Watch it for the story, not the drama

Rating: 6/10 (4 November 2019)

The Great Raid is a fantastic presentation of a truly great rescue mission, though the drama and acting were the weakest part of the movie, not bad, but simply average. Despite that, the story was excellently written to build up the tension for the raid, and the raid itself was an intense whirlwind of action and emotion.
My favorite aspect of the film was the explanation of the military tactics behind the raid. The overall plan was only given once, but Franco's delivery was somehow able to seal all of the plan's many parts into my mind. On top of that, the raid was perfectly choreographed to help the audience recall each part of the plan so we could follow along as the plan was executed and as some parts went awry.
The Great Raid won't quite make my list of favorite war movies because it was somewhat held back by the so-so drama, but if you can push through the 60-90 minutes of buildup, the military tactics and action made this a very enjoyable film.