Nice effects though.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

It was a Risky Thing, No Not the Raid that Liberated Over 500 American POW's from the Brutal Japanese Prison Camp in the Philippines, but the Way Director John Dahl Approached the Story. He Left Behind the Stylish Neo-Noir Sensibilities of His Early Work that Contain Edgy Violence and Sharp-Witted Characters.In This (inspired by true events) Historically Accurate Film, the Emphasis is Placed on a Methodical Message of Urgency Carried Out by Careful Planning and a Wait-for-It Attention to Detail. The Suspense Builds to an Almost Unbearable Length that Reflects the Mindset of the Prisoners who Must Have Thought that They were Left Behind.The Malaria Stricken, Tortured, and Starved POW's were Grinding it Out Day after Dismal Day and the Movie Grinds it Out Until the Actual Raid Itself is Unleashed in a Frenzy of Fighting that Overwhelmed the Japanese and the Result is the Most Successful Rescue in American History.Somewhat Forgotten Today, Except in the Philippines. The Natives were Instrumental in the Mission and were Actively Helping the Prisoners Even Before the Actual Raid via the Underground with Intelligence and Medicine. They Lost 21 in the Rescue, the Americans 2. The Japanese Hundreds.But the Winner was the American Spirit. The Almost Indescribable Intensity and Fortitude that it Took to Win the War. The Movie was Not a Hit, Mostly Panned or Ignored by Critics, and Audiences are Mixed. But, it is a Respectable, Slowly Paced, Effort that if Given the Patience it Needs, Comes Across as a Deliberate and Heart-Wrenching War is Hell Portrayal of an Important and Necessary Mission.

After the American evacuation of the Philippines following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, thousands of American servicemen were abandoned to the Japanese enemy, finding themselves facing brutal conditions in Japanese POW camps, and feeling forgotten by their country. "The Great Raid" is the portrayal of a rescue mission to save five hundred of those POWs at the Cabanatuan camp before they're killed by their captors, as the Americans begin to close in during the closing days of the war.As far as I can recall there haven't been very many movies depicting conditions in Japanese POW camps. "Bridge On The River Kwai" springs to mind, but this is the only other one I think I've come across. It's always hard to judge the accuracy of how the enemy is portrayed in a movie like this. In this case, though, we do know that the Japanese were in fact brutal captors. Surrender was the ultimate dishonour, and prisoners, therefore, were seen as deserving of neither honour nor respect. The conditions portrayed in the camp, therefore, were believable and probably historically accurate.The portrayal of camp conditions is one of the highlights of the movie. The other is the actual raid carried out. It was portrayed in great detail and, again, in a very believable way. The basic problem with this movie, though, is that it repeatedly seems to get bogged down. Frankly, when the movie strays from those two subjects it just isn't that interesting, and all the various sidebars end up making this longer than it needed to be. The character of Margaret Utinski (played by Connie Nielsen) was especially problematic. Utinski was a real person - and a winner of the Medal of Honour - but there are historical questions about her life, and there was certainly no romance involved in her actions, as is suggested throughout the movie. Aside from Nielsen, the cast were fine, but in all honesty no one stood out to me as outstanding. As I've suggested, there are certainly aspects of this movie that make it worthwhile viewing, but it certainly can't be mistaken for a masterpiece. (6/10)

My friend told me about this movie and said that this was shot in the Philippines and is quite good for the genre of war films, so I pursued finding a DVD to watch this and find it myself whether it really is good or not.The whole film technically was about journeying towards the end of the second world war where American soldiers were trapped and they are to be rescued. However, the film went beyond the storyline which made it better. It showed not only friendship but camaraderie, and showed not only battalions but brotherhood.The actors really did well, including local actors coming from the Philippines. They really did raised the tension on the part of the audience. I, for one, was so affected.I understand that darkness added to the effects of the film, but how I hope they added some lights on most scenes because it was quite difficult for viewers to watch long dark scenes. It appeared to be very dull and thus the interest of viewers is slowly fading out.I also have noticed some goofs on geography. They could have researched more on this because it was a big turn off especially for Filipinos watching who really does know the proper names of the places.However, despite some criticisms, I'd still give it 8 because the whole package was tough and rough, but is very good to watch.

What would the result be if they made a war movie where all the actors were heavily sedated during production? Now we know! Even calling this drivel a "war movie" is a travesty. And what was the budget for this thing? Like two million? With zero for the writers? If you try to watch this without the benefit of a fast forward function, good luck to you. In fact, you can watch the entire thing while in fast forward. At that rate, it almost appears as if there is some action (but not much). Much, much better movies have been made portraying the Phillipine theatre of conflict in WWII and even the sub-set of American POWs there has been done quite well, so what was the point of this mish mash?