The Great Raid
Miramax Films | Release Date: August 12, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
14
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Benjamin Bratt lacks the dynamism one would expect of the commanding officer of a U.S. Rangers rescue unit; James Franco, however, is solid in the less flashy role of the mission's mastermind, and as the POW leader Joseph Fiennes manages to be heroic while prettily languishing from malaria. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
The film brings a spectacular but little-known chapter of World War II to the big screen with meticulous attention to period detail -- and almost none to compelling narrative. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A lumbering, disappointingly bland war movie. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
When it comes to World War II movies, you may never have seen one like this before -- if only because it's like three different movies at the same time. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
The Great Raid cries out for the kind of B-movie industriousness that Dahl brought to his early, low-budget films noirs (Kill Me Again, Red Rock West and The Last Seduction), but instead it has dreams of sugarplum Oscars dancing in its head, and never stops mistaking spectacle for the truly spectacular. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
This is a movie for people more interested in the subject matter than its dramatic presentation. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A plodding, squeaky-straight Time-Life tribute to the greatest generation, the movie plays like a commemorative plaque. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
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.
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Characterizations are rudimentary, performances dull. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This is a creditable but disappointingly draggy war epic. It should sizzle like a fuse, but instead plods along with methodical deliberation. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleJoel Selvin
The Great Raid tells its story without irony, perspective or any leavening that would make it something other than an ordinary military-action caper. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
The picture's broad outline may be fact, but everything inside gets painted in a deep shade of bogus. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert Koehler
This overlong march will bore all but the most nobly patriotic. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
The Great Raid is ultimately scotched by History Channel–worthy nostalgia. Read full review
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