"No One Gets Left Behind... Or Forgotten."

Rating: 10/10 (25 August 2005)

I've seen hundreds of war movies. I've studied the history of World War II since I was a small child. I knew the background going into the theater, having read not only the two books the script was drawn from, but also others containing the point of view of the guerrillas who were instrumental in making the jailbreak possible.
Even given all that knowledge and knowing how it turned out, The Great Raid still mesmerized me. That's how good a war movie it is.
I believe part of the reason why is both of the authors (William Breuer and Hampton Sides) were technical advisers on the film. When you have two authors who between them have spent almost half a lifetime researching the material, you know they won't let the director get away with much! Not that he needed to; the story is compelling.
The plot is simple. 500 survivors of the Bataan Death March, most too sick to work and all too weak to walk very far, are being held at the main Japanese POW camp at Cabantuan. Intelligence from the guerrilla forces in the Phillipines has reached Sixth Army headquarters that the Japanese intend to execute all Allied prisoners before they pull out of the camp area. It is known that at least one prisoner massacre has already taken place.
The 6th US Army Ranger Battalion is handed the mission: Rescue the prisoners locked up 30 miles behind enemy lines before the Japanese can kill them and bring them home. Oh, yeah, one other thing. You've got at most 5 or 6 days to plan and stage the mission before the killing starts.
The camp is located on the main road the retreating Japanese are taking into the mountains. Whole regiments and divisions are retreating past it at night, the only time the Rangers can make the element of surprise work for them. There is a beaten fire zone 200 yards deep all around the camp, with no cover for the Rangers to hide in. There may be tanks in the POW stockade; there certainly are tanks present in a transit camp across a nearby river. There's a large concentration of Japanese troops in Cabantuan City, four miles away. And the Ranger force Colonel Henry Mucci selects for the strike is one reinforced company.
All things considered, this is a job even Jim Phelps of Mission: Impossible would turn down. Yet Colonel Mucci and Captain Prince, whose company has been selected for the job, must make it work. The lives of 500 Allied POWs depend upon it.
The movie builds tension beautifully right up to the moment the strike on the camp begins. The tension is superbly released as the Rangers get the job done. It's good movie-making.
I could have done without the grossly inaccurate portrayal of the Manila Underground; I'd love to know where they got, and why they used, that Lockheed Hudson, a type which had long since been retired from frontline service by 1945; and the platonic love story left much to be desired and borders on the irrelevant. However, the melding of the guerrilla force under Captain Pajota with Mucci's rangers was accurately shown, and the raid itself is almost 100% faithful to what really happened. I also approved of the US Army Combat Photographers' film being used over the end titles, including showing quick glimpses of the real Colonel Mucci and Captain Prince.
The performances aren't likely to win any Oscars; the material rather forbids it. But in terms of historical accuracy, attention to detail and special effects not involving a computer, this movie is the best thing you'll see this year. It stands as proof that before you can have a good movie, you have to have a good script. This script was a great one. You'll want to see it in the theater before you buy the DVD. It's that good.