War movie set in Philippines

A US$50 million ($72 million) movie bankrolled by US media giant Miramax about the most successful rescue mission in American military history is due for worldwide release in August.

The Great Raid, starring Benjamin Bratt alongside Filipino movie icon Cesar Montano, tells how a group of US soldiers slip behind Japanese lines in the closing stages of World War II to rescue more than 500 American prisoners in a camp in the northern Philippine province of Cabanatuan.

Based on the book Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides, and The Great Raid by Bill Breuer, the movie tells the story of how Filipino guerrillas led by Captain Juan Pajota backed the US troops in rescuing the POWs on January 8, 1945.

"This was a massive operation that had very little chance of making it and a lot of chances for failing," said producer Marty Katz.