Watch The Great Raid For Free

One of my all time favorites.

Instant Favorite.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"The Great Raid" is about the most successful rescue mission in US military history. The opening monologue's newsreel footage provides a very brief summary of the Pacific Theater of Operations and Japanese anxiety as the tide of World War II changes. Shown are the terrible trials of the 1942 forced 60-mile Bataan death march, where hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of their Filipino allies perished in the Philippines. In 1944, the Japanese war ministry issued a directive that all prisoners of war (POW) were to be eliminated before rescue by the Americans. One horrible scene in particular demonstrates Japanese cruelty: the Palawan massacre, when 150 American POWs were forced into trenches, doused with gasoline and burned alive shortly after MacArthur's 1944 landing.In late January 1945, the Americans made preparations to free the remaining 500 allied POWs from the Cabanatuan prison camp. The prisoners have been weakened and starved. There are 250 Japanese soldiers in the prison camp, and 1,000 more nearby. A quarter of a million fresh American troops were already on Luzon in the north, the largest Philippine island. Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) is chosen to direct the Sixth Ranger Battalion (120 men) and Filipino allies through 30 miles of jungles in a rescue attempt. Mucci's chief strategist is Captain Bob Prince (James Franco), who plans (and leads) the campaign. There is a major subplot: It involves plucky Nurse Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen, based upon a real person) who smuggles medicines, especially quinine, into the POW camp. Her place of work is Manila Hospital, which harbors Japanese spies and informers. She was picked up, questioned, and tortured by the Japanese. A widow, she is romantically linked with the unfortunate Major Gibson (Joseph Fiennes), the highest ranking American soldier in the Cabanatuan camp. Debilitated, he suffers from malaria and cannot get quinine. While the Sixth rangers are the best-trained force in the US Army, they have never been tested under fire. Meanwhile just before the raid Japanese Colonel Mori (Ken Senga) receives many barrels of fuel, and awaits orders from Tokyo to liquidate all of the Bataan prisoners. A single American airplane flies over the camp at twilight to give prisoners hope. After dark the fighting begins. There are no spoilers here. The movie's promotion states right up that this is a story about a daring rescue mission. There is no mystery as to who won the world war. Rather, the film is about how the rescue was done. It is amazing that only two Americans died (The Filipinos sustained 21 casualties). The actual footage during the end credits was a real treat along with the uplifting soundtrack. As much as this tale deserves to be told, some may consider the first part to be rather slow-moving. Once the raid actually begins, however, the movie does pick up. Overall, this is an uplifting message of redemption based on actual historical events, and there is very little exaggeration. The film is narrated by James Franco.

I was disappointed by this movie. It seemed like one overacted, trite scene after another. I really was waiting for someone to put their wrist to their forehead and gaze off into the distance in dramatic pose, a la the silent movie era actors. All the other elements were present- good actors, cinematography wasn't bad, great story as background- but the poor script and overacting never let it get off the ground, no tension ever builds, there is absolutely no character development whatsoever, and the movie drags on towards an ending. I think this is more of a drama/chick flick than a war movie, or even adventure tale. There are plenty of much better war movies out there, don't waste your time with this one as I had a hard time just writing ten lines about it.

I really don't understand why this movie did not receive critical acclaim. I am a big war movie person and have pretty much seen them all from the 1040's to the present. the account of the heroism of these rangers and Filipino freedom fighters is truly inspiring and makes me shiver like when I hear the national anthem. I think it is as good if not better than any war movie in the last twenty years. the subject alone is awe inspiring and the presentation of the entire story is unbelievable. the fact that it is a true story makes it all the more invigorating to watch. it's a movie you can definitely watch multiple times and get that patriotic feeling each time. in reading most of the bad reviews it seems like they are: Anti American and American policy, even saw one quoting Bush politics and Iraq. saying it was American Propaganda, flag waving. thought I was back in the 60's when us soldiers would get spit on.the movie wasn't perfect enough for perfectionist movie makersAnti violence showing how brutal the Japanese were and they were that bad and worse. when I was young a friend of mines father had pictures of Japanese brutality in china like beheadings, etc. what is shown in the movie is mild compared to what the Japanese actually did to Americans and other people in countries they conquered. one person claimed it was being racist against Japanese.if you eliminate all these BS low ratings the movie would probably be rated a 10.

I caught this on KVOS, a station that often shows vintage films. The film was so jingoistic I though it must have been made during WWII. I about to write to the station about selecting such a silly preposterously biased film in these politically-sensitive days, that depicts the American as god-like creatures slaying the reptilians Jap hordes. At times it is as turgid as Charleton Heston in the Ten Commandments. When I looked it up, to my astonishment, I discovered it was made in 2005. Yet it smells as silly and overdone as those Woody Woodpecker or Popeye WWII propaganda films.I take it this film was created as a propaganda piece to sell the Afghan and Iraq wars, by harking back to WW II glory.The musical score is like something out of the 50s with soaring strings and dramatic crescendos, very melodramatic. The film quality is fuzzy too with bad colour, again like a film from WW II. Perhaps that was deliberate to make the film appear to be made in that era.In summary this film has no value other than as propaganda.