“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. 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 is 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.
“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. Bratt also underplays, which is less
acceptable considering Mucci was charismatic and publicity-savvy. 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 production is nothing
special. The score is understated and
has some good 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. 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. The sad thing is that by adjusting the
original “Missing in Action” type script in favor of accuracy, the studio
probably lost a lot of money and has probably vowed not to make that “mistake”
again. How accurate is it? See History or Hollywood, but beware of spoilers.
GRADE = B
