“The Great Raid” is “inspired by the true events” of the Raid on Cabanatuan in the Philippines in WWII. The raid by U.S. Rangers was the most successful raid on a prisoner of war camp in American History. The movie was based on two acclaimed books on the subject: The Great Raid on Cabanatuan by William Breuer and Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides. It was directed by John Dahl. Because of financial problems at Miramax, the film did not make it to theaters until three years after completion.
The movie opens with a necessary summary of the situation in the Philippines connecting its fall with the January, 1945 setting of the film. Footage from the National Archives is effectively used with the narration. The opening scene recreates the massacre of American prisoners on the island of Palowan by a unit of the Kampeitei (the Japanese version of the Gestapo) led by Major Nagai (Motoki Kobayashi). Later, American guerrilla leader Maj. Lapham informs Gen. Krueger (Dale Dye!) that the same type of atrocity could take place at Camp Cabanatuan. Krueger decides to send part of the 6th Ranger Battalion to rescue the prisoners. One theme of the movie is that if you create elite units like the Rangers, you should use them on risky missions. The unit is commanded by Col. Mucci (Benjamin Bratt), but he assigns Capt. Prince (James Franco) as operational head. The mission will involve going thirty miles behind enemy lines to liberate a camp that there is limited intelligence about. It is extremely risky, but noone questions the decision to use elite troops to rescue the opposite.
The movie has a trio of plot lines. One third of the film is dedicated to life in the camp. This focuses on a small group of prisoners including the ranking officer Maj. Gibson (Joseph Fiennes). He is suffering from malaria. His best friend Capt. Redding (Morton Csokas) is suffering from the desire to escape even though the Japanese have threatened to execute ten prisoners for each escapee. The prisoners are in terrible shape and things get worse when Maj. Nagai arrives. This movie does not take the recent approach of sympathy for the other side. Nagai is malevolent and there is a very powerful execution scene that ramps up his hissability. In fact, this is not the only execution scene in the movie.
The second plot line concentrates on Margarat Utinsky (Connie Nielson). She is an American nurse who is working with the Filipino Underground in Manila. She is smuggling medicine into the camp. The movie manufactures an unrequited romance between Gibson and Utinsky. At one point she is tortured by the Kampeitei and members of her cell are executed.
The other third is the mission of the Rangers. Mucci and Prince hook up with Filipino guerrillas led by Juan Pajota (Cesar Montano). They reach the village of Patero where the final plans are developed. Prince will lead the assault on the camp under cover of darkness. The biggest problem will be the daylight approach which requires crawling 800 yards over flat ground to reach the camp. Pajota suggests the distraction of a fly-over by an American plane. Part two of the plan involves Pajota’s guerrillas neutralizing a large Japanese unit camped nearby. Part three has another guerrilla group blocking reinforcements from arriving from Cabanatuan City. All three parts must work flawlessly for the mission to be successful.
ACTING: B
ACTION: A 7/10
ACCURACY: B
PLOT: A
REALISM: B
CINEMATOGRAPY: average
SCORE: average
BEST SCENE: the storming of the camp
BEST QUOTE: Col. Mucci: I’m not talking about publicity, Bob. I’m talking about the kind of glory you can carry inside you the rest of your life, knowing you’ve done something worth remembering. Something that made a difference.
“The Great Raid” was a terrible flop in the theaters. It cost $80 million, but made only $11 million. Although not its fault, sitting on the shelf for three years made it seem like damaged goods. Plus, Miramax did a poor and lackluster job of marketing. The movie deserved better. The story of the raid deserved to be publicized and the movie is a worthy attempt to bring the historical event to public attention in an entertaining format. Unfortunately, most of the public is unaware of the existence of the film and thus is unaware of one of the greatest military tales in American History.
Critics were unduly harsh on the movie (imagine that!) Most of the criticism was for the slow build-up to the raid itself. You know, the same people who would have carped had the movie been just action with little exposition. The romance was also lambasted and here the critics are on more solid ground. It feels forced and on first glance it appears that the Utinsky character is fictional and the underground element was added to make her an action heroine. Fault was also found with the lack of character development within the Ranger unit. There is not much coverage of soldier behavior or talk. However, critics missed that “The Great Raid” was a throw-back to the Old School small unit movies where the unit itself is a character.
The movie is very underrated. The acting is serviceable. Some will complain about the lack of emotion, but we are talking about emaciated prisoners, disciplined soldiers, and secretive resistance members. What would you expect? Franco is almost morose, but the real Prince had that type of personality. And he was in considerable pain. Bratt also underplays, which is less acceptable considering Mucci’s charisma. Nielson does a good job as the feisty Utinsky, but Fiennes is left with little to do other than look prisonerish. Acting honors goes to Montano. The movie’s biggest accolade goes to its portrayal of this Filipino hero. The movie is an excellent homage to the Filipino underground and guerrillas. It does a good job of not being simply a white savior movie.
