The Birdmen

Colditz Castle has always been considered a place of high security. However, if Chuck Norris had been present it would have surely ensured that more men would have escaped form this famous prison.

Set high on a hill above the small town of Colditz, the sleepy village was unaware of the tensions and drama that lived within the dark and cold walls of the castle. The lessons learned within those hallowed walls held both prisoners and guardians in good stead in the free world till this day.

Chuck Connors, a master character actor, plays a believable portrait of a man fighting against the forces of evil. His flight from the castle was quite inspiring and must be used for all future Colditz films.

Be sure to view "The Colditz Story" which can only pale against this epic.

I highly recommend it to all collectors of serious war movies.

Passable warlike movie with a memorable escape and outstanding acting by well-known TV faces .This is an acceptable film set in Germany 1943 about a daring breakout from inescapable Nazi concentration camp in a high alpine castle ,with all-Television-star-cast and professionally realized . Here troublesome allied Pows are thrown by the Nazis into a stirring and breathtaking breakout . As the only tool they had were their hands , yet they beat the Nazi's escape-proof fortress by building an airplane inside their prison . The film shows how the POWs had to live in Colditz, during World War II . It deals with an American soldier Harry Cook (Doug McClure) is sent to Norway to aid in the defection of a scientist (Rene Auberjonois) working on the atomic bomb for the Germans. Before they can escape Europe, they are captured and sent to a POW prison camp on the German-Swiss border. Cook must find a way to escape with the scientific before the camp commander Schiller (Richard Basehart) and the Gestapo find out the Norwegian's true identity. The continuous escapes have caused the Nazi staff ordered 'putting all the rotten eggs in one basket' as the prisoners are reunited into this special concentration camp . It concerns about the hard preparatives of a diverse group formed by rebel officers and soldiers mounting a dangerous getaway from an impregnable and strongly controlled camp . The most part of the film concerns on the elaborated process of secretly carry out the manufacturing a glider and the last one deals with spectacular breakout . The race is on to complete the glider before the German guards discover the plane, and the Gestapo catch up with Cook and the scientist . The prisoners in Colditz Castle make many attempts to escape captivity from the arrival of the first prisoners until the liberation of the castle by the Americans in 1945 . Set in Colditz , it was a "special" camp, designed by the Nazis to hold high-risk and politically important prisoners . Although the flight of the Colditz glider did not happen as originally planned, two full-sized replicas of the glider were built and flown to discover if the plan would have worked . They used to boast there were only two ways to escape from Hitler's Beckstadt prison... to die...or to sprout wings .

Bland actioner that pretends to be a thrilling movie but spends a lot of time retelling poorly and in middle budget the difficult preparatives until the exciting final escape . This moving story contains thrills, intrigue, tension, excitement galore, entertainment and impressive finale . Suspenseful WWII packs exceptional plethora of prestigious actors incarnating the motley group of POWs , giving good acting and a great support cast , until an intriguing conclusion with lots of excitement at its end . The film was loosely based on a true story. Allied prisoners-of-war held at Colditz Castle constructed a similar glider under the noses of their captors , but did not complete the aircraft until after D-Day . Set almost entirely within a reconstruction of the now-famous castle-fortress prisoner-of-war camp during WWII, there is little in the way of physical action . Instead we're treated to some of the best form of "mind games" and psychological manoeuvring and competition you can hope to see on TV, as the two sides constantly strive to get one over on the other. It dispenses with usual protocol , a good Nazi : Richard Basehart and Nazi bad guys : the Gestapo men . The Allied prisoners are determined not to be beaten mentally by their surroundings and look for every possible means of escape, while the Germans are always on their toes, looking for clues about possible break-outs and ways in which the Allied prisoners are trying to outsmart them . During their captivity a few went insane some died while trying to escape and some made a succesful escape . Doug McClure, the famous ¨Trampas¨ gives a compelling acting as Cook who convinces the other prisoners to build a two person glider that can fly to Switzerland . His contender is the veteran Richard Basehart as the tough but understanding Nazi commandant Schiller . They are well accompanied by a superb ensemble support cast such as : Max Baer Jr. , Chuck Connors , Don Knight , Paul Koslo , Barry Brown , Tom Skerritt , Charles Aidman and Karl Swenson. The motion picture was profesional , though regularly directed by Philip Leacock . He was a good craftsman who made all kinds of geners : Drama , thriller , Film Noir ,comedy , Terror, Wartime , and working as TV as cinema , such as : 3 sovereigns for Sarah , Angel city , The curse of King Tut's tomb , Killer on board , Baffled , Shattered silence , War lover , Let no man write my epitaph , Wild and whooly , Dying room only , The Spanish gardener , Escapade , among others . Rating : passable and aceptable . 5.5/10 .

