La Grande Évasion

They will never make movies like this again... If You haven't seen this before go hit the play button. This has a fantastic cast, great story and just an all around entertaining flick. Sit back and enjoy a few cold ones while you watch this classic WWII movie. Easily one of the best war movies ever made...

This must be my favorite movie of all times. Having seen it for the first time,in I guess 1987,a BBC Christmas broadcast,I was captivated by this brilliant piece of work. In the years after,I probably have seen it a "million" times,owning it on VHS and DVD,and still watching,whenever it is broadcast,in the original language. Why is it so great? This is a movie that keeps you locked to the screen,because it has everything a great movie should have. A great story,a good length,tension,it is a WW2 movie and the actors give top performances.Not just Steve McQueen,although his performance is brilliant,but also James Garner,James Coburn,Richard Attenborough,Charles Bronson and in this film,one of the greatest roles Donald Pleasance,playing the forger. It isn't historically accurate,please read the book by Paul Brickhill,but that doesn't matter a bit. This film gives you an image of POW camp,the prisoners and their guards,the Germans are also played brilliantly by German actors. I will not repeat the story here,but I can tell you,this film will capture you,all the characters are portrayed brilliantly by the actors. There is excitement,humor,tension,drama and emotion. See it,you will not regret it.

"The Great Escape" is a rousing blend of suspense, action and ultimately tragedy, bolstered by an all-star cast, terrific music and beautiful European locations. A few fellow reviewers have cited the unbelievably "pristine" prison conditions, but the German authorities did try to uphold the Geneva Convention for Western Allied POWs. The characters in this film left their well-run 'stalag' anyway, and many paid the ultimate price. While entertaining its viewers, "The Great Escape" effectively depicted the tragic consequences.

-Tony

This is a splendid film about a daring breakout from inescapable Nazi concentration camp , Stalag Luft North , with all star cast and magnificently realized by John Sturges . It's partially based on facts adapted by James Clavell and W.R. Burnett from a bestselling written by Paul Brickhill . The continuous escapes have caused the Nazi staff ordered 'putting all the rotten eggs in one basket' as the prisoners are reunited into a special concentration camp . It deals with hard preparatives of a diverse group formed by rebel air officers and soldiers mounting a dangerous getaway from a barbed-wired and strongly controlled camp . The most part of the film concerns on the elaborated process of secretly digging an underground tunnel and the last one deals with spectacular breakout and effort the approx. 70 escaped prisoners throughout Germany trying to make their bid to freedom , including an impressive motorcycle pursuit in charge of iconic Steve McQueen for one of the best action sequences in years .

This exciting story contains thrills, intrigue, tension, excitement galore, entertainment and lots of fun . Suspenseful WWII epic packs exceptional plethora of prestigious actors incarnating the motley group of POWs , giving good acting and support , as a sensational Steve McQueen whose character , ¨The Cooler King¨ , remains today as attractive iconography ; Charles Bronson as digging expert but suffering claustrophobia ; Donald Pleasance as professional on forge documents but blind , James Coburn as roguish Australian and of course Richard Attenborough as Air Force Squadron leader who plans the massive breakout , furthermore , James Garner as American officer , the British Gordon Jackson and David McCallum, among others . Colorful, atmospheric cinematography shot in Bavaria,Germany, by Daniel Fapp and perfectly remastered . Excellent production design and art direction with evocative sets by Fernando Carrere. Rousing and lively soundtrack , nowadays a classic score, by Elmer Bernstein . This blockbuster is followed by inferior TV sequel with Christopher Reeve, Judd Hirsch , Ian McShane and directed Jud Taylor who played to Goff in the original version . The motion picture is magnificently directed By John Sturges , author of various classic Western as ¨Escape from Fort Bravo, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The law and Jake Wade, Magnificent seven¨ and also realized another nice wartime film as ¨ The eagle has landed ¨ . Rating : Two thumbs up , essential and indispensable watching , a real must see.

This is a great movie which much more historically accurate than it is often given credit for. So many who say otherwise are ill-informed and obviously don't know much about the actual history of that actual escape. The depiction of what happened to the recaptured prisoners in the movie of THE GREAT ESCAPE is reasonably accurate as detailed on the historyinfilm site...specifically on the "Reprisal" page; along with being detailed in the various published accounts.

Hitler ultimately calmed down after being reasoned with by Goering, Feldmarschall Keitel, Maj-Gen Graevenitz and Maj-Gen Westhoff, and dictated that more than half the prisoners be shot and cremated. So, as depicted in the film, several of those recaptured were not executed and were indeed returned to confinement. In fact, even those executed were not "shot on the spot" for the most part, but were actually executed later after being turned over to the Gestapo; most being shot while being allowed to relieve themselves, under the guise of "trying to escape".

Furthermore, there are many accounts as to how much more humane the environment was within the camp (which even had a popular and very successful theatre, featuring prisoners who would later be name performers) than many other POW camps...and certainly nothing like the harsh conditions associated with the Concentration or Extermination camps.

To quote one source:

"It must be made clear that the German Luftwaffe [the German Air Force], who were responsible for Air Force prisoners of war, maintained a degree of professional respect for fellow flyers, and the general attitude of the camp security officers and guards should not be confused with the SS or Gestapo. The Luftwaffe treated the POWs well, despite an erratic and inconsistent supply of food.

Prisoners were handled quite fairly within the Geneva Convention, and the Kommandant, Oberst (Colonel) Friedrich-Wilhelm von Lindeiner-Wildau, was a professional and honourable soldier who won the respect of the senior prisoners."

Finally, virtually all the major engineering aspects in regards to the tunnels and the initial escape in the film are as they were actually acheived in the real escape.

It would behoove some to learn a little more actual history or do a little simple research before shooting from the hip with supposed "knowledge" of reality. THE GREAT ESCAPE certainly takes liberties in tone and character portrayal, but not in the key elements that are disparaged out of sneering ignorance.

BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is also a great film, but took even greater liberties with the technical details of the events described than THE GREAT ESCAPE did....and offering up VON RYAN'S EXPRESS as a more realistic alternative is simply delusional and ridiculous.