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From: Gary
Date: 27 May 2000
Time: 21:17:14
The Great Escape
More the “The Great Escape Attempt”! Based on a true story, "The Great Escape" deals with the largest Allied escape attempt from a German POW camp during the Second World War. The first part of the film focuses on the escape efforts within the camp and the process of secretly digging an escape tunnel. The second half of the film deals with the massive effort by the German Gestapo to track down the over 70 escaped prisoners who are at this point throughout the Third Reich attempting to make their way to England and various neutral countries. Only 3 succeed, while 50 are shot dead.
I am not so sure how realistic many of the attributes of this film are. It reminded me so much of “Hogan’s Heroes”, which I am sure was based on this movie. This particular POW camp certainly didn’t reflect the horrors of war. The “prisoners” had more extra curricular activities than a summer day camp. Choir, bird-watching club, gardening, homemade stills… etc. I almost expected there to be a radio in the coffee pot ! Yet still a couple of the prisoners almost give away the “escape” in a desperate need to “get out”.
The cast may have been the best every assembled in movies, and some stark realism of Nazi’s took place near the end when 50 of the escapee’s were captured and slaughtered.
Good accent: Charles Bronson as a Polish tunneler
Bad accent: James Coburn as an Australian
Overall the DVD transfer was fantastic in 2.35:1.00 and Dolby Digital 2.0. Fun to watch if you can be swept up in the fantasy, and its easy to in almost 3 hours of movie.
Good addition to a collection !
3 ˝ stars out of 5
Gary