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Movie Review
The Great Raid
By Scott Sycamore Published May 9, 2005
US Release: August 12, 2005
Directed by: John Dahl
Starring: Benjamin Bratt , James Franco , Robert Mammone , Max Martini
R
Running Time: 132 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $10,166,502
Directed by: John Dahl
Starring: Benjamin Bratt , James Franco , Robert Mammone , Max Martini
R
Running Time: 132 minutes
Domestic Box Office: $10,166,502
C-
Most heinous in a war film, the action is poorly executed; there is no suspense, and most of the time we don't even know what's going on.
The Great Raid is a World War II film. I may be getting tired of this genre, but is another tale of courage in the battlefield really necessary at this point? Is it possible to match up to the level of Saving Private Ryan or The Thin Red Line in today's age? I would bet not, and it is proven when we're forced to watch an attempt like this fail. The Great Raid is not only worse than any good World War II film, but it is worse than most films period.
The movie starts out with some decent historical footage of the war. It meanders through a general narrative before it elaborates on the American POW camp in the Philippines run by the Japanese. The U.S. military decides that they will attempt to free the prisoners by conducting a raid using elite soldiers. That's the story, plain and simple.
Benjamin Bratt plays the Colonel who is in charge of planning and organizing the raid, and James Franco plays the man he picks to lead the raid. The movie's point of view switches to the soldiers who are held prisoner in the camp, and tells their story. And there is a third strand to the plot involving a nurse who is married to the main prisoner, as she attempts to smuggle medicine into the camp. The movie cuts back and forth between each of the stories until the very end when the raid takes place.
The film is edited terribly. It is often very difficult to understand what is taking place, whether in a dialogue or in an action scene. The effect is just bad as watching a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay production, except without a headache-inducing editing style to put up with. The cardinal sin is that the film is just downright boring - scenes will unfold, but the story makes the tragic move of never including us in anything. There is no connection to any characters and the plot is simple, and yet the story manages to be heavily convoluted. And, most heinous in a war film, the action is poorly executed; there is no suspense, and most of the time we don?t even know what?s going on.
There isn't even one decent thematic conversation, whether it's in the camp or in the battlefield. We're treated to a voice-over at the end about courage and heroism, but the film has about as much impact as Hart's War, which was another lifeless, boring WWII prison-camp movie. I'm also confused as to what demographic this film is targeting; it's not entertaining, and it's not informative, so what is it? There is almost nothing about this film that would make anyone want to see it. For a war film, I am dumbfounded.
The movie starts out with some decent historical footage of the war. It meanders through a general narrative before it elaborates on the American POW camp in the Philippines run by the Japanese. The U.S. military decides that they will attempt to free the prisoners by conducting a raid using elite soldiers. That's the story, plain and simple.
Benjamin Bratt plays the Colonel who is in charge of planning and organizing the raid, and James Franco plays the man he picks to lead the raid. The movie's point of view switches to the soldiers who are held prisoner in the camp, and tells their story. And there is a third strand to the plot involving a nurse who is married to the main prisoner, as she attempts to smuggle medicine into the camp. The movie cuts back and forth between each of the stories until the very end when the raid takes place.
The film is edited terribly. It is often very difficult to understand what is taking place, whether in a dialogue or in an action scene. The effect is just bad as watching a Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay production, except without a headache-inducing editing style to put up with. The cardinal sin is that the film is just downright boring - scenes will unfold, but the story makes the tragic move of never including us in anything. There is no connection to any characters and the plot is simple, and yet the story manages to be heavily convoluted. And, most heinous in a war film, the action is poorly executed; there is no suspense, and most of the time we don?t even know what?s going on.
There isn't even one decent thematic conversation, whether it's in the camp or in the battlefield. We're treated to a voice-over at the end about courage and heroism, but the film has about as much impact as Hart's War, which was another lifeless, boring WWII prison-camp movie. I'm also confused as to what demographic this film is targeting; it's not entertaining, and it's not informative, so what is it? There is almost nothing about this film that would make anyone want to see it. For a war film, I am dumbfounded.
Scott's Grade: C-
Scott's Overall Grading: 417 graded movies
| A | 15.1% | |
| B | 59.2% | |
| C | 24.5% | |
| D | 1.2% | |
| F | 0.0% |
'The Great Raid' Articles
- Lee's review C+
May 9, 2005 The whole film felt like a by-the-book action flick, but war films aren?t supposed to be just action flicks. -- Lee Tistaert