The plot is nostalgic in its portrayal of an evil Japanese prison camp commandant. Nagai is a fictional character, but a realistic one. He represents the bushido code that deemed prisoners men without honor and thus not worthy of decent treatment. This was part of the reason why death rate of American prisoners in the Pacific was much higher than in Europe.
The production is nothing special. The score is understated, but ramps up the suspense when needed. The cinematography uses muted colors to good effect. The effects are not mimicking the “Saving Private Ryan / Band of Brothers” style. TGR is more comfortably placed in the Old School category. The film builds to the assault which is well worth the wait. When the first shot is fired, the screen is ablaze with violence unabated for a long stretch. It is one of the best combat scenes in war movie cinema. This scene clearly depicts the American military’s propensity to deal with combat situations via extreme firepower. It also clearly depicts Hollywood’s love of explosions.
Ghost Soldiers is one of my favorite books. When I read it years ago, I was on the edge of my seat for the raid. I remember thinking what a great movie could potentially come from the book, but I expected the worst. When I heard TGR had been shelved and then fizzled in the theaters, my fears seemed to be confirmed. I have to say the movie was a pleasant surprise. I do not know if it could have been much better without going way off the accuracy reservation. As it is, the liberties it takes to make the assault entertaining for combat porn addicts are acceptable. It’s a shame those liberties did not result in a success at the box office. However, part of my 100 Best War Movies list is to resurrect forgotten movies that deserve reconsideration. Not only is this a good movie, but it tells a tale that needed to be brought to the public.
HISTORICAL ACCURACY
1. 150 American prisoners on the island of Palawan were forced into air raid shelters and then the Kampeitei poured in aviation gasoline, set it on fire, and machine gunned the survivors. Major Nagai was in charge. HISTORY The incident did occur, but it was the Japanese 14th Area Army that was responsible. A Lt. Sato (the Buzzard) was in charge. Nagai is a fictional character. The incident was even worse than depicted. Grenades were thrown into the shelters after they were set on fire. 11 men survived. Survivors telling their stories directly led to the idea of the Cabanatuan raid.
2. Jan. 27 - Gen. Krueger approved the mission and put Mucci in charge. The mission was to liberate a prison camp 30 miles behind the lines. He, in turn, gave operational command to Prince. 120 Rangers would take part. HISTORY The mission was suggested by the famous guerrilla leader Robert Lapham. Krueger chose the Rangers because they had been created for this sort of thing and Mucci’s unit had seen no action yet. The camp was 30 miles away. Mucci did give command to Prince, but decided to come along. 120 Rangers were on the mission.
3. Prince suffers from jungle rot on his feet. HISTORY Prince did have a bad case of jungle rot on his feet.
4. The senior camp officer was a malaria-ridden Maj. Gibson. HOLLYWOOD All of the prisoners are fictional. The actual commander was a Col. Duckworth.
5. The prisoners were in bad shape and in need of medicine. HISTORY At one time the camp had held 8,000 prisoners. 27% of American prisoners in Japanese camps died during the war, only 4% in German camps. By the time of the raid Cabanatuan held around 500. Recently the most fit prisoners had been shipped to Japan. Malaria was a major problem.
6. Margaret Utinsky was an American nurse in Manila who worked with the Filipino Underground to smuggle drugs like quinine into Cabanatuan, among other activities. She had been married to a deceased army officer who was friends with Gibson. HISTORY Surprisingly, much of this is true. Utinsky was the wife of an American soldier who dies in Camp O’Donnell soon after the fall of the Philippines. She elected to stay in Manila and joined the Resistance. She did smuggle drugs into Cabanatuan.
7. The original camp guards left the camp and the prisoners found a large stock of food. Later, Japanese returned and reestablished control of the camp. Nagai was now the commandant. HISTYWOOD The Japanese did leave the prisoners for several weeks and they did fatten up on Japanese supplies. The Japanese who eventually reestablished control were not from the Kampeitei (Nagai is a fictional character), they were mostly retreating Japanese units who basically ignored the prisoners
8. The Rangers almost got discovered by a Japanese soldier filling his canteen. HISTYWOOD They had to cross a highway after a long convoy had passed. After some had crossed, they noticed a tank sitting in the road, so the rest crossed under a bridge near the tank. There was no incident like in the movie.
9. The Rangers stop at the village of Balincarin and witnessed the results of a massacre of villagers for aiding the guerrillas. The massacre had occurred the day before. HOLLYWOOD The atrocity had occurred a few weeks earlier. A Japanese unit including tanks attacked because the village housed guerrillas. 20-100 people were killed.
10. Pajota suggested the raid be postponed a day because of a temporary increase in Japanese forces and originated the idea of the flyover. HISTORY Mucci was reluctant, but agreed.
