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Summary: The Greatest Movie Ever!
Review: I loved this movie because it showed the fact that these brave men were not ready to give up, just because they were captured. They tried to "harrass, confound, and confuse the enemy" and use up as many trrops as possible capturing them, in an attepmt to take troops away from the battles, to help win hte war. They gave up never. A remarkable group of soldiers, a remarkable movie.
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Summary: It is the duty of every prisoner to escape . . .
Review: "For you, the war is over!" According to Spitfire pilot TD Calnan, that phrase "must have been in their book," because every fellow prisoner he met was told that by the Germans. "The Great Escape" tells the dramatized story of the most intricate and daring mass escape of the European Theater of Operations, undertaken by literally hundreds of men who were determined to prove their captors wrong. Many paid with their lives. With an all-star cast (though many became stars later in their careers), this is a MUST BUY for anyone who likes real drama. And the most unbelievable parts are those closest to raw truth. I know that you haven't seen this film in DVD, or you wouldn't have to read the review!
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Summary: This is a classic
Review: When i was a kid i saw this show on tv that futured Steve Mcqueen. I saw this clip when he had a motorsycle and he was jumping over this fence. When i saw that film i tought: "This film i MUST SEE" And when i saw it i was amazed about it. It's a great film with actors on their begining of their careers. This film is a MUST...
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Summary: The Greatest Escape!
Review: I am 14 years old and I saw the movie when I was 12. I think that the movie must be one of the best movies of all time. It was entertaining and the courage and persistence of the prisoners really made me think. This should be one of the best movies ever.
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Summary: One of the best movies ever
Review: This is a real "cheer on the good guys" movie. Exciting, humerous, sad, this is a movie well deserving of a five-star rating. A strong cast including Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough and James Coburn and a great score by Elmer Berstein make this a highly enjoyable film
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Summary: Pulse pounding musical rapture!
Review: This score accents the film without a flaw. The rousing 'march style' main theme complements the military elements of the film. Lighter tracks bring out the hope and desire of freedom for the POW's.
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Summary: This is a MUST HAVE!!
Review: McQueen, Garner, Bronson, McCallum, Attenborough... The list goes on. Some of the biggest names in film from the 1960's show up in this WWII movie. From the opening scenes to the motorcycle chase sequence, you'll be riveted to the screen. Other stars in the movie include Donald Pleasence (pre Halloween and Bond) and if you look hard enough, some of the prisoners who have made a name for themselves in film and television later in life. A fantastic movie, a period piece; it's the first introduction most people would have to World War II, and you don't have the 25 minutes of bloody fighting at the beginning as in "Saving Private Ryan." Instead, there is a 25 minute featurette on the making of this 1963 classic movie. It's the impetus for the making of "Hogan's Heroes" on television. END
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Summary: The two disc is WELL worth the money
Review: I just finished watching all the extra stuff on the 2nd disc and if you are into the true story of this WWII event, you'll love it! I'm not sure, but I think there is almost 2 hours of extras. Although the film seems dated (especially after 'Band of Brothers'), I've now changed my mind - after seeing how accurate the director tried to keep the film. The only draw back was the director had to put the American's (mostly Steve McQueen) in the forefront where they didn't belong.
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Summary: If you have the original DVD release SELL IT NOW!!!
Review: Okay....All the extras are great...and there are MANY featurettes and interviews to keep you busy for hours....BUT..the main point I want to make is for all of you who don't care about extras and figure you already have this on DVD....you don't...
this transfer is AMAZING!!! it is a real HIGH DEFINITION transfer and STUNNING is what they say on the case and its true! Many DVDs say digitally transfered....and often that just means they pulled it from a previously issued laserdisc via digital output...you have never seen this movie this pristine....EVER!
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Summary: All the rotten eggs in one basket
Review: There's a growing generation that knows "The Great Escape" more from pop-culture references like "The Simpsons" than it does from the movie itself. With the recent passing of Charles Bronson, too many of the original cast are now gone. "Escape" is 40 years old, but has still done a remarkable job of standing up to time and avoiding the inevitable slide into cliche. Many aspects of the film would be done differently today -- made in 1963, there's not a single female cast member, and every scene takes place from the POV of one of our protagonists. Doubtless a 2003 edition of the movie (presumably with Owen Wilson as Steve McQueen, and original castmember David McCallum returning in a power cameo) would expand the scope of the movie, show us a few wives back home in England and the States, and include a few dramatic capture scenes showing how our heroes got to Stalag Luft III in the first place. What still works so well in "Great Escape" is the storytelling and cast. "Escape" begins as light comedy, with Elmer Bernstein?s enormously pleasant score, and with characters taking flying leaps into trucks full of trees. The first hour of the movie is rather genial. Doomed camp commandant Von Luger's plea to the POWs that they "sit out the war" together, is so heartfelt that for a few seconds you're almost tempted to root for them to take up his offer (at least, until the Gestapo show up). However, once the Germans discover the first escape tunnel, and the first POW is killed, the situation becomes much more grim. Once the escape is under way, director John Sturges masterfully switches gears, juggling six or seven stories all at once, marching nearly all of them to the same inexorable climax, as false hope mounts upon false hope. By the time Richard Attenborough informs us that he's "never been happier", you realize that there's just no way out. For my part, I can't decide who gives the best performance in the movie. Today my money's on Charles Bronson, as the stoic yet claustrophobic Polish "Tunnel King". However, for the contemporary audience, Attenborough is a real discovery. Now better known as the director of "Gandhi", or perhaps from his Santa Claus-like turn in the first two "Jurassic Park" epics, it's quite a treat to see him as the younger, debonair and determined Roger Bartlett, mastermind of the escape. And of course Steve McQueen launched a hundred imitators (and the famed "Simpsons" homage) with his baseball glove and iconic motorcycle chase along the German/Swiss border. The DVD could give us a little more, and one would assume that someday a special edition will be in the works. Don't take for granted, though, the crisp transfer of the movie, long known only to TV audiences from its commercial-filled, pan-and-scan transfer shown monthly on TBS. The short "documentary", narrated by Miguel Ferrer, is nearly a decade old, but adds a surprising amount of historical background on the actual Escape itself, along with interviews with McCallum, James Garner, several friends and relatives of McQueen, and some audio clips from the late director Sturges himself. The documentary thankfully does not limit itself to describing dates of filming, and doesn't once show us a photograph of a movie call sheet. It's worth a look. Also check out the 8-page booklet, a good source of trivia about the actual escape.
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