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:

WWII | Rescue | Soldier | American | Japanese

Awards:

1 nomination

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

Color:

Black and White (archive footage) | Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

Australia

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

'Ebong Joson' plays his own grandfather.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Colonel Mucci states "The plane will buzz the camp at 1800, Lt. Reilly will fire the first shot at 1930 and Capt Pajota will blow the bridge at 1945..." The Filipino setting the explosives under the bridge at 1800, when the plane flies over, sets the timer for 2 hours.

Quotes:

Lt. Colonel Mucci: I'm here to tell you men the latrine rumors are true. We finally got a mission worthy of Rangers. We're going to push through our frontlines right into the Japs' backyard and rescue 500 hundred American prisoners of war. Goin' to be a rough son of a bitch- a textbook-style raid that can only succeed through speed...
[...]

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

You Go To My Head

The Great Raid proves that history is always more compelling than fiction

This film expertly balances the need for authenticity with the need for compelling drama. It starts out great, slows slightly in the middle, and finishes off with the best filmed action sequence I have ever seen. The raid itself is choreographed and paced perfectly, so that the viewer understands exactly what is happening, why it is happening and who is doing it. Many aspects of this film have never been done before in a war movie. The craft is also expertly balanced - the film looks, sounds and feels accurate and not bounded by Hollywood conventions. Simply put, it will go down as one of the very best modern war films, among those who can tell when a film is exceptional.