Le Grand Raid

I liked this movie. It was done well with a lot of emotion. Well acted. Good photography. I will watch it again.

This word today about the JAPS sounds very cruel and offensive to the Japanese people, but during the War Years during WW II in the Pacific this word was used in most American Newspapers and spoken about during this horrible war with a nation that killed and raped many people in Nanking, China. In this film many of U.S. Service Men are trapped in a Japanese Concentration Camp who inflicted horrible tortures and slaughter hundreds of American Soldiers and women who are treated worse than animals. America makes every effort to find these lost prisoners of war and is horrified how the Japanese soldiers treated our people and make a great effort to free all these prisoners. However, it took many men and women lives in order to accomplish this mission. This is a great picture which still remembers all the men and women who gave their lives to fight back at the mistreatment of American soldiers. GREAT FILM.

I feel that this is an important film for people to see regarding the little known but most impressive rescue attempt made during WWII. I went with some friends who enjoyed it very much also and considering that we were women going to see a war movie, we did not know what to expect. We were treated to a satisfying and moving entertainment experience and also learned new things about what the previous generation had to go through. We already know about the horrors of war and it was moving to see the heroic exploits undertaken by some very brave men to save their comrades from Japanese annihilation. There were good character developments as well as action sequences. THe newsreel and actual footage that bookends the film add to its impact as one can compare the actual characters with their counterparts in the film. History classes in schools should be taken to see the film.

In terms of lasting value, I believe The Great Raid is one of the best films to have graced the screen this year. It's a straightforward war movie about unsung heroes. The story involves the basic facts of a Japanese POW camp which was liberated near the end of the Japanese occupation of the Phillipines. American soldiers and Phillipino resistance fighters teamed up to chance a daring raid on the heavily guarded camp. Fictional elements are added to the story, such as a surprisingly compelling love story, and believable explorations of friendships among both prisoners and fighters.

The script is good, the acting and editing superb, and the photography is very good. The film is violent, but does not wallow in flying guts and body parts as has been the recent fashion. Nothing flashy, nothing overwhelming, just solid craftsmanship. This is a film which is less concerned with making an impression than it is with telling a story, and I found that very refreshing. In my opinion, the film succeeds completely in telling its simple story and will likely be recognized for years to come as one of the better war films of recent times. All of the acting in this film is excellent, but watch for the standout performances from Marton Csokas, Joseph Fiennes, James Franco and Connie Nielsen.

I knew almost nothing of this film before I saw it but based on a couple comments I had heard, I went with my dad to see it tonight.

Some people commented on how slow the movie is during the beginning, and although that is true, it is there to give you time to develop a story and actual care about the characters. This is definitely not a movie for people with near zero attention spans from the MTV Generation.

This movie also doesn't rely on gimmicks such as CGI or what I call "shaky camera syndrome" where the filmmakers insist on making the audience nauseous by running around with handy-cams (ala Bourne Supremacy).

I really enjoyed the story and thought all the roles were well acted. The final raid scene is amazing. They did a really good job of explaining exactly what they wanted to do beforehand and when it actually happened, you understood where everyone was running to and what they were trying to accomplish.

Excellent movie, and highly recommended. Definitely one of the best movies so far of the year, I'm just sad that almost no one has heard about it and the movie has received so little promotion. I doubt this picture will even make $20 million here.

And one more thing, I thought it was a very tasteful and respectful thing to do at the end during the credits where they showed archival footage of the real soldiers being rescued.