The Great Raid – Tag der Befreiung (2005)

The Great Raid – Tag der Befreiung: Directed by John Dahl. With Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Robert Mammone, Max Martini. 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.

“While Hollywood has gone after the Nazis and the European campaign in World War II over and over again, ad nauseam, little has been produced depicting the Pacific Theatre or the thousands of Americans and others who perished there.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn fact, only a handful of motion pictures have touched on the subject over the last two decades, namely Steven Spielbergu0026#39;s u0026quot;Empire of the Sun,u0026quot; Terrance Maliku0026#39;s u0026quot;The Thin Red Line,u0026quot; and the Nicolas Cage bomb, u0026quot;Windtalkers.u0026quot; The best film in this genre was probably 1957u0026#39;s u0026quot;Bridge On The River Kwai,u0026quot; which won Oscars for David Lean and Alex Guinness, among others, but that was almost 50 years ago.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNow John Dahl (u0026quot;Rounders,u0026quot; u0026quot;Joyride,u0026quot; the TV series u0026quot;Tiltu0026quot;) has shed some light on a little-known rescue attempt in the waning days of the conflict in the Philippine Islands. u0026quot;The Great Raidu0026quot; is a fine little film, smart, patriotic and fairly historically accurate.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film begins with a crisp narration (accompanied by actual film footage) of the quick successes of the Imperial Japanese Army in the days following Pearl Harbor. Gen. Douglas MacArthur – thanks to Rooseveltu0026#39;s decision to devote more to the European effort through the Lend-Lease to Churchill program – is forced to evacuate the Philippines and retreat to Australia.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMeanwhile, thousands of American troops are trapped by the swift-moving Japanese forces on the islands of Bataan and Corrigidor and are compelled to surrender. While WWII German brutality is everywhere in motion picture, few have addressed the stark horrors of the Bataan Death March. Even this movie skirts the terror with a simple voice-over in filling in the background story of a group of surviving prisoners held for over three years.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eReceiving word of mass killing of American POWs by the Japanese, top brass in the Pacific orders a raid on a camp still behind enemy lines, led by Army Ranger Lt. Col. Mucci (Benjamin Bratt, u0026quot;Law u0026amp; Order) and Capt. Prince (James Franco, u0026quot;Spiderman,u0026quot; u0026quot;Spiderman 2u0026quot;).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMilitary minutia abounds with the planning and execution of the assault, which pits a handful of rangers against over 200 battle-hardened Japanese troops, led by sadistic Maj. Nagai (Motoki Kobiyashi).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie also shows the strong relationship between the Americans and Filipinos which was not the greatest in the years after the Spanish-American War, but was cemented against the common Nipponese enemy. Nice composition between rangers, prison camp and the occupied capital of Manilla, where civilian nurse Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielson, u0026quot;Gladiator,u0026quot; u0026quot;One Hour Photou0026quot;)is working with the Filipino underground resistance.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is no u0026quot;Saving Private Ryan,u0026quot; and the acting sometimes leaves a bit to be desired, but the strength of the story, the fact it was inspired by true events, and the historical importance of the film, make this one a must-see, even for casual fans of the genre. It will not make much money, but it was very important that it was made.”