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"The Great Raid" - Debbie Schlussel Calls It The Year's Great Movie (MUST SEE!!!)
Debbie Schlussel.com ^ | 08/12/05 | Debbie Schlussel

Posted on 08/12/2005 12:06:29 PM PDT by goldstategop

"The Great Raid": The Year's GREAT Movie

By Debbie Schlussel

If you love America, "The Great Raid" is the movie for you.

If you love freedom and appreciate the fight it takes to sustain it, you'll love this movie. But if you don't appreciate what it takes to protect our life as free Americans--the sacrifices our military men and women make every day, then you must see "The Great Raid."

In theaters, today, "The Great Raid" is--hands down--the best movie of the year. It has drama, action, a love story, heroes and villains.

And it makes you proud to be an American.

But much more important, it is a very accurate depiction of an important event in recent U.S. military history: the rescue of U.S. Prisoners of War in Cabanatuan, Philippines (based on the books "The Great Raid on Cabanatuan" and "Ghost Soldiers").

Emaciated, ill with diseases like malaria, and tortured by the Japanese, American POWs in the Philippines during World War II--and their dramatic rescue with the help of heroic Filipinos--comprise a little known chapter in American history.

Unfortunately.

Now, at the skillful direction of Director John Dahl, the story will be told. "My brother said Hollywood only knows how to make one kind of war movie . . . an ANTI-war movie," Dahl told me, during a recent promotional trip to Detroit. But Dahl, the son of a World War II vet who fought in the Philippines, wanted to change that. He wanted to tell the true story of what really happened to friends of his father who actually were POWs and endured the Bataan Death March.

During his trip to the Detroit area, Dahl visited the Selfridge Air Base to pre-view his film. While the projector was old and the equipment squeaky, the loudest noise was the applause he got from the military men and women who screened it. I noted to Dahl that finally someone produced a movie that made American soldiers look like the decent, honorable men they were and are--unlike the drug abusers and evil-doers in movies like Oliver Stone's "Platoon." Dahl said he wouldn't have it any other way. It was paramount for him to get it right--for his father, his father's friends, and the many other Americans and Filipinos who bravely fought (many making the ultimate sacrifice) against the Japanese and rescued the infirm POWs.

By design, Dahl cast mostly unknown young actors--very talented unknowns, to compliment leads Benjamin Bratt and Joseph Fiennes (both of whom were also first-rate). Even Mr. Kelly Ripa, actor Mark Consuelos, was good.

Dahl's film also gives Filipinos (civilian and military)--many of whom risked their lives for our soldiers and were murdered for it--the credit they deserve for their heroic bravery in helping American POWs. Most Americans remain unaware of this, and "The Great Raid" will help correct that. Dahl said he wanted to show that without the help of these Filipinos, the raid on Cabanatuan would not have been successful.

American soldiers in "The Great Raid"--all of whom (except Fiennes' character) existed in real life--were of all ethnic backgrounds. They had Irish (Riley, Foley, O'Grady), Hispanic (Guttierez), Italian (Mucci), and Jewish (Cohen, Friedberg, Katz) names. For feminists, there is even a female hero, Margaret Utinsky, a nurse who led a Filipino underground network to smuggle medicine to the POWs, helping keep them alive. But Utinsky was no feminist. She was a classy, brave, beautiful woman, who risked everything to smuggle quinine, without which many soldiers would die of malaria, to the camps. Utinsky received the Medal of Freedom and wrote a book about her heroic saga in the Philippines. Sadly, she died alone in a sanitarium around 1970.

Anyone who doubts our War on Terror, and the strong measures required here and abroad, really needs to see "The Great Raid," to learn what real patriots do to serve their country. They fight the enemy to death, not worship the ground it slithers on. Anything less is fatally inadequate.

