Colditz

This made for TV movie has a broad appeal. WWII enthusiasts will probably be lukewarm on it though. Young couples who are tired of watching reality shows may perhaps give it a go.

It starts off with some dashing suspense, but quickly dissolves into something like an episode of Desperate Housewives. (Love triangle, romantic obsession, deception, betrayal, bored inmates etc.)

All that's missing from Colditz is Teri Hatcher and a melted measuring cup.

Damien Lewis is excellent. Quite the opposite from his Band of Brothers character. Jason Priestly also has a nice small role. Again, he is nothing like his character on Beverly Hills 90210 (although I'm sure he must have felt some similarities between the two roles when he first read the script).

So, go ahead and watch it if you want to. But if you are a WWII enthusiasts (or not part of a romantic couple) then you're probably better off watching The Great Escape on DVD.

Well, I have a big crush on Damian Lewis but that is not enough to propel this series into a high star rating. There isn't nearly enough time spent on the attempts to escape from what is almost an inescapable fortress. There isn't enough attention to the place, or to the feelings of frustration and uselessness and claustrophobia that these POW's feel. In addition, sometimes it is difficult to understand what is being said. I could understand Lewis though.

There are too few scenes showing how these prisoners actually spend their TIME, other than staring out the window. Escape plans which took months in reality are glossed over, and suddenly you see a bunch of guys on another daring attempt, almost out of the blue. The Colditz story is a fascinating one and the 1972 series is well worth seeing. This one, see it once and you really get how great the original was.

I thought this version had a love triangle that took up too much screen time and pulled the viewer into London too often. That defeats the purpose of creating the proper atmosphere for the viewer to feel what it was really like to be stuck in Colditz with very little hope of escape. I will say that the acting and sets are good.

This movie is much like what Pearl Harbour did to Tora, Tora, Tora (the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbour). It's a story with love interwoven among prisoner of wars. If you are looking for a good prison escape war movie, you'd be disappointed as they are loop holes all over. I was attracted by the trailer that said that "an escape from the tightest security prison" And if you are hoping for a full love story, it doesn't make it either. The plot is also shallow. However, the cinematography is excellent. I like the way it was filmed: the scenes in the prison was often in greyish-brownish tones and the military intelligence headquarters in brighter colours. Switching around the locations using this technique kept me interested all the time. The ending could have been better but is rather abrupt. I'd watch it again, if I was someone looking for a love story in war time setting. The trailer shown could be better. And in the opening scenes - a line "an officer and gentleman" was used. It was certainly not what it was meant to be.

The Colditz story has continued to exert a fascination over film and television audiences ever since the end of World War II. Guy Hamilton's 1955 film THE COLDITZ STORY had John Mills as Captain P. R. Reid planning an escape from the fortified jail and successfully doing so despite the attentions of over zealous German prison guards. In 1972 I remember the BBC series COLDITZ with a stellar cast including Robert Wagner, Edward Hardwicke, Jack Hedley and the late Anthony Valentine turning in a memorable performance as the sadistic Major Mohn, one of the German prison officers.

Sadly Stuart Orme's 2005 miniseries does not even come close to the standards set by the previous adaptations of the tale. The tale oscillates from Colditz to London, and involves a tangled romance between Nicholas McBride (Damian Lewis with an incomprehensible Scottish accent) and Lizzie Carter (Sophia Myles). There are the usual regimental stereotypes (Tom Hardy, Laurence Fox), plus a benevolent senior officer based in London (James Fox). There is also a boffin improbably portrayed as an homosexual by Timothy West.

Peter Morgan and Richard Cottan's screenplay plods on to an inevitable conclusion, with most sequences taking place in darkened rooms either in the prison or in the offices of a branch of the Secret Service in London. The German officers are predictably sadistic ('ALLO 'ALLO has a lot to answer for in this context) while the United Nations of prisoners in the camp find it difficult to co- exist. The drama is engaging enough, but one wonders why anyone actually bothered to remake the story in the first place.

COLDITZ

Aspect ratio: 1.78:1

Sound format: Dolby Digital

(2 episodes)

A desperate POW (Tom Hardy) plots escape from Colditz after learning that a former inmate (Damian Lewis) has returned to London and stolen Hardy's fiancée (Sophia Myles).

Lively addition to the 'heroes of WWII' subgenre, filmed on location in London and the Czech Republic, and directed with cinematic flair by Stuart Orme (THE PUPPET MASTERS). Richard Cottan's screenplay (co-written with Peter Morgan, based on the book by Henry Chancellor and the 2000 TV series "Escape from Colditz") cross-cuts between events at Colditz castle - where Hardy and fellow inmate Laurence Fox (DEATHWATCH) hatch multiple escape plans, only to be thwarted by a combination of bad luck and reckless bravado - and the less-interesting relationship which develops between Lewis and Myles, though the two plot threads merge neatly for a melodramatic finale. Lewis gives the showiest performance, playing a selfish character whose charming demeanor masks a propensity for greed and violence, though Hardy and Fox are suitably intense in crucial supporting roles. James Fox (father of Laurence) and Timothy West make extended cameo appearances as senior members of MI9, while former teen heartthrob Jason Priestley plays a Canadian POW whose burgeoning drug habit pays lethal dividends. Fine cinematography and production values.