The film, "The Great Raid" is due in theatres August 12.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0326905/plotsummary
Plot Summary for
The Great Raid (2005)
Set in the Philippines in 1945, THE GREAT RAID tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever.
I haven't seen the film and can tell you from watching the trailers on TV that this film MAY go 'pop' and MAY not go
BOOM!at the boxoffice.
The special effects of the planes flying by wasn't believeable in "Windtalkers" and the effect not only remains unconvincing in The Great Raid but it looks dated in terms of technological progress. Not good.
Furthermore, one scene where a vehicle blows up with a bright flashy explosion looks to be straight from TV commonplace. (Clue to filmmakers: Study the look of REAL explosions-you know, the kind we see on the news from Iraq almost every night-and instead of making the special effects explosions brighter and flashier and faker looking, maybe you should make them darker and more realistic looking.)
Finally, many actors sport hair styles TOO obviously well cut by and coiffed before the cameras began rolling, by a stylist. And many of them wear their hair too long.
That's one of the FIRST signs of a less than top shelf production, the producer or director aren't committed to historical accuracy with a simple little thing like G.I. haircuts, then everything else, in my opinion is suspect. And that RUINS my sense of suspended disbelief necessary when watching a movie.
And the shame is that it wouldn't have cost much (if any) more $$ to have done it right.
Here are some positives:
The story deserves to be told and now it has been. The American public may yearn for such a tale.
I always enjoyed Benjamin Bratt's acting in TV's "Law & Order" as Det. Rey Curtis and in the film, "Miss Congeniality." I have no reason to believe he will perform less admirably in this film than I've come to expect.
Finally, one of the well coiffed characters in the movie, what looks to be a Japanese Army prison commandant reminds me of American Idol reject but now American Icon, William Hung. (Yes, I know he's Chinese!)
So, even though the movie may not go pop or Boom maybe the commandant will stand up and sing, "She bangs, she bangs..."
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