Army Ranger Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci, was chosen by General MacArthur in 1945,
to lead  the 6th Ranger Battallion, on a hazardous rescue mission, thirty miles behind enemy lines, that they were not guaranteed to return from... to liberate more than 500 American prisoners of war from the Japanese camp, Cabanatuan, part of the bloody and infamous Bataan Death March. 
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"The Great Raid" will star Benjamin Bratt as Lt. Col. Henry Mucci.

Based Upon: The book, The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor, by William B. Breuer, which told the true story of Colonel Henry Mucci's raid on a notorious Japanese death camp in the Philippines. The Great Raid is one of several Bataan Death March movies that are in development, with two others being Ghost Soldiers, to star Tom Cruise and to be directed by Steven Spielberg (about the same event, with more emphasis on the camp), and They Fought Alone (AKA Fertig), to be directed by David Fincher. 

Premise: Forced to retreat from the Philippines, General Douglas MacArthur promised to return. Set three years later, in January, 1945, this is the true story of Army Ranger Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci (Bratt), who was chosen by MacArthur to lead an effort to liberate more than 500 American prisoners of war from the Japanese camp, Cabanatuan, part of the bloody and infamous Bataan Death March. The young colonel, eager to take on this mission first, however, had to undergo a vigorous guerrilla warfare training program, before leading his men, the 6th Ranger Battallion, on a hazardous rescue mission, thirty miles behind enemy lines, that they were not guaranteed to return from... (Csokas plays a starving prisoner of war; Fiennes plays the highest-ranking P.O.W.) 

Cast: Benjamin Bratt (Lt. Colonel Henry Mucci), James Franco, James Carpinello, Marton Csokas (Redding), Clayne Clawford (Private Len Johnson), Mark Consuelos, Joseph Fiennes, Craig McLachlan, Robert Mammone, Sam Worthington; other cast not announced yet. 

Cast Notes: (5/23/02) Before Benjamin Bratt signed on, Johnny Depp had also been approached to star as Colonel Henry Mucci. Also, James Franco (Harry Osborn in Spider-Man) has signed on for an unspecified role. (6/18/02) I've received an anonymous tip that Paolo Montalban, who costarred as "Kung Lao" in the "Mortal Kombat: Conquest" TV series (and who is not related to Ricardo) may have been cast in this movie as well. (7/22/02) The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Joseph Fiennes has also joined the cast. 

Production Company: Marty Katz Productions (Four Feathers, Below) 

Director: John Dahl (Rounders, The Last Seduction, Joy Ride, Red Rock West, Unforgettable) 

Production Designer: Bruno Rubeo (his varied career includes the war movies, Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July, as well as comedies like Pushing Tin and Kindergarten Cop). Production designers don't often get listed on my site, but I included Rubeo here since he's creating an entire P.O.W. camp. 

Screenwriter: Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro (feature debuts); rewrite by Hossein Amini (Jude, The Wings of the Dove; his latest project is Four Feathers) 

Filming: Production started on June 24th, 2002 (pushed back two months from April, 2002) in Southeast and Far North Queensland, Australia, subbing for the Philippines, with some filming also being done in Shanghai, China. The production has built a replica of the Cabanatuan death camp at one of the Queensland locations. 

Genre: Action, Based on a Book, Historical, War, Thriller 

Official Book Site: The Great Raid on Cabanatuan: 
Rescuing the Doomed Ghosts of Bataan and Corregidor..  
WileyPublishers
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Yahoo! Movies: Greg's Preview : The Great Raid 
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