Cabanatuan American Memorial
Prisoners Of Imperial Japan
6th Ranger Battalion
The Alamo Scouts
About fucking time!
Welcome to my Web site!
In July 2002 I took 3 months off to be an extra in a war film called The Great Raid starring Benjamin Bratt and Joseph Fiennes. It is based on a true story about a raid on a P.O.W camp in 1945 by the 6th Ranger Battalion.
Heyko Wedekind forwarded me an email from Laird Macintosh, people who were either POW's or Rangers will remember him, here's what he had to say regarding the film. The 2 bottom pictures on the left are from his website with his permission (thank you Laird) and you will see that if you click on his name you will be directed to his home page.
Hello Heyko,
I have seen The Great Raid last month at a screening in LA and it has turned out to be a very honest telling of World War II history with very fine performances. The POW scenes I though were very moving and well acted (by everyone!) The film will be released in LA at the end of this summer (2005). After waiting years to release the film it has the go ahead and you will get a chance to see it in Oz hopefully this year. WE are very proud of this picture and I know you will be as well.
Take care and best to you,
Laird
I have had a few people write to me to ask if I met any of the stars. I met most of the male cast members and managed to get in a bit of conversation with them, every one of them that I spoke to, Benjamin, Joseph, Marton, I found to be complete gentlemen, no matter how big a star they were, they all made time for a bit of polite conversation. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to meet any of the female leads, although I did see Connie Nielson walking past during one scene we were doing. I can't comment on what she was like as a person, however I can tell you she is a babe. As you can see in this photo above.
PHOTOS: Send them to waynecaldwell@hotmail.com or wcal4644@bigpond.net.au with Cabanatuan or The Great Raid in the subject line. All the photos that I was promised never materialised so we have to make do with the ones that have been here from the start, every now and again though someone comes through. Ray Tan from California sent most of the ones that are on this page. Thank you Ray! Hopefully the studio will release even more soon. To all those people who have written in the guestbook and asked if I want their photos, the answer is YES PLEASE! Don't bother asking, just send them to me. Speaking of photos Dave Newnham has some absolute crackers, click on his name and go and see. As you can see from the above links I now have a second page of pictures, these have been sent to me by Danny Vu, who was a Japanese soldier. As yet I have not uploaded them to the website, but I am working on it. I am now working on a cruise ship, so, even though I have spare time to work things up on my laptop, my internet access is very limited. I will get them up as quickly as I can, I promise.
More rumours of a release have been forthcoming from Matt "the stump" Griffiths. Apparently it is now being released on the 2nd September 2005, which is not really that far away. . See the updated details at Greg's Previews Other info can be found at The Z Review although they have not yet updated these latest changes. Mirimax have also put the 2nd Sep as well, but I have seen other dates up there over the past couple of years so is it any surprise that I am not holding my breath on this one. Maybe I should put allegedly after everything? On the message board from Greg's Previews there seems to be a few people in the US who have managed to see the movie already................lucky bastards! It seems to have approval from all who have seen it so far..........allegedlly! Some more pictures of the set can be seen here. We have a a couple of reviews here. One was written last year and the other one was recent. There is a spoiler warning, these reviews give away part of the ending so if you so not want to know, don't check it out!
If anyone is considering to become an extra in a movie, my personal opinion is that Central Casting are the only people you should consider. They really looked after me, and Val is an absolute delight to deal with.
This is the latest: Taken from The Sunday Mail newspaper 04/07/04
(the latest, that's a joke! It's almost a year old)
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War movie delay PAUL WESTON 04 July 2004 THE beheading of civilians in Iraq has forced a nervous Hollywood studio to delay the release of one of the most expensive films shot in Queensland. Nothing has been heard of the $140 million war epic The Great Raid since filming finished on the Gold Coast and at Bribie Island, north of Brisbane, late in 2002. But producer Marty Katz has assured Pacific Film and Television Commission executive Tracey Montgomery the film, which stars Benjamin Bratt and Joseph Fiennes, would be released later this year under a new name – Ghost Soldiers. The late release is for two reasons – sensitivity about the film's subject in the wake of terrorist atrocities in Iraq and a better chance for it to grab attention before the Oscars. The movie, a true story of the liberation of the notorious Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines during World War II, does not hold back in its portrayal of the atrocities that occurred in the camp, which mirror the beheadings of civilians in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. "They've had a few problems internationally, in terms of just what has happened, the awful photographs from over there," Ms Montgomery said. "They decided to put back the release date. It will now be about November. "I fully understand they want people to see their movie. They don't want to do something negative or insensitive with the American soldiers in Iraq." The film tells the story of 6th Ranger Battalion, which undertook a daring raid to liberate more than 500 American prisoners-of-war from the Cabanatuan camp on the island of Luzon. They had received intelligence that the men were to be slaughtered. The POW camp was rebuilt on a huge set in the canefields at Pimpama, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, where extras during the filming admitted they were shocked by the reality of the violence in some scenes. Of the test screening, a US film fan said: "The movie moves briskly. There were no unnecessary scenes. The climax is extremely satisfying, though not without tragedy and sacrifice in the best tradition of war movies." |