As vividly depicted in "The Great Raid," American POWs faced real torture, deliberate starvation and malnourishment, and the withholding of life-saving medical treatment--all courtesy of their Japanese captors. They were beaten to near-death and death--not the minor grazing of breasts by female interrogators, a la Gitmo. There was no International Red Cross visiting and defending them against their captors. They didn't receive three square Halal meals--like glazed chicken--per day. There was no ACLU in Cabanatuan fighting the Japanese in the courts and demanding their release.

Another praiseworthy dimension of "Great Raid" usually absent in Hollywood is respect for (non-Muslim) religion. While rare enough to have such a patriotic movie coming out of Hollywood (especially at this time), the positive portrayal of religion is contextual and important. Religious Catholicism, its adherents and clerics, are shown in a positive light.

The Japanese allowed Irish Catholic priests to freely move around the Philippines because the Irish were considered German allies, Dahl explained. Taking advantage of this, Irish Catholic priests risked their lives to help Utinsky run the Filipino underground and smuggle medicine to the POWs. They were murdered for it. In a few scenes, a card depicting the Virgin Mary plays an important role in giving two American soldiers the courage and confidence to carry out the successful raid and rescue.

Since all religions (except Islam, the only religion liberals and showbiz types love to love) are regularly trashed on the big screen, "The Great Raid" is a refreshing film, in that respect alone.

But the most refreshing thing about "The Great Raid" is that someone in Hollywood actually dared to commit the crime of making America and our brave soldiers look as good on film as they are in reality.

"These were brave, brave people, Americans and Filipinos, who deserve to be recognized - and honored," Dahl told Detroit Free Press film critic Terry Lawson. "I hope I did them justice."

Yes, you did.

For more on U.S. POWs of the Japanese in the Philippines, see my writing about Lester Tenney (nee Tennenberg), Maurice Mazer, and Frank Bigelow--heroic U.S. POWs of the Japanese in the Philippines and survivors of the Bataan Death March. Read Lester Tenney's moving book, "My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March," also reviewed here.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: canabatuan; debbieschlussel; greatraid; heroism; moviereview; phillippines; schlussel; thegreatraid; usmilitary; worldwarii; wwii
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To: goldstategop

I saw it last night....great movie. They intersperse real footage of the event at the beginning and end of the movie. The credits at the end you see footage of the men who were portrayed in the movie. a definite must see.


61 posted on 08/13/2005 9:58:17 AM PDT by PaulZe
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To: pugmama

I just saw it and will highly recommend it. As for critics, Ebert gave it a thumbs up, and he's the only mainstream critic that I trust. The others, especially the NY Times guys, tend to let their politics taint their reviews.


62 posted on 08/13/2005 2:23:27 PM PDT by Accygirl
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To: beaversmom

where was this review from


63 posted on 08/13/2005 2:24:57 PM PDT by atlanta67
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To: goldstategop
I watched a documentary on the making of this movie, on the History Channel a couple of nights ago. They went to the Philippines and talked to survivors of the war. If not for them helping our guys, they would never have been able to help rescue our guys. They traced the steps that the March took, and the steps that the Rangers took on the rescue mission. I read the book "Ghost Soldiers" and it is a great book. I recommend it to evryone.

I lost 3 uncles at Bataan. My dad's only brothers were killed. One was sick and his brother was trying to carry him on his shoulder, but he fell and the Japanese killed him with a sword. The other two died in the camp. They were just kids. 18, 18 and 19.

Another one was my mother's brother. He's still buried in the National Cemetery in the Philippines. At the time, my grandparents didn't have the money to bring him home. My other grandparents brought my dad's brothers home. At least they think it was them. They wouldn't let them open the caskets.

Growing up, I used to go spend the summer with my grandparents, and I'll always remember that my grandmother had a picture of the flag draped coffins with a small picture of the boys, sitting on her dresser. Recently my dad gave it all to me, along with some school books that belonged to them.

