A World War II action drama starring hot young actors Ben Bratt (LAW & ORDER) and James Franco (SPIDER-MAN) and directed by the great John Dahl (THE LAST SEDUCTION, JOY RIDE)? How could this film miss? But it has been apparently sitting on Miramax's shelf since it was filmed more than two years ago. I started thinking about THE GREAT RAID while listening to Franco's commentary on the FREAKS & GEEKS DVD set, but when I tried to find more info on it, its release sounds sketchy at best with various 2005 dates listed on the Web (Miramax's site claims 2004). Netflix has added an entry for its eventual (let's hope) DVD release, but I'd rather see it in theaters.
Has anyone seen THE GREAT RAID or heard any insider buzz on it? And does anyone know what Dahl's next project is?
I have seen it and... booooooooooy... does it need some work.
I saw it around 6 months or so ago (I think) and, while the story wasn't THAT bad, the "great raid" at the end just really wasn't so great. There was this huge build up and then it just sort of fizzles out. Not a lot of action.
The performances are good and I like the fact that it was based on the true story, but it just left we wanting more... and I told Miramax that after the screening when they picked me for the focus group. :D
The major problem I had with it was that the "wraparound" story just didn't draw me (or anyone else in the focus group for that matter) into the story. The problem is that the two leads are in two totally separate places and we are supposed to understand that, at one time, these two people were in love, but it just doesn't work. It was so impersonal, because we never see these two people together, that the entire storyline of the lovers falls completely flat.
Also, it didn't help that, in a MAJOR scene in the film, someone who was supposed to be dead was CLEARLY breathing in the foreground. A big no-no that I also brought up to the Miramax folks (which was funny because, when I mentioned it, a "suit" from Miramax actually slapped his hand on his forhead in embarrassment... and the other focus group folks giggled). While John Dahl may be a good director, he obviously forget to tell that particular actor to "Hold Your Breath", before he yelled "ACTION!"
I couldn't believe no one noticed that and, I hope that, if/when the movie is finally released that they "fix" this idiotic faux pas. This same sort of thing really bugged me about MYSTIC RIVER, too... when I saw that on the big screen, I couldn't believe that no one noticed the "breather" before this went out into general release.
THE GREAT RAID is not a horrible movie. It's not even a bad movie. It's just a movie that REALLY needs a lot of reshoots and work to make it work properly.