The Great Raid

Rating: 10/10 (11 August 2005)

Spoilers...
I watched this film yesterday (First Day) and all I could say is that it exceeded my expectations. The length of the movie did not bother me because the scenes were executed finely and according to some of the reviews I read, was at most historically accurate. With regard to the cast, a lot of character development came from James Franco (Spider-Man), and supporting roles from Benjamin Bratt (Catwoman) and Ralph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love). Of course our very own Cesar Montano (Jose Rizál) who was very "brown" and symbolically represented the "guerilleros" at that time was always at his best. One of the strongest and breath-taking scenes were showing the City of Manila, with a street filled with streetcars (named Meralco), churches, business establishments and the Pasig River which was the gateway of commerce. It was mentioned at the movie how magnificent the city was and why it was called the "Pearl of the Orient" because it served as a link between Europe, The Americas and Asia. Signs of corruption were evident. There were some inconsistencies in the Tagalog dialect but overall the film justified what happened back then. :-)