The Great Raid

The Great Raid is a 2005 motion picture based on a William Breuer novel of the same name which recounts the Raid of Cabanatuan during the Second World War. The film narrates the liberation of the Cabanatuan Prison Camp on the Philippine island of Luzon. It is directed by Jon Dahl and stars Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennees, James Franco, Connie Nielsen, Motoki Kobayashi and Cesar Montano. Filming took place from July 4^th to November 6^th of 2002. The film was released across the United States on August 12^th 2005 three days prior to the 60^th anniversary of V-J Day which officially ended the war in the Pacific. The film is distributed under Miramax Films had a budget of $80 million and a gross revenue of over $10 million U.S. dollars.

The film is set in the winter of 1944 near the end of the Second World War. It depicts the Japanese ran POW camp of Cabanatuan and the rescue efforts mounted by the Allied forces. The camp which housed some 500 prisoners of war – down from 8000 at the peak of its operations – was situated in Nueva Ecija, Luzon. Of the several hundred prisoners, many were survivors of the notorious Bataan Death March which took place after the fall of Corregidor. The film opens with the massacre of prisoners of war on the island of Palawan at the hands of the Kempeitai – the imperial Japanese military secret police. The film highlights the movements of the American Army's 6^th Battalion and the Alamo Scouts from their post at Lingayen gulf to the camp's eventual liberation.

Throughout the film the point of view switches between the prisoners of war, the U.S. army Rangers, the Japanese and the Filipino Resistance. The film is notable in its depiction of the real life efforts of the Filipino Guerrillas and their contributions to the raid. Specifically, the film highlights Filipino efforts to stall Japanese reinforcements as well as their efforts to fight along side the American against the Japanese occupation forces. Furthermore, the film also details guerrilla efforts to supply camp prisoners with food, medicine and other goods in cooperation with U.S. army nurses.

The film is likewise notable as Filipino Actor Cesar Montano's first Hollywood based film. Montano plays the role of Captain Juan Pajota, a local of Nueva Ecija and a member of the USAFFE Guerrilla forces following the retreat from Bataan. Montano was approached by director John Dahl after Montano's performance in Filipino film Muro Ami.