MadsenOMC
07-22-2005, 10:45 AM
SPOILERS!!!!
Before seeing “The Great Raid,” I didn’t know much about it. I knew who directs and stars in it, and that it has been delayed (according to IMDB, filming took place in 2002) for quite a while. That, and it’s a WWII movie.
But it had been off my radar for so long, I was surprised to get an invite to a screening of it. Despite the delay in its release, I didn’t have low expectations going in. John Dahl can be a good director, and the source material (it’s based on two books, Ghost Soldiers and The Great Raid on Cabanatuan) offers plenty to work with.
That said, “The Great Raid” is an effective, reasonably entertaining war flick that falls short of greatness due to the characters. Unfortunately, you never get to know any of them well, and therefore don’t care much about their fate. Secondary characters are difficult to tell apart, and the leading ones are too one-dimensional. While not a fatal flaw, it’s one that can’t be overlooked, especially in this genre.
We begin with James Franco’s narration over some WWII footage. He provides the viewer with a brief history of the war. FDR, contrary to his promises, focuses on the German front and stopping Hitler, leaving soldiers hung out to dry on the Pacific front. Many end up captives in POW camps, including one called Cabanatuan in the Philippines, as U.S. troops struggle against the Japanese.
The story is told on three fronts. It all happens over five days in January 1945. There are the POWs in Cabanatuan, led by the sickly Major Gibson (Joseph Fiennes). The men, over 500 of them, have been held captive for three years. The Japanese treat them poorly, believing that only cowards surrender.
On another front there is Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen), an American nurse working at a hospital in Manila. Gibson and her have an unconsummated, unspoken love for one another. She was married to another soldier, who is now dead, but Gibson respected that. She works with a group of Philippine citizens (they are angry at the Japanese for invading their country and treating them as subservient) to smuggle drugs to American POWs.
Finally, there is the 6th Ranger Battalion. Led by stoic Lieutenant Colonel Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) and Captain Prince (Franco), the battalion is extremely well trained, but they have yet to see action. Rescuing the POWs from Cabanatuan will be their first test. Joining forces with a small group of Philippino soldiers (and still vastly outnumbered), they plan a daring nighttime rescue mission.
The story itself is compelling and well told. Obviously, when adapting from two books, you’re going to lose a lot of detail. But the action moves along briskly without feeling rushed. These men are partaking in something that has no military value, they are told, but at the same time, as Mucci tells them, nothing in their life will ever mean as much as what they are setting out to do.
Dahl and screenwriters Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro do an admirable job of building tension prior to the raid. The soldiers at Cabanatuan are running out of time. McArthur and U.S. troops are advancing towards them, which the Japanese are fully aware of. Seeing as how they look down upon POWs, they will not hesitate to kill them.
There’s a harrowing scene that demonstrates this. A POW tries to escape and is caught. Told that 10 of them will be killed when someone tries to escape, the men are selected at random and shot in the back one at a time. The beginning of the movie shows the Japanese trapping POWs in an air raid shelter and lighting them on fire. So by this point we really hate them and want those men rescued.
The raid has a lot to live up to. You’ve been anticipating it for nearly two hours (the movie runs about 130 minutes) and expect the goods to be delivered. Dahl doesn’t disappoint. Having it at night only adds to the tension already generated. Seeing the meticulously crafted plan in action is thrilling.
Unfortunately, you don’t care as much as you should about the fate of the soldiers. Their bravery is admirable, and of course you don’t want them to die. But we don’t get to know any of these men. As some of them repeatedly point out, Mucci is a mystery and hard to figure out. Well, the same goes for the viewer. We learn absolutely nothing about him.
As for Prince, all we know is that he’s married and a Stanford graduate. Gibson is in love with an American nurse and deathly sick. Those are the three principle characters, and they’re all one-dimensional.
The love story is quite perfunctory as well. Little time is spent on it, and it feels like an afterthought. It’s far more interesting to witness Margaret working with an underground group in Manila, where you’re not much safer than a POW.
“The Great Raid” doesn’t reach the top ranks of war movies, but it’s definitely second-tier. It’s a solid effort all-around. The story itself is different enough to warrant seeing another WWII movie, and I imagine most viewers will be satisfied.
