The ANNOTICO Report

The movie, "The Great Raid", set in the Philippines in 1945, tells the true
story of the U.S. 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.

The movie will not be released until December 2, so it will give you plenty of time to read the book, "Ghost Soldiers"by Hampton Sides, available from << www.ItaliaMia.com >> or <<www.ItalyStL.com >>

Thanks to Leon J. Radomile

Heroic World War II figure Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci (nicknamed Little
MacArthur),  is finally discovered by Hollywood in the upcoming movie “The
Great Raid” which is set for a December 2nd release. Finally a positive
Italian-American role-model can be seen on the big screen. This is
something I hope Italian American organizations will publicize in their
magazines, newspapers and newsletters. Now is the time to start spreading
the word. Let’s hope the movie lives up to the great story of Henry Mucci
from the book "Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides.
 

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.

In 1945, Italian-American Army Lt. Colonel Henry A. Mucci, a graduate of
West Point and a native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, led a force of 400 Army
Rangers and Filipino guerrillas 30 miles behind Japanese lines to rescue
511 men (mostly American) held in a Japanese prison camp. They were the
survivors of the Bataan Death March, the infamous three-day 65 mile forced
march of 70,000 at the beginning of World War II.    (Question #977,
Heritage Italian-American Style / Patrimonio Italo Americano)

One Reviewer on Amazon on 30 July 2005 "draven103" wrote:

Read, "Ghost Soldiers," before you watch the movie. It's the best book I've
ever read. If you can read it without crying, then you don't have a soul.

If the movie was done right, it will have the same effect. Some critics
have complained that the movie has too much drama and not enough action.
But you can't really set up the story without seeing the background. The
book has it all. The Death March, the imprisonment, people dying every day
of malnutrition and disease. When you finally get to the end and the attack
takes place, all that drama will lead into, if the movie was done
correctly, one of the most climactic endings in the history of
cinematography. Period.

Action movies are a dime a dozen. These POW's waited for years for even the
smallest glimmer of hope. What little hope they did receive, in the form of
Red Cross care packages, were pillaged by the Japanese before making their
way to the POW's. Their world was bleak and hopeless. How can we expect to
understand the frustration and gradual loss of hope they felt if we don't
have ample time to understand their suffering?

If this movie portrays the anguish, despair, and finally the redemption as
well as the book does, it will absolutely be nominated for every award they
can come up with. But that's a big, "if." The movie has the potential to
redefine the word, "hero," not only in the way we associate the word with
movies, but in the way we apply it to real life. That just cannot be
accomplished in the average 90 minute action film.

If you want nonstop action, watch Predator (which I do really like, by the
way.)

If the movie is going to give us any appreciation at all for the horror
these POW's endured, if it's intent is to give us even the vaguest idea how
important this raid was to the POW's and their families, then without
question it needs to be long and full of drama. The ending will take care
of itself.

THE GREAT RAID

Benjamin Bratt.... Lt. Colonel Mucci
James Franco .... Captain Prince
Robert Mammone.... Captain Fisher
Max Martini.... 1st Sgt. Sid "Top" Wojo
James Carpinello.... Cpl. Aliteri
Mark Consuelos.... Cpl. Guttierez
Craig McLachlan.... 2nd Lt. Riley
Freddie Joe Farnsworth.... 2nd Lt. Foley
Laird Macintosh.... 2nd Lt. O'Grady
Jeremy Callaghan.... Lt. Able
Scott McLean.... Lt. LeClaire
Paolo Montalban .... Sgt. Valera
Clayne Crawford.... PFC Aldrige
Sam Worthington .... PFC Lucas
Royston Innes.... Sgt. Adams