One of the best war movies I've seen

Rating: 9/10 (8 August 2005)

Saw this on Saturday night. This is an excellent war movie on the raid to rescue over 500 starving, sick American Pow's in the Phillipines in 1945. Actually most of the fighting in the movie takes places in the final thirty minutes. The rest of the movie concerns the planning of the raid and life in the prison camp seen from Ralph Finnes view, as well as Margaret Utinsky's (played with conviction by Connie Nielson) role as a former Army nurse now part of the Filipino guerrilla movement. This movie is a brutal and honest portrayal of POW life under the Japanese and includes graphic portrayals of executions and mass murder. The final 30 minutes is very well done, concerning the actual execution of the raid itself.
The only downsize of this picture is the lack of character development of the Ranger's soldiers. Benjamin Bratt as Col Mucci ( he does look like the real Col M) come off as somewhat wooden in the film. This is powerful war movie which will make you proud to be American. If you don't know already this is not fiction but is based on actual events and people with little Hollywood fudging. Just go out and see it you won't be sorry you did.