Gareth Huw Evans, Iko Uwais dan Joe Taslim berkesempatan hadir di Toronto ‐ Kanada untuk mengawal rilis perdana internasional “The Raid” tanggal 8 September 2011 dalam Toronto International Film Festival 2011.

“The Raid” yang merupakan film kedua PT Merantau Films setelah “Merantau” (2009), mendapatkan apresiasi positif setelah tayang sebagai film pembuka di program Midnight Maddness. Apresiasi tersebut didapat tak hanya dari para penonton tetapi juga para sineas dan kritikus film. Bahkan “The Raid” sempat menjadi trending topik di twitter Kanada dan disebut sebagai “The Most Talked About Film”.

Gareth Huw Evans, Sutradara "THE RAID"

Gareth menyebutkan bahwa apresiasi yang diterima “The Raid” merupakan kejutan karena melebihi dari apa yang pernah dibayangkan sebelumnya. Sementara Iko Uwais dan Joe Taslim merasa terhormat berkesempatan menghadiri ajang Toronto International Film Festival sebagai wakil yang membawa nama harum Indonesia di tingkat internasional.

Berikut beberapa reviews mengenai “The Raid” :

Peter Sciretta, Slash Film – “This is the best action film I’ve seen in years”

Andrew Parker, Criticize This – “The Raid achieves action movie perfection and is a must see for genre buffs of all kids at this year’s festival. Rating: ***** (out of 5 stars)”

Alex Billington, First Showing ‐ “It truly is one of the best action films I've seen in years.”

Anton Sirius, Aint It Cool – “The Raid featured basically everything you could possibly want in an action film”

Brad Miska, Bloody Disgusting ‐ “It’s one of the best action movies ever assembled. The Raid is ultracinema, the highest octane of energy you’ll ever see on the big screen”.

James Rocchi , MSN Movies' ‐ "The best Aristotelian‐unity action film since Die Hard"

Drew McWeeny, Hit Fix ‐ "A near perfect action movie"

Tim Hannigan, Horror movies – “If you want over‐the top bone‐crushing, knife slashing action which will leave you fighting to catch your breath. This is it! 9 out of 10 stars”

The Hollywood Reporter – “Ultra‐violent action movies don’t get much more exciting or inventive than this kick‐ass feature from Indonesia”.

Kejutan lain datang dari Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisition (SPWA), yang telah membeli hak distribusi “The Raid” untuk wilayah Amerika. SPWA mendaulat Mike Shinoda – Linkin Park sebagai music scorer untuk film “The Raid” yang rilis di wilayah distribusinya. Mike Shinoda menyatakan sangat antusias untuk menggarap music scoring “The Raid”, yang sekaligus menjadi debutnya dalam pengerjaan music scoring film. Shinoda akan bekerjasama dengan Joseph Trapanese, komposer berbakat yang menggarap film Walt Disney “Tron: Legacy“ di tahun 2010. Untuk wilayah Indonesia sendiri, “The Raid” akan rilis pada bulan Januari 2012.

Gareth Huw Evans, Iko Uwais dan Joe Taslim di TIFF 2011

Press release dari pihak Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) mengenai bergabungnya Mike Shinoda untuk menggarap music scoring “The Raid”:

Culver City, CA (September 9, 2011) – Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions (SPWA) has teamed-up with LINKIN PARK’s Mike Shinoda to create an entirely new musical score for the ultra-intense action picture THE RAID, starring break-out martial arts sensation Iko Uwais (Merantau) and Joe Taslim (Rasa).

This collaboration will mark Shinoda’s first feature score. “This film is wall-to-wall action, and one of the most exciting pictures of the year. Dropping a brand new score by Mike Shinoda on it will be like adding a whole new main character to a picture that’s already cranked to 11!,” said Dan Primozic, who negotiated the agreement on behalf of SPWA.

Adds Shinoda, "The intense visuals and compelling story of THE RAID have made this an exciting first venture into scoring for me. I'm thrilled for Linkin Park fans to see--and hear--this film."

The high-adrenaline film produced by PT. Merantau Films and XYZ Films and directed by Gareth Evans (Merantau) enjoyed its North American debut last night at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival’s “Midnight Madness” screening, but included the original score as yet untouched by Shinoda’s sonic stylings.

Director Gareth Evans said, "It's an incredibly exciting opportunity for us to collaborate with such talent on the score for the film. I can't wait to see what new angle they will take to enhance the impact of the film."

Nate Bolotin of XYZ Films commented, "Working with a talented musician like Mike Shinoda is a dream scenario because his vision and sound are a perfect compliment to the intense energy and emotion of THE RAID. Gareth and our collective teams are thrilled to be able to fuse these extraordinary elements together."

SPWA has U.S. rights and Celluloid Nightmares is the worldwide sales agent for the film.

Makin tidak sabar untuk menonton filmnya Januari 2012 nanti, bagi yang belum melihat trailernya, kami tampilkan lagi trailer yang memperlihatkan kalau "The Raid" memang brutal dan wajib ditunggu, saksikan dibawah ini: