Rating: 
Summary: Good performances, very interesting and entertaining
Review: This is one of the all-time classic war movies. The story of how the Nazis put "all the bad eggs in one basket": they built a special camp in which they incarcerated the Allied pilots shot down over occupied Europe who had made escape attempts from other camps. Filmed on location in Germany (although the real-life camp was in Poland), the film has an authentic feel, with quaint German cottages and the foothills of the Alps rising in the background. Add in the plethora of nationalities (there are American, English, Scottish, Polish, Aussie, and Canadian prisoners among the inmates, all with authentic accents), the well-researched uniforms and camp layout, and some great cinematography, and you have a classic WWII film that stands the test of time.The performances are outstanding. Notable examples are James Gardner as a scounger and Charles Bronson (virtually unrecognisable) as the tunnelling expert. The big name (at the time) is, of course, Steve McQueen, here his usual brash self, fleeing a German squad on a merry motorcycle chase in one of the movie's most famous scenes. More interesting for me, however, is the care the actors, directors, and screenwriters took to set up the escape - we are brought through the division of labour in the camp, the problems that must be overcome (such as incompatible dirt colours), and the clautrophobia of digging. (This seems to be proof that 10 screenwriters can occasionally produce a good movie, in spite of Roger Ebert's "law" that quality of a screenplay is inversely proportional to the number of people working on it.) Finally, the musical score is rousing, sombre, or lighthearted when called for. It might be a little overbearing, but no more so than in The Empire Strikes Back, for instance. The DVD quality is low, hence the 4-star rating I'm giving to the movie in this format. The picture quality is okay - clear and crisp, but the sound is not particularly good. Why is it that video is always cleaned up so much better than sound? There are few extras on the DVD, but the "Making of" featurette contains a lot of information in its 24 minutes. For example, James Garner reveals how he was a scrounger in real life for his unit in Korea, the cinematographer talks about scouting locations, building sets, etc. One of the most useful featurettes I've seen.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest war movies ever
Review: Harking back to a different age, when the studios truly did make movies with "all star casts," The Great Escape is without a doubt one of the finest war movies ever produced by Hollywood. The cast itself is incredible: we have James Colburn, Charles Bronson, James Gardner, Richard Attenborough, and of course, Steve McQueen. The setting? An ultra-high security prison in the heart of enemy territory, where the most notorious and dangerous prisoners of war are brought together. The premise? These men, officers of the Allied forces, have one goal in mind: freedom at all costs. The arrival of enigmatic Mr. X sets the greatest escape in WWII history in motion, and what follows is movie history. True, the movie is not a realistic depiction of prison life during the war, and many liberties were taken with the facts and characters. Nevertheless, the gripping storyline, the great cast and acting, and a riveting plan for escape create an unique experience. The quality of the DVD is superb, considering that the film is quite old. I must sincerely say that I've never seen the movie look so good, although I have never seen the original big screen presentation. All in all, if you like war movies, you owe it to yourself to see this movie.
Rating:
Summary: All the rotten eggs in one basket produce an all-time great!
Review: "Putting all the rotten eggs in one basket" was how the German kommandant of Stalag Luft III allegedly described to the senior British officer, Ramsay (James Donald), the task of getting the most "troublesome" escapers from the "Big X" organisation from POW camps scattered all over the embattled Third Reich to one place. Looking at the set based on the real camp, it was nothing like Colditz Castle - rather like something thrown up in haste on a patch lacking greenery but located conveniently next to a wood.
Yet, under the direction of "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough in what, for me, was his most memorable role), seething with rage at ill-treatment from the Gestapo who threatened "You will be shot" if he escaped again and was caught, these "rotten eggs" managed to conjure up one of the most daring prisoner-of-war breakouts in military history, whose story was recounted by Paul Brickhill, the author also responsible for the book which had inspired the film, "The Dam Busters" (1955).
Attenborough is joined by a cast of well-known British stars like Gordon Jackson (of ITV's "Upstairs Downstairs" fame), Angus Lennie (who memorably blows a raspberry at the kommandant for his comment that British and German people "understand" each other), David McCallum (playing the only naval officer in the movie), and Donald Pleasance (who was no mean "twit" with his understanding of birds - yes, it is a pun!), plus, of course, big-name American stars James Garner, Charles Bronson and Steve McQueen.
Garner plays Handley "The Scrounger", a volunteer with the American-crewed RAF "Eagle" fighter squadrons, Bronson plays Danny, "The Tunnel King", a Polish volunteer with the RAF, while McQueen plays Hilts, a U.S. Army Air Forces man who, for reasons never explained, is put in this camp along with the "Big X" people. This was quite clearly an attempt to sell this movie to the American public, yet it was an inspired choice, given that its popularity has endured over the past four decades.
