Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
EAN: 0786936710656
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 25
Label: Miramax Films
Languages: EnglishOriginal LanguageJapaneseOriginal LanguageTagalogOriginal Language
Manufacturer: Miramax Films
MPN: 786936710656
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Miramax Films
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 16, 2006
Running Time: 132 minutes
Studio: Miramax Films
Theatrical Release Date: August 12, 2005

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 08/15/2008 Run time: 133 minutes Rating: R

Amazon.com:
Nearly three years after it was filmed, The Great Raid finally appeared as a welcome reminder that good old-fashioned World War II movies never go out of style. While lacking the scale, prestige, and pulse-pounding momentum of Saving Private Ryan, this fact-based war drama benefits from a back-to-basics approach to realism and a rousing rescue climax that more than compensates for the slower passages that precede it. Adapted from the books The Great Raid on Cabanatuan and Ghost Soldiers, it chronicles the five-day mission (in late January 1945) to rescue 511 American prisoners of war held by the Japanese at Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines. Under the direction of neo-noir specialist John Dahl (The Last Seduction), the film's three-part structure follows the raid mission led by Lt. Col. Mucci (Benjamin Bratt); the plight of the POWs at Cabanatuan, including malaria-stricken Maj. Gibson (Joseph Fiennes); and civilian resistance in Manila as carried out by real-life hero and Gibson's (fictional) would-be lover Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen), whose effort to aid the POWs is vigilantly monitored by the enemy Japanese. In keeping with war-movie traditions, Dahl handles character and action with no-nonsense intelligence, favoring a slow build over pumped-up adrenalin. By the time the miraculous rescue is executed with critical assistance by Filpino guerillas, The Great Raid has earned its stripes, honoring the brave men who carried out the most successful rescue mission in U.S. military history. --Jeff Shannon

Average Rating:

Rating: - Very good movie loved it.
The movie worked well with my DVD player and presented no problems. This is a very good historical account of a rescue that occurred over 60 years ago. The research of this rescue was well done in every respect.

Rating: - Gritty, true, WWII action movie
World War II movies are often popular because of their portrayal of gargantuan, world-changing battles--but this movie is great because it focuses on one of the smaller, less-noticed actions late in the war...that just happens to be true.

In the Philippines, a battalion is assigned the task of raiding deep into Japanese-held territory to rescue American POW's; it's clear that before the Japanese abandon the camp, they will murder the prisoners.

Tension mounts as the ... Read More

---

Rating: - The Raid May Have Been Great, But The Movie Isn't
The raid to save POW survivors of the Bataan Death March took place over 5 days in January 1945 after US troops landed in the Philippines. This movie seems 5 days long as well - the plot inches along and there are so many characters that we hardly get to know any of them.

Why is the US POW senior officer so obsessed with the wife of his former commanding officer? I am not sure as this is not explained well. Why is the Colonel whose men have to raid the POW camp misunderstood and what ... Read More

---

Rating: - Traditional and Fine WW2 Film
Nothing to add to the complete summaries in some reviews and the general approval with which they approach the film. It follows the traditional pattern of American War films but the action sequences and underplayed roles gave it a feeling of authenticity not always found in the genre. While the action is heated for only a short while, it sparks the picture. The acting is nicely underplayed allowing no room for a shift of attention from the roles played to the actors playing them. Admirably, despite ... Read More

---

Rating: - Spectacular!!!
I always had a thing for watching war movies ... the Battle of the Bulge ... Midway ...I would say that this falls within that category. Though, it is not a great battle in itself the story of the rescue of POW makes it as important as all the battles that won WWII.