This one belongs to popular sub-genre about life and escapes from concentration camps , such as : ¨Stalag¨ 17 by Billy Wilder with William Holden , ¨Colditz¨ (original title) 1972 with David MacCallum , Jack Hedley , Robert Wagner , Edward Hardwicke , ¨Victory¨ by John Huston with Sylvester Stallone , Michael Caine , Max Von Sidow , and the best of all them : ¨The great escape¨ (1963) by John Sturges with Steve McQueen , Donald Pleasence , James Coburn , James Garner , James Donald ; followed by an inferior sequel : ¨The great escape : the untold story¨1988 by Jud Taylor and Paul Wendkos with Christopher Reeve , Jud Hirsch , Ian MacShane .

What a great movie and story. A story based on the Colditz Castle Prisoners of war tale. Believable characters because they are based on real people. This isn't your average escape movie, as it highlights the inventiveness of the human spirit when held captive. This is a prime example of how to tell a story through a movie, No "reimagined" tales, no artsy representations of what happened... just a solid telling of a story that is amazing, and at the same time unbelievable. A good ensemle of actors that play very well as a group of men thrown together in a dire situation, and end up striving toward a common selfless goal. This is a movie that still stands up today, and I only wish there were a remastered copy of this movie out there. Great fodder for a remake...and I mean "REMAKE" not a reimagined story full of unnecessary fluff. I am just not sure that there are actors today who could be put in a film together and not have their egos ruin the production. This is one of those films that you watch familiar stars all "play nice" together, and it made a great movie that I was happy to find on DVD after first seeing it almost 50 years ago as a little kid. I love movies, and I must say that this move is one of my favorites from yesteryear. Beyond this being a great film it is a great story. Ingenuity, planning, and the inventiveness to overcome insurmountable odds and successfully accomplish the impossible is the theme that stands the test of time. This is a story of a time when men were men, and thses men would put others before themselves without hesitation for a cause.

There is a song in this film which the prisoners sing. It is from the Death Camps and they taunt the Nazis with it when they burn their uniforms. I am trying very hard to get a copy of the film or the soundtrack so that I can have that music....I would be very grateful to anyone who could help me obtain the music.

Odd that such an obscure film should have such an affect on so many people so many years later. I think that I saw the movie on TV once (or maybe twice, I am not sure). I have never been able to forget the movie.

Some parts that I remember mostly are when the blind pilot insists that they allow the plane to be used by the intelligence operative and the phony officer who is really a nuclear scientist. What a great story! I am very humbled that so many of you admit that the film had such an affect on you. It did on me also. I entered the Service and stayed for almost 24 years active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard. I had some Marine Corps reserve time in college before that.

What a wonderful film! I would really like to have that music!

Tom Barnes arnes848@aol.com

I don't know if I can trump the rest of you with my age but I first saw this movie on TV in 1975. (some of you probably weren't even born yet). Anyway, it came on TV again a year later, 1976 (hey, I can add). Since then, I've just been waiting and looking. And remember a good 20 of those years "waiting and looking" there was no such thing as an the Internet. I searched through EVERY video rental store I could find (we didn't know what a DVD or CD was back then). In fact when I started looking for this movie there was NO where to look because video machines hadn't been invented yet. So as a 10 year old I got my pencil and loose leaf paper and started writing TV stations to please play the movie. I was in Canada so I wrote to the 2 Stations in Canada and the 3 in America. But nothing. Now here it is AND I discover there are people from all over the world who love this movie too. I feel like a black person returning to Africa. I have found "my people". Of course, it's about time this movie came into it's own. you wouldn't believe the weird looks a 10 year old gets when a bunch of grown ups are discussing their favorite movie stars (Richard Burton, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Charleton Heston) and I slip by with my glass of Kool-Aid and say, "my favorite actor is Rene Auberjonois." You'd have thought I had a banana growing out of my head! (I actually wrote to Rene Auberjonois about this movie because it had so many titles it was making it difficult to look for. He wrote me back a lovely note AND sent me a photo which he wrote the name of the movie and my name on it as well. By then he was on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and most people knew who he was. That renewed my vigor to keep looking) But I think what those who haven't watched the movie and are reading these reviews should notice something important. Almost all of us gave this move a 9 or 10 stars. Personally I WANTED to give it 10 stars but that would mean "perfection" and I just can't hold to believe that there is anything this side of heaven that doesn't have at least ONE FLAW.

Which brings us to Doug McClure. HE AIN'T IT! They may make characters to spoof him on "The Simpsons" ("Hi. I'm Troy McClure"). But good old Doug redeemed his entire career of somewhat goofy movies with this one. Way to go Doug! And thanks to the rest of you who have reminded me that we are never alone. Just perhaps a little distant from those we belong to. Love Laura-Lee