The Great Raid

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The Great Raid

R

2005

2h 12m

War

History

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

39%

Tomatometer

119 Reviews

70%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

In early 1945, as World War II is nearing its end, Gen. Douglas MacArthur selects Lt. Col. Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) to command a bold rescue mission in the Philippines. There, in the city of Cabanauan, more than 500 American soldiers are being held captive in a brutal prisoner-of-war camp. With the assistance of Capt. Prince (James Franco), Mucci will lead the valiant soldiers of the 6th Ranger Battalion in one of the boldest POW rescues in American history.

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Critics Consensus

Though the climax of the film -- the actual raid -- is exciting, the rest of it is bogged down in too many subplots and runs on for too long.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

The raid on Cabanatuan is extraordinary. Exciting, tense, full of crackling suspense and filmed with old-fashioned daring, the movie comes alive with crackling electricity it does not know until this very point.

Rated: 2.5/4

Sep 10, 2005

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Marc Savlov

Austin Chronicle

There are the makings of a fine, moving, epic war film here, but thanks to the inclusion of enough chatty exposition to sink the Bismarck, again, and some just plain silly casting choices, The Great Raid is anything but.

Rated: 1.5/5

Aug 14, 2005

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Daniel Fienberg

Zap2it.com

[S]ometimes the most worthy of stories, the most relevant of history lessons, the most rousing of plots can still become the dullest of movies.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 13, 2005

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

[The Great Raid tells] a tale of courage under fire and serving as a reminder to us all in this day and age that war is not all about smart bombs and precision aerial displays; rather, it exemplifies life, death, honor and courage.

Nov 6, 2019

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Undeveloped secondary characters and awkward pacing thwarts the movie from achieving its '60s war film ethos similar to "The Great Escape."

Rated: C+

Apr 15, 2009

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Kam Williams

Princeton Town Topics

Instead of a tribute to a fine chapter in the annals of the Greatest Generation, we have a second-rate romance right out of a cheesy, pulp fiction novel.

Rated: 1/4

May 25, 2007

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alan G.

A great moment in history ruined by Benjamin Bratty. He can't act. Was flavor of the month. Thank fully his time is up long up.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

10/16/25

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Nathan T

The character development and that could have been better, but this is an extremely accurate film in terms of portraying the raid and of conditions in the camp. A really fine movie which I really like a lot!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

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Jason P

Decent flick to have in the background. James Franco seemed out of place.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/24

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john p

This movie covers an embarrassing era of WWII when the US gov't turned its back on their own for years as the suffered in Japanese terror and death camps & marches. Japanese didn't view their prisoners as humans but as disease to be destroyed once info and/or labor was gained. After the fact a brave but combat-virgin set of American troops go and save the remains of their comrades. A hard movie to watch as men die 'forgotten' but a real boost to see the heroism in the rescue. Hats off to the local resistance that helped the US! See this for an eye-opening look at WWII war crimes and heroism across the Pacific Ocean.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

This was n amazing military operation which I had never heard of before. The story was well told and well acted.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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harsh c

Lazy acting, maybe resulting from the uninspired script, followed by a highly successful raid which is so straightforward it's hardly suspenseful.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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John Dahl

Director

Benjamin Bratt

Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci

James Franco

Captain Prince

Connie Nielsen

Margaret Utinsky

Joseph Fiennes

Major Gibson

Marton Csokas

Captain Redding

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Synopsis

In early 1945, as World War II is nearing its end, Gen. Douglas MacArthur selects Lt. Col. Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) to command a bold rescue mission in the Philippines. There, in the city of Cabanauan, more than 500 American soldiers are being held captive in a brutal prisoner-of-war camp. With the assistance of Capt. Prince (James Franco), Mucci will lead the valiant soldiers of the 6th Ranger Battalion in one of the boldest POW rescues in American history.

Director: John Dahl
Producer: Marty Katz, Lawrence Bender
Screenwriter: Hossein Amini, Kevin Lund, Douglas Miro, Carlo Bernard
Distributor: Miramax Films
Production Co: Miramax Films, Village Roadshow Prod.
Rating: R (Strong War Violence|Brief Language)
Genre: War, History, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 12, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $10.2M
Runtime: 2h 12m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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