The Great Raid
Director: John Dahl
Starring: Benjamin Bratt,James Franco, Robert Mammone, Max Martini
The Great Raid is perhaps more timely now than it would have been a few years ago, when "smart bombs" and a couple of weeks of warfare were supposed to solve the Iraq situation. Now that we are involved in a lengthy and bloody ground war there, it is good to have a film that is not about entertainment for action fans, but about how wars are won with great difficulty, risk, and cost.
The action is brilliant, the combat sharp and rattling, and the film follows the historical record more closely than most Hollywood films.
The Great Raid amounts to a noble failure. This is sad news for those of us who remain hopelessly partial to Dahl's mean streak. The failure we can live with. It's the noble part that will never do.
For all its noble intentions, its striving for authenticity, its unblinking look at the savagery of war, The Great Raid is far more dutiful than dramatic.
The Great Raid tells its story without irony, perspective or any leavening that would make it something other than an ordinary military-action caper.
Best Sound Editing in Feature Film - Music
Motion Picture Sound Editors (2006)
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