7/10
Before seeing “The Great Raid,” I didn’t know much about it. I knew who directs and stars in it, and that it has been delayed (according to IMDB, filming took place in 2002) for quite a while. That, and it’s a WWII movie.
But it had been off my radar for so long, I was surprised to get an invite to a screening of it. Despite the delay in its release, I didn’t have low expectations going in. John Dahl can be a good director, and the source material (it’s based on two books, Ghost Soldiers and The Great Raid on Cabanatuan) offers plenty to work with.
That said, “The Great Raid” is an effective, reasonably entertaining war flick that falls short of greatness due to the characters. Unfortunately, you never get to know any of them well, and therefore don’t care much about their fate. Secondary characters are difficult to tell apart, and the leading ones are too one-dimensional. While not a fatal flaw, it’s one that can’t be overlooked, especially in this genre.
We begin with James Franco’s narration over some WWII footage. He provides the viewer with a brief history of the war. FDR, contrary to his promises, focuses on the German front and stopping Hitler, leaving soldiers hung out to dry on the Pacific front. Many end up captives in POW camps, including one called Cabanatuan in the Philippines, as U.S. troops struggle against the Japanese.
The story is told on three fronts. It all happens over five days in January 1945. There are the POWs in Cabanatuan, led by the sickly Major Gibson (Joseph Fiennes). The men, over 500 of them, have been held captive for three years. The Japanese treat them poorly, believing that only cowards surrender.
On another front there is Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen), an American nurse working at a hospital in Manila. Gibson and her have an unconsummated, unspoken love for one another. She was married to another soldier, who is now dead, but Gibson respected that. She works with a group of Philippine citizens (they are angry at the Japanese for invading their country and treating them as subservient) to smuggle drugs to American POWs.
Finally, there is the 6th Ranger Battalion. Led by stoic Lieutenant Colonel Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) and Captain Prince (Franco), the battalion is extremely well trained, but they have yet to see action. Rescuing the POWs from Cabanatuan will be their first test. Joining forces with a small group of Philippino soldiers (and still vastly outnumbered), they plan a daring nighttime rescue mission.
The story itself is compelling and well told. Obviously, when adapting from two books, you’re going to lose a lot of detail. But the action moves along briskly without feeling rushed. These men are partaking in something that has no military value, they are told, but at the same time, as Mucci tells them, nothing in their life will ever mean as much as what they are setting out to do.
Dahl and screenwriters Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro do an admirable job of building tension prior to the raid. The soldiers at Cabanatuan are running out of time. McArthur and U.S. troops are advancing towards them, which the Japanese are fully aware of. Seeing as how they look down upon POWs, they will not hesitate to kill them.
There’s a harrowing scene that demonstrates this. A POW tries to escape and is caught. Told that 10 of them will be killed when someone tries to escape, the men are selected at random and shot in the back one at a time. The beginning of the movie shows the Japanese trapping POWs in an air raid shelter and lighting them on fire. So by this point we really hate them and want those men rescued.
The raid has a lot to live up to. You’ve been anticipating it for nearly two hours (the movie runs about 130 minutes) and expect the goods to be delivered. Dahl doesn’t disappoint. Having it at night only adds to the tension already generated. Seeing the meticulously crafted plan in action is thrilling.
Unfortunately, you don’t care as much as you should about the fate of the soldiers. Their bravery is admirable, and of course you don’t want them to die. But we don’t get to know any of these men. As some of them repeatedly point out, Mucci is a mystery and hard to figure out. Well, the same goes for the viewer. We learn absolutely nothing about him.
As for Prince, all we know is that he’s married and a Stanford graduate. Gibson is in love with an American nurse and deathly sick. Those are the three principle characters, and they’re all one-dimensional.
The love story is quite perfunctory as well. Little time is spent on it, and it feels like an afterthought. It’s far more interesting to witness Margaret working with an underground group in Manila, where you’re not much safer than a POW.
“The Great Raid” doesn’t reach the top ranks of war movies, but it’s definitely second-tier. It’s a solid effort all-around. The story itself is different enough to warrant seeing another WWII movie, and I imagine most viewers will be satisfied.
7/10