The Great Raid - A review

[Paladin]

I watched this playing from my PS3 onto my Samsung 56 inch DLP HDTV.

All I can say is WOW. This is one well done picture.

The film follows the actions of the 6th Ranger Battalion and their desperate attempt to free 500 American and allied POWs from a Japanese prison camp near Cabanatuan before their captors burn them to death. The Rangers must slip behind enemy lines, march 30 miles, engaged the Japanese defending the camp and slip back out avoiding thousands of Japanese troops in the area in order for this mission to succeed. To add complications, the POWs have been starved and mistreated for 3 years, so many of them are not in great shape.

The movie starts with the Japanese massacre of POWs on Palawan, which sets the tone and installs the need for the U.S. to do something before this happens at Cabanatuan. The 6th Ranger Battalion is green, and this mission is out of the ordinary, and they only have 5 days to get it done. The rest of the movie follows the 6th Rangers as they get ready and move out to do the mission, the POWs in the camp, and Nurse Margaret Utinsky who is part of the Filipino resistance.

The movie is really well done, and the BD version is really beautiful. The action part of the raid really shines on the HDTV as the Rangers leap into a desperate battle to free the POWs in a daring night attack. Along the way we are treated to jungle and tall grass scenes that show the clarity of HDTV as details in the trees and grass really stand out. It was like looking though a window at the action.

The only short comings of the release are the lack of extras. The only thing they did was have a few clips that show off the HD version easily accessible, and director commentary. I would have liked to have seen some of the historical clips and pictures on the disk.

Paladin