Review of The Great Raid (2005) by Rj R — 15 Jan 2006

I find myself surprised at the disliking of this film by the bigger critics and such. I myself thought the movie was a little bit under par when it came out last summer but after actually watching the film I would have to say that this movie was pretty good.

One thing I liked was the fact that there werent any REAL big actors or actresses in this film. I mean we've all seen Franco in the [i]Spiderman[/i] movies, Joseph Fiennes in [i]Enemy at the Gates[/i], and Connie Nielsen in [i]Gladiator[/i] but on the whole they're not very BIG actors. I like movies who dont stuff their cast lineups with BIG stars.

I can agree with the critics though that the start of the movie is a bit slow and hard to get through, but what else could they possibly do? Take the travelling Rangers and throw them against 1000 Japs in an hour long firefight that NEVER happened? While it is slow and a bit dull it is nonetheless neccessary for the story's and the character's sake.

One thing that didnt surface that well was any type of connection with the characters. I didnt feel like I REALLY got to identify or know ANY of them.

The actual raid scene is great and I loved it, but that in itself will not get this movie anywhere near a 10/10.

I enjoyed this movie as a WWII and history buff and anyone who loves war movies and the like will no doubt enjoy this film too. In other words to give you a good idea of where this movie holds on the scales of war movies: [i]Windtalkers[/i]<[i]The Great Raid[/i]<[i]Saving Private Ryan[/i].