None of them were married, so the only cousins I have on my dad's side are 3 girls, who my aunt had, but they live 1000 miles away. I used to feel cheated because I have such a small family, but I understood the sacrifice they made to keep America free, and I believed it was worth it. The way our government is shredding our Constitution REALLY angers me because of the men and women who have died to keep our country free. They did NOT do it so we could be overrun by an invasion across our borders because our sorry a$$ed government doesn't want to do anything about it.

64 posted on 08/13/2005 3:10:27 PM PDT by NRA2BFree (veni vidi Visa - I came, I saw, I shopped!)
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To: goldstategop
I've seen it twice so far, theater was packed for both shows. Cheering and clapping at several points. The show was fairly realistic, especially the military aspects. They were a little gentle on the torture and execution scenes, but it was more than enough to shock most people today. It's just sad that we can't make certain people sit and watch it until they understand. I'm thinking something like the Clockwork Orange "conditioning" scenes.
65 posted on 08/13/2005 6:03:57 PM PDT by Uriah_lost
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To: goldstategop

I saw it Saturday evening.. WONDERFULLY done & great acting..


66 posted on 08/13/2005 10:24:22 PM PDT by DollyCali (Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your s God is!)
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To: NRA2BFree

thank you for your story.. tears here...


67 posted on 08/13/2005 10:27:22 PM PDT by DollyCali (Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your s God is!)
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To: goldstategop
Just saw it with my family. It should not be R rated, considering what goes on in PG movies these days. No sex, No language. Took my girls 11 and 12. Its nice to see a movie where people applaud when the credits begin. There was also a scene in the movie where people applauded, don't want to ruin it for those who haven't seen it so that's all I'll say.
68 posted on 08/13/2005 10:59:49 PM PDT by D Rider
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To: Spiff

The R rating is deserved for the public executions IMHO...


69 posted on 08/13/2005 11:04:19 PM PDT by DollyCali (Don't tell GOD how big your storm is -- Tell the storm how B-I-G your s God is!)
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To: goldstategop
i went to see this movie last night. i thought it was excellent; the start is slow, and you have to get into the whole ww2 movie mode, but it was patriotic and very moving.

i was surprised at how many people were at the 7 o clock showing; people clapped when something happens to the bad guy, and people stayed riveted (NOT MOVING) in their seats during the credits, which show archival footage of the actual ww2 rescued prisoners...no one left until it was completely over, and then people clapped at the end.

i thought it was great. i hope people go out to support it and help to create a market for family friendly patriotic films, unlike "dukes of hazzard" or "four brothers."

we have enough commie type movies coming out in the next two years. it would be great if we could support THIS one.

70 posted on 08/14/2005 6:50:55 AM PDT by wildwood
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To: goldstategop
It's a little long, most of the characters are too faceless, and there are lots of technical things wrong with it (Stephen Hunter points out the worst: the lack of a P-61 Black Widow, an absence which makes a critical scene far less dramatic than it should have been).

But even with all of that, it's still a gripping, thrilling movie with a great final battle scene.

71 posted on 08/14/2005 7:10:59 AM PDT by denydenydeny ("As a Muslim of course I am a terrorist"--Sheikh Omar Brooks, quoted in the London Times 8/7/05)
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To: goldstategop
bttt

an inspiring movie! go see it and support patriotism!

72 posted on 08/14/2005 3:26:36 PM PDT by wildwood
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To: atlanta67
where was this review from

The Seattle Post Intelligencer by William Arnold

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/movies/236243_raid12q.html

73 posted on 08/15/2005 9:43:26 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: wildwood

This was an incredible movie. The reviewers who panned it I'm sure were horrified by the accurate depiction of the brutal Japanese. Can't have that! A very pro-American movie.


74 posted on 08/28/2005 1:11:30 PM PDT by The Right Stuff
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To: The Right Stuff
not just pro-American, i guess...but patriotic and willing to see the good in the human spirit...so unlike the crap put out nowdays by hollywood...

they just don't get it.

75 posted on 08/28/2005 1:27:33 PM PDT by wildwood
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