By Debbie Schlussel
The Great Raid–a must see for all Americans. Screened it, today. EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT! Cannot say enough good things about it. It’s about the rescue of U.S. POWs in Cabanatuan, Philippines, tortured by the Japanese, during World War II.
Most of the film’s actors were very talented unknowns, excluding leads Benjamin Bratt and Joseph Fiennes (both of whom were also first-rate). Even former male stripper, Mr. Kelly Ripa, was good. Glad that Filipinos–many of whom risked their lives for our soldiers and were murdered for it–get the credit they deserve for their heroic bravery in helping American POWs. Most Americans remain unaware of this, and “The Great Raid” will help correct that. Mina, the courageous Filipino woman in the movie, reminds me of my friend, Michelle Malkin.
American soldiers in the movie–all of whom existed in real life–were of all backgrounds. They had Irish (Riley, Foley, O’Grady), Hispanic (Guttierez), Italian (Mucci), and Jewish (Cohen, Friedberg, Katz) names. For you feminists, there is even a female hero, Margaret Utinsky, a nurse who led a Filipino underground network to smuggle medicine to the POWs, helping keep them alive. (She received the Medal of Freedom.)
Dialoguists, like , really need to see this–so they’ll learn what real patriots do to serve their country. They fight the enemy to death, not worship the ground they slither on. (Assuming Abu Moskowitz is a patriot, a big–and likely fallacious–assumption.)
Added Bonus, Respect for (non-Muslim) Religion: While rare enough to have such a patriotic movie coming out of Hollywood (especially at this time), there is another rarity: a positive portrayal of religion. In this movie, religious Catholicism, its adherents and clerics, are shown in a positive light. Especially important, since all religions (except Islam, the only religion liberals and showbiz types love to love) are regularly trashed on the big screen.
Related: See my writing about Lester Tenney (nee Tennenberg), Maurice Mazer, and Frank Bigelow–heroic U.S. POWs of the Japanese in the Philippines, survivors of the Bataan Death March. Read Lester Tenney’s moving book, “My Hitch in Hell: The Bataan Death March,” also reviewed here.
More on this celluloid spectacular, soon. For a refresher on what “dialoguism” is, go .