the Japanese and that bond is still in place today.
The actual events took place over a five-day period and the story of the people that lived and died in that time period is a compelling tale of hope and survival. The gritty realism of war takes on that much more importance when you realize that this really happened and it is not a fictional Hollywood war event.
The strength of the movie lies in the performances of Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, and Connie Nielsen as they portray the people at the heart of the story. While the movie itself has a long introduction to the event, once you get past the much needed history lesson, the drama captures what it must have been like in Manila and the Philippines in 1945. At times the movie is slow paced but at the end the audience cheered, clapped, and cried as the rescue was played out and we learned the final fate of everyone involved.
Not everyone will enjoy this movie. It’s rated R for realistic war death and brutality, the pacing is slow, and there are so many different soldiers that following who is who can be confusing at times. If you have two serious hours to spend on WWII history and want to learn more about the US/Philippines alliance, then skip Deuce Bigalow and see The Great Raid.
Set in the Philippines in 1945, The Great Raid is a story that needed to be told, if only to remind people that WWII truly was a world war and not just the story of Hitler, Hiroshima, and Pearl Harbor. I have lived my entire life in San Diego and I knew the reason for the large Filipino community had something to do with WWII but I never knew the specifics until now. The two countries formed a strong bond during the resistance against the Japanese and that bond is still in place today.
The actual events took place over a five-day period and the story of the people that lived and died in that time period is a compelling tale of hope and survival. The gritty realism of war takes on that much more importance when you realize that this really happened and it is not a fictional Hollywood war event.
The strength of the movie lies in the performances of Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes, and Connie Nielsen as they portray the people at the heart of the story. While the movie itself has a long introduction to the event, once you get past the much needed history lesson, the drama captures what it must have been like in Manila and the Philippines in 1945. At times the movie is slow paced but at the end the audience cheered, clapped, and cried as the rescue was played out and we learned the final fate of everyone involved.
Not everyone will enjoy this movie. It’s rated R for realistic war death and brutality, the pacing is slow, and there are so many different soldiers that following who is who can be confusing at times. If you have two serious hours to spend on WWII history and want to learn more about the US/Philippines alliance, then skip Deuce Bigalow and see The Great Raid.
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