11. Utinsky was arrested by the Kempetai. She is tortured, but released. The rest of the members of her cell were executed. Utinsky escapes to the hills. HISTORY She was arrested and tortured by the Kampeitei, but for much longer (32 days) than in the movie. She then spent six weeks in a hospital suffering from a gangrenous leg. After that she escaped to the hills and joined the guerrillas. She did meet the prisoners when they reached American lines. She was not romantically involved with any of the prisoners. In 1946, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Pres. Truman
12. The Japanese have them dig air shelters. Nagai is awaiting orders to execute them. HOLLYWOOD The prisoners did fear for their lives, but they were not put to work digging air shelters.
13. The Rangers stop two miles away at Platero. HISTORY They were feasted by the villagers.
14. Prince is more cautious than Mucci. He thinks Mucci might be motivated by glory. HISTORY The movie overplays disagreements between Mucci and Prince about various aspects of the plan. It underplays Mucci’s “glory hound” reputation. He was called “Little MacArthur”. Others called him “Ham”, but he was well-loved and well-respected. He smoked a pipe. He brought along cameramen to chronicle the mission. Prince was not a career officer and treated the mission as a job to be done.
15. Capt. Redding was caught escaping and he and ten random prisoners were shot. HOLLYWOOD I found no evidence of this particular incident. It does conform to Japanese policy of putting the prisoners in groups of ten. If one escaped, the rest would be executed. By the way, most of the time the executions were done via beheadings.
16. The Japanese have reinforced the camp and have an encampment nearby. Pajota offers to hold the bridge. Josan will block the road. HISTORY
17. Alamo Scouts went ahead and reported that there was a long stretch of open ground before you could reach the camp. HISTORY The scouts provided details on the layout of the camp.
18. The Rangers crawled 800 yards over open ground in daylight and used a flyover by a plane to get the Japanese to look up instead of out. Pajota suggested the flyover. HISTORY There was even less cover than in the movie. They had to crawl over several dikes along the way. It is astounding that they were not spotted. The plane was a P-61 Black Widow (the absolute perfect choice for this), but in the movie they had to use a Lockheed Hudson. The P-61 did twenty minutes of acrobatics and faked engine trouble which allowed the Rangers to transit the field. The idea was Pajota’s.
19. Most of the men are in a ditch in front with a squad sent to the left flank. HISTORY Prince and C Company were in the front and 30 members of Company F under Lt. John Murphy were sent to the rear of the camp.
20. The raid came as a complete surprise to the Japanese and many were killed in their barracks by the intense fusillade. HISTORY The movie gives the Japanese more of a fighting chance than the Rangers did.
21. The attack began when Lt. Reilly shot one of the guards in a tower. Reilly had hesitated for a few minutes before shooting. HISTYWOOD Murphy fired the first shot and it was about 15 minutes late, but this was because it took longer than expected to get to the rear of the camp. I found no evidence that Murphy hesitated.
22. The Rangers charge the front gate. Most of the guards are killed in a blizzard of bullets. HISTYWOOD The Japanese put up little fight. Most of them were killed in their barracks as depicted in the movie.
23. A bazooka fired by Aldrich hit a building, then a truck, and then a tank. HISTYWOOD A bazooka team led by Staff Sgt. Nellist took out a truck carrying soldiers, then several sheds that housed tanks, and possibly a tank that was moving.
24. Reilly’s men take out a bunker. HISTORY Several bunkers were taken out, but easily.
25. Nagai opens fire with a mortar. The Japanese commander was killed in a duel with Sgt. Wojo. HOLLYWOOD A Japanese private managed to fire three rounds from a knee mortar. He was then killed. One of the rounds mortally wounded Dr. Fisher.
26. The two American casualties were Dailey, who was a sniper victim, and Dr. Fisher who was mortally wounded by mortar shrapnel. HISTYWOOD Doctor Fisher was wounded similar to the movie. He had talked Mucci into letting him go with the men. The other death was an accidental friendly fire incident.
27. Pajota and his guerrillas held off a large Japanese force at a bridge near the camp. The bridge was set with an explosive that blew a hole that kept tanks from crossing. A tank is taken out by a bazooka. Japanese charging across the bridge are slaughtered. HISTORY This scene is very accurate. Pajota opened fire when Murphy did. A time bomb blew a hole in the bridge. At least four banzai charges across the bridge were destroyed. A truck was taken out by a bazooka and then several stationary tanks. A small flanking group was dealt with. The movie implies a number of Pajota’s men were killed, but actually none were.
28. Mucci defeated a flanking attempt by Japanese fording the river. He shoots several himself. HOLLYWOOD Mucci spent the battle observing from the rear.
29. Prince is the last man out. All of the prisoners were rescued. HISTORY Prince went through the camp to be assured that all the prisoners had been rescued. One prisoner was not discovered. Elderly Britisher Edwin Rose was deaf and asleep in the latrine. He walked out the camp the next day and was assisted in joining his mates by guerrillas.
30. The camp doctor tries to save Fisher. HISTORY Dr. Musselman operated on Fisher, but it was hopeless.
31. They used ox carts to carry the prisoners. HISTORY Many villagers provided oxcarts. The carabao were maddeningly slow, but they got the job done.
.jpg)