The Great Raid

An account of a rescue operation in the Philippines at the end of the Second World War. January 1945. Hundreds of American prisoners are held at the Cabanatuan camp, most of them survivors of the Bataan Death March. As the Japanese army withdraws there is a chance the prisoners will be killed. An American unit prepares to raid the camp and get them out. The film runs three lines together: the unit planning the operation, the prisoners in the camp, and a nurse in Manila helping the resistance. The narrative gives detailed room to the planning: the approach route, the problem of night vision, the fact that the prisoners cannot walk, and the support of Filipino guerrilla units. The raid comes in the final section and is over quickly. The conditions in the camp are not softened: illness, starvation and arbitrary executions are shown. John Dahl directed. Benjamin Bratt plays the unit's commander, James Franco the officer who plans the operation and Connie Nielsen the nurse. The film tries to stay with the record and uses archive footage at the close. A solid example for anyone who likes war films and accounts of real operations. A warning about pace: the film gives long room to preparation and the action comes late.