Movie Response the Great Raid

¶ … Raid provides valuable insight into the war that was occurring in the Pacific during World War II. Too often, the conflict in the Pacific is overlooked and emphasis is placed on the conflict in Europe. While it is an integral part of American history, the conflict between the United States and Japan focuses on the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Great Raid provides the audience with an opportunity to see how the United States retaliated against the Japanese after Pearl Harbor was bombed and the consequences of taking on the Japanese army. Furthermore, The Great Raid provides insight into the collaboration between United States Armed Forces and Filipino armed forces and the control that Japan had on the Philippines.

The film is accurate in depicting the horrors that American POWs had to endure while in the hands of the Japanese. The film depicts several instances where the Imperial Japanese Army overreached their authority and killed POWs either to "discipline" them or because they were ordered to. There are several instances in which the film depicts these horrors. For instance, at the beginning of the film, the introductory sequence is narrated to provide a historical background into what led American troops to invade and liberate the POW camp at Cabanatuan. Among the atrocities that the film opens with is the Bataan Death March; the Bataan Death March resulted in the deaths of thousands of American and Filipino POWs as they were forced to march over 80 miles from one prisoner camp to another. The footage of the Bataan Death March is especially haunting because it appears to be footage and photographs that were taken at the time of the march in the 1940s. A second example of the mistreatment of POWs that is depicted is unnecessary and brutal massacre of POWs by the Japanese during which POWs were forced into covered trenches and then set on fire. These two horrific events help to set up the argument that POWs at Cabanatuan needed to be rescued immediately or suffer the same tragic fate -- it later shown that the POWs at Cabanatuan were indeed fated for the same end, however their rescue was carried out before the Japanese had a chance to go through with the massacre.

In the film, Captain Robert Prince comes up with a plan of attack that is intended to rescue the POWs that are being held at Cabanatuan. As his plan begins to take shape, it is clear that the American forces would benefit greatly from an alliance with Filipino guerillas as both armed forces had a common enemy and while the American forces had the manpower and artillery, the Filipinos knew the lay of the land and knew Japanese military strategies. Together, the Americans were able to collaborate with the Filipinos to raid and destroy Japanese camps.

While these troops suspect that the POWs have been mistreated and that rescuing them is of utmost importance, they do not know to what extent the POWs have been, in essence, tortured. The film enables the viewer to see how the Japanese would murder prisoners through direct and indirect methods. For example, POWs would be tortured to death in front of their fellow soldiers. If that wasn't enough, when the first group of Japanese soldiers leaves the camp -- during what appears to be a "changing of the guard," so to speak -- they gain access to packages that were meant to feed and medicate the POWs but had been deliberately withheld; it becomes clear that the Japanese were trying to kill the POWs through any means, whether it was starving them or beating them to death.

While it may have seemed that POWs were treated badly by the first set of soldiers at Cabanatuan, it soon becomes clear that the new group of Japanese soldiers are far worse than their former counterparts. The introduction of these new soldiers at the camp is an instance of historical inaccuracy. While the fresh troops are referred to as secret police, they are not and are simply soldiers. These new soldiers are far more vicious than their predecessors. They demand complete obedience and go as far as killing ten POWs for every POW that tries to escape; they carry out this threat in the film after Captain Redding attempts to escape and is caught in the process. Soon after the consequential mass murder of POWs, the 6th Ranger Battalion raids and liberates the POWs at the camp. In order to successfully carry out the attack, the Rangers use several distractions, including the blowing up of a bridge and flying over the POW camp; though the plane that is used in the film to create a distraction during the raid is not historically accurate as the model that actually flew over the camp was not in flying condition, the difference does not detract from the film as the overall impact remains the same ("The Great Raid").