The film took 130 days to shoot because of the rapidly changing Pacific war news of the time. Two thirds of the way through filming, the invasion of the Philippines occurred, forcing several script changes and rewrites in order to keep up with current events. The Raid at Cabanatuan and release of American prisoners was also rapidly incorporated into the screenplay, with scenes recreating the 6th Ranger Battalion attacking the Japanese prison camp. This action sequence is placed at the beginning of the film, while there are appearances by actual, recently released, American POWs inserted for dramatic effect at the end.