The Great Raid - Liberation Day

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Movie
German title The Great Raid - Liberation Day
Original title The Great Raid
Country of production United States
Australia
original language English
Publishing year 2005
length 115 minutes
Age rating FSK 18
Rod
Director John Dahl
script Carlo Bernard
Doug Miro
production Lawrence Bender
Marty Katz
music Trevor Rabin
camera Peter Menzies Jr.
cut Scott Chestnut
Pietro Scalia
occupation

The Great Raid is a US - Australian feature film made in 2005 . The film premiered on August 10, 2005 in the Philippines. It deals with the largest liberation campaign by US soldiers from captivity , in which 511 soldiers were freed after three years of imprisonment. This liberation took place on January 30, 1945 during the Pacific War when a prisoner of war camp was stormed in Cabanatúan in the Philippine province of Nueva Ecija , during which the 6th Battalion of the United States Army Rangers was supported by Philippine guerrillas . One of the liberated soldiers died after the liberation. Two Army Rangers were killed in the attack, while the Filipino guerrillas lost 21.

action

On April 9, 1942, the Japanese army drove around 70,000 US and Filipino prisoners of war northwards on the 6-day death march from Bataan . Only around 54,000 of the prisoners survived the 100 km march. On June 6, 1942, the Filipino prisoners of war were released by the Japanese occupying forces. The US soldiers were taken to a prisoner-of-war camp in Cabanatúan . In the winter of 1944, however, the Allied forces are again on the advance in the Pacific War and have to watch as the US prisoners of war in the prisoner-of-war camps they captured were previously killed by the Japanese army.

In order to spare the approximately 500 prisoners of Cabanatúan this fate as the US armed forces advance, the US army decides to storm the camp from an advance guard behind the enemy lines and free the prisoners. This task is assigned to the 6th Battalion of the United States Army Rangers , which is supported by Philippine guerrillas .

Major Gibson is the senior officer among the US prisoners in the Cabanatúan camp. Like many of his fellow inmates, he suffers from malaria . In order to contain the illnesses among the prisoners, the prisoners bribe the Japanese guards and receive quinine from the Filipino underground, above all from the nurse Margaret Utinsky, which is smuggled into the camp. Medical care is becoming increasingly difficult as the Japanese soldiers are already on the trail of the Filipino underground. In the end, many underground workers are killed by the Japanese and Margaret is taken prisoner in the Fuerza de Santiago .

Schematic representation of the prisoner-of-war camp and the actions of the US forces

Meanwhile, the 6th Battalion of the United States Army Rangers has arrived in the cover of the adjacent woods in front of the camp in Cabanatúan. On January 30, 1945, an American military machine flies over the camp several times to distract the Japanese guards, so that the approaching Army Ranger can approach the camp unnoticed across the open area and take up position in a ditch near the fences of the camp . They stay there until the first shot starts the attack at dusk. The rangers set fire to the camp's towers and the guards' barracks. They penetrate the interior of the camp through the main gate and destroy the armored vehicles. Then they escort the freed comrades out of the camp under enemy mortar fire.

Meanwhile, the Philippine guerrillas have bombed and secured a bridge 800 meters east of the camp to prevent the Japanese army from sending support to the prison camp.

The freed comrades are led by the Army Rangers to the river, where ox carts are waiting for the weak, sick and injured soldiers, with which they are brought out of danger. They manage to free 511 prisoners, but Major Gibson succumbs to his illness after being liberated.

Margaret Utinsky is released from Japanese captivity, but meets Major Gibson, her love, only after his death. Margaret Utinsky was awarded the Medal of Freedom for “heroism and strength” by US President Harry S. Truman .

background

The film was shot on Bribie Island in Queensland , Australia ; the scenes set in Manila were shot in Shanghai . Filming began on 4 July 2002 and ended on November 6, 2002. The budget of the film is 70 million dollars estimated. The film celebrated its world premiere on August 10, 2005 in the Philippines . It was first seen in the US on August 12, 2005 - three days before the 60th anniversary of VJ-Day . On June 22, 2006 the DVD was released in Germany. On the opening weekend, the film grossed more than 3.3 million US dollars in the US, and total revenues of over 10.1 million US dollars were achieved in US cinemas.

The film was originally scheduled to be released in US cinemas in 2003. The time of publication was initially postponed by Miramax to 2004, later indefinitely. It wasn't until Miramax split from Disney that the film was finally released in 2005. Frank Ricciardone, the US ambassador to the Philippines, had previously contacted Miramax at the end of 2004 and asked to show parts of the previously unreleased film on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Cabanatúan prisoner of war camp. This request was complied with, so that in February 2005 a selected audience of US and Filipino employees of the US Embassy in Manila and their relatives were able to see the film in a theater in Makati in the presence of director John Dahl before its official world premiere got.

Cabanatúan American Memorial

In commemoration of the liberation discussed in the film, the Cabanatúan American Memorial was erected after the war by survivors of the Bataan Death March and the Cabanatúan POW Camp. The ABMC has been responsible for their administration and maintenance since 1989 .

Richard Joson plays his own grandfather in the role of Captain Ebong Joson.

Captain Robert Prince, who was led by Lt. Col. Henry A. Mucci was given the task of planning the liberation, acted as military advisor during the filming and believed the film accurately portrayed the liberation.

The US armed forces distracted the Japanese soldiers with the help of a Northrop P-61 , which flew over the camp as the US soldiers approached the prisoner of war camp on their stomach. In the film, however, a Lockheed Hudson can be seen, as none of the four Northrop P-61 still in existence were airworthy at the time of filming.

A prisoner of war camp was rebuilt in Queensland for the shooting. Asian students from the region were hired to play the Japanese soldiers.

criticism

The lexicon of the international film judges: "The film, based on true events, tells straightforward, but also offers enough space for elaborate battle scenes against a pathetic background."

At Rotten Tomatoes , the film received 36% positive ratings based on 119 reviews, with most critics agreeing that the film was too long and had too many subplots, but the portrayal of Liberation was well done. At Metacritic , the film was rated 48 out of 100 points based on 29 reviews.

Awards

Johnny Caruso was at the 2006 Golden Reel Awards in the category Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Music nominated.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Start dates according to the Internet Movie Database
  2. ↑ Locations according to the Internet Movie Database
  3. ↑ a b c Budget and box office results according to the Internet Movie Database
  4. ↑ a b c d e f Background information according to the Internet Movie Database
  5. ↑ Seattle Post-Intelligencer : Leader of WWII's 'Great Raid' looks back at real-life POW rescue , Mike Barber, August 25, 2005
  6. ↑ Seattle Times : "The Great Raid" includes Seattle native who helped save POWs , Judy Chia Hui Hsu, August 20, 2005
  7. ↑ The Great Raid - Liberation Day. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  8. ↑ The Great Raid - Liberation Day at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
  9. ↑ The Great Raid - Liberation Day at Metacritic (English)
  10. ↑ Nominations and awards according to the Internet Movie Database