The greatest movie ever made..!

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Released in 2005 and directed by John Dahl, "The Great Raid" is a WWII war flick based on the real-life rescue of Allied POWs and civilians from a Japanese camp near Cabanatuan City in the Philippines. On January 30, 1945, the United States Army Rangers, Alamo Scouts, and Filipino guerrillas saved more than 500 from the POW camp from ensuing death (the Japanese were ordered to "liquidate" all prisoners before evacuating in the face of MacArthur's advance). Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Max Martini, Joseph Fiennes, Connie Nielsen and Marton Csokas star.The rescue, along with the liberation of Camp O'Donnell the same day, allowed the POWs to share the truth about the Bataan and Corregidor atrocities. While the raid had no strategic value, as far as winning the war goes, it sparked a new wave of resolve in the war against Japan. Not to mention, it remains the most successful rescue mission in USA history.Although the movie was shot in 2002, it was pulled from release schedule on several occasions before finally having a limited released in August, 2005, with little-to-no marketing. Was it any wonder it failed to garner an audience and box office success? Be that as it may, this is a solid WWII flick based on a true story. The prisoners of the camp are the survivors of the infamous 60-mile Bataan Death March of April, 1942. The movie's not politically correct in that it shows the truth of the brutal savagery of the Japanese military. The actual raid doesn't take place until the 95-minute mark, but it's worth the wait; the build-up is informational and keeps your attention. While not great, this is a well-done and informative war flick. I'd watch it any day over "Saving Private Ryan."The film runs 132 minutes and was shot in Bribie Island, Queensland, Australia, with the Manila sequences shot in Shanghai, China. GRADE: B- (6.5/10)

An incredibly exciting, true account that will move you to tears at this superb film's conclusion. Pulling no punches and accurately depicting the absolute savagery of the enemy, it is a courageous motion picture that everyone should see. The cast is uniformly excellent, with Benjamin Bratt giving the performance of a lifetime. Director John Dahl does outstanding work in bringing this story to the screen and deserves accolades for showing what kind of butchery our soldiers endured at the hands of their captors. The battle scenes are stunning and the musical score is one of the most beautiful ever composed. When the film nears the end and the actual newsreels of the liberation are shown, I was sobbing. The POW's were heroes who suffered so very, very brutally while held in Japanese camps. This film is a terrific tribute to those Army and Filipino heroes who ended the ordeal as well as the brave, courageous men and women who never cowered before the bloody swords of the beasts who savaged them.

I was disappointed by this movie. It seemed like one overacted, trite scene after another. I really was waiting for someone to put their wrist to their forehead and gaze off into the distance in dramatic pose, a la the silent movie era actors. All the other elements were present- good actors, cinematography wasn't bad, great story as background- but the poor script and overacting never let it get off the ground, no tension ever builds, there is absolutely no character development whatsoever, and the movie drags on towards an ending. I think this is more of a drama/chick flick than a war movie, or even adventure tale. There are plenty of much better war movies out there, don't waste your time with this one as I had a hard time just writing ten lines about it.

In addition to the movie, the extra material on the DVD is excellent. The "timeline" should be mandatory viewing as most folks are NOT aware of the chain of events going back to the 1930's. Those details are not taught in High School or college. They are NOT complimentary to FDR by the way. The boot camp section is enlightening too. It is amazing that the whole crew of actors including Mr Franco went through it. Now that is method acting!My only complaint about the film is that the deleted scenes were deleted. They add much to the story and the information does not otherwise appear in the movie. Be sure to plan to spend at least 3.5 hours to see both the movie and the special items on the DVD.