Posted on 07/26/2005 7:36:15 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
I wonder why they didn't use the real title - "Ghost Soldiers". That would have been a great title.
If this movie turns out to be a good one .. maybe somebody needs to tell the producer about The Los Banos Raid. Who knows, we could wind up with some decent movies to watch - teach our children some history in the meantime.
Col.Mucci is from Bridgeport Ct.,a Highway here is named after him.I go past his boyhood home everyday on the way to work .Looking forward to seeing the film.
The Pros I do not bother with anymore..they are a mixed bag. I see what I want to see whether a good review or not.
Ping
*The Great Raid*
Ping!
Semper Fi
It depends... Some of the "pros" like Roger Ebert are pretty good at picking out duds. (However, not so good at picking out the winners).
We saw the sneak preview tonight, terrific movie IMHO much better than Saving Pvt. Ryan. When the Jap camp officer gets it the audience cheered.
Looking forward to seeing it..thanks
I hope this movie is as close to history as the post indicates. About thirty years ago, during a research project, I had occasion to meet with and correspond with a number of men who had been prisoners of war at Cabanatuan. Unfortunately they were not among those rescued, because by the time the raid occurred they had been taken by their captors on prison ships to Japan.
The P.O.W.'s on the prison ships went through hell, so the prison ships are also known as "hell ships." They were starved and beaten, and had to watch helplessly as their comrades died. On top of that, some of the hell ships were bombed and torpedoed by American aircraft and submarines, whose crews did not know that American prisoners of war were aboard the ships.
I hope some day a studio makes a film about the hell ships.
"We saw the sneak preview tonight, terrific movie IMHO much better than Saving Pvt. Ryan."
My wife said better than Pvt. Ryan. She remarked on the coincidence that she had just read an article about the nuke bombs, because the Japs wouldn't surrender.
I liked it, too. Academy Award material in my book. The audience was older, and sat in silence through the credits.
Later pingout.
The incident with the deaf British guy really happened. There were females involved in the underground movement helping the prisoners, but I think the love interest was thrown in by Hollywood.
I've read Ghost Soldiers and The Great Raid. The former is a good, quick read, but for the history buff, I'd recommend the latter. More detail and better documentation.
I really wish Stephen Ambrose had been able to finish his book on the Pacific War. I hope one of his proteges picks up where he left off.
I saw the sneak preview last night and I encourage all Freepers to go see this movie...it's great! I read "Ghost Soldiers" and have read an oral history by Capt. Prince and found the movie to tell the tale accurately. Two things surprised me about this movie in an age of Political Correctness gone amok:
1. The US soldiers are portrayed as the heroes they were.
2. The Japanese are shown commiting atrocities and violating the Geneva Convention.
Right now people are talking about the 60th anniversary of us using the atomic bomb on the Japanese. No mention is made of why it was necessary and all of the lives that were saved by using it. Almost no mention is made anymore of how brutal the Japanese army was...all we hear about is Abu Ghraib and Gitmo.
This movie shows the Japanese murdering civilians and prisoners. The whole reason for the raid was to prevent the slaughter of POW's...the sickest survivors of the Bataan Death March. I've never heard a veteran of the Pacific Theater in WWII say we should not have used the bomb to end the war. Several have told me they expected to die during the invasion of Japan and were ecstatic when the bomb ended the war, which save countless Japanese lives as well.
I'll definitely see this movie again. There is great newsreel footage from the war during the credits. I have never been in another movie where the entire audience sat in their seats watching the credits.
On a side note, Hollywood will still not show Islamofascists as terrorists. I heard an interview with bestselling author Vince Flynn (read his books if you haven't already!) and he was in talks with Paramount about making a movie based on one of his books...which would have been a hit, no doubt. The executive said, "Well we can't have the terrorists be from the Middle East, let's make them Filipinos." (Hello!!! Did Filipinos fly planes into the Twin Towers????) Vince has integrity and backed away from talks with them. The studio is turning away a blockbuster hit because they are afraid of offending Arabs..of course they don't care about offending Filipinos.
Go see this movie next weekend and tell your friends. Let's support these producers that had the courage to tell the ugly truth, even if its not PC.
There are people quite willing to show the islamofascists as terrorists just not in Hollywood..the Conservative Hollywood http://www.boondockexpansionist.org/
Orlando Sentinal Review
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/movies/orl-hamptonsides_mvst080805aug08,0,2209022.story?coll=orl-dp-classifieds
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