Thankfully, the man who would go on to play "Bullitt" was not solely responsible for making the movie one of the greatest WWII movies ever made. In their respective scenes before, during and after the tension-filled escape from the camp, Bronson, whose character's claustrophobia nearly stops the escape before it even starts, Garner and Pleasance have their chances to shine, though James Coburn, who plays Sedgwick, an Australian, does not have a memorable time, since he gets all the way to Spain in a leisurely way without meeting any trouble from the Germans - unlike McQueen, who - how shall I put it succinctly - tries to escape on a motorbike. (The rest is, as they say, cinematic history.)
The camaraderie amongst the men and their success in getting 76 men out before the penny (pfennig) finally dropped are very hard to ignore, as they use their ingenuity in distracting the Germans while carrying on the mammoth task of digging three long escape tunnels.
Yet it was not as if the POWs had everything their own way - who can forget the scene of Ives (Lennie) hanging off the barbed wire fence after being shot by a German watchtower guard as he made a futile escape attempt during the prisoners' impromptu July 4th bash to celebrate U.S. Independence Day, or the scene at the railway station where Ashley-Pitt (McCallum) sacrifices his life to prevent a Gestapo officer publicly identifying Bartlett (Attenborough) and McDonald (Jackson).
"The Great Escape" has endured in popularity for many reasons. Most of all, it tells a story based on a true story. It is a story of courage where one side had weapons whereas the other had none at all. The viewer is caught up in the tension as the POWs, in disguise, use public transport and wonder if the passengers around them, including S.S. officers, are aware of who they really are. Such tension is usual in espionage movies, yet this movie succeeds in producing even more tension than those other ones, and no spying is involved. These are people who broke out of the camp for freedom and for the chance of getting back home to continue the fight for Europe's freedom.
As the film ends, the viewer learns that it is "dedicated to the fifty" real POWs who were brutally murdered by the Gestapo after their escape from Stalag Luft III. I like to think that, even without the Hollywood hype (such as it was in the 1960s), this movie did do their story justice. Kudos to all the actors for fine, memorable performances.
Rating: 
Summary: Appalling PQ
Review: Picture quality is APPALLING! Looks not much better than watching VHS tape. Certainly nowhere close to usual DVD quality. I also have the original release on Laserdisk which looks MUCH better than the DVD. NOTE: I am referring to the original DVD not the more recent remastered release which I don't have.
Rating:
Summary: Creating Havoc Behind the Frontline.
Review: "The Great Escape" (1963) was a huge box office success in its times. No surprise! It is a very good film. Director John Sturges has composed one of his best with this movie. He also authored "The Magnificent 7" (1960) (great westerner) and "The Eagle has Landed" (1976).
The story is based (loosely) on real facts. A massive escape from a POW encampment is planned & accomplished. The main objective of this "disappearing act" was to draw as many as possible German soldiers from the frontline. To perform such a feat, a great number of "specialists" were needed: tunnelers, forgers, tailors, carpenters and above all secrecy. The movie narrates every step from the beginning to the escape and afterwards.
A great bunch of first class movie stars is reunited. Steve McQueen as Capt. Hilts is the best remembered of all due to his impressive motorcycle raid. With him, other co-stars perform to par: Charles Bronson as Flight Lt. Velinski, James Gardner as Flight Lt. Hendley, Donald Pleasance as Flight Lt. Blythe and Richard Attenborough as Squadron Leader Hendley.
Fast paced and gripping gives no respite to the audience. If you are interested in WWII history or war movies you can't miss this one!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Rating:
Summary: Great World War II Movie
Review: This is one of those great old World War II movies that I never get sick of. They used to show this on TV about once a year when I was a kid and I never missed it. There's an all-star cast and the movie is based on a true story.
A few years ago the History Channel did one of their History Vs. Hollywood shows on this movie, and the only part of the movie that was not accurate was the inclusion of Americans. In the real prison break, there were no Americans, but the people in Hollywood decided they needed to put some in to sell more tickets. They talked to one of the men who took part and he said the tunnels were so realistic that they brought back nightmares.
The story is that there are several Allied prisoners moved into one camp that is supposed to be very tough to break out of. These are prisoners who have attempted to escape several times. They decide to pull off the greatest escape of the war, hoping that they can keep the Germans busy looking for escaped prisoners and create a tremendous distraction to help the Allied war effort.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all-time greats.
Review: This is one of great movies in the history of cinema, not just the war movie genre. In terms of entertainment, it does what few 3-hour films can do. It keeps you glued to the screen the entire time. The acting is great, the story terrific and the characters, well, if you don't know the Cooler King you don't know movies. Pick this one up, you cannot go wrong.
Rating:
Summary: Thrills Beyond Number
Review: Steve McQueen never had a better starring vehicle than THE GREAT ESCAPE and it's a shame he died before the age of commentary because it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts about this film. He's a standout even in a fantastic cast made up half of old pros like Donald Pleasance and half of young Turks like Coburn, McCallum, James Garner. You can't help but be rivetted to Virgil (the character McQueen plays in the film).
Audiences in the Kennedy era loved McQueen on his motorcycle and the chase that ensued after he breaks out of the camp was often cited as the most exciting action sequence of its day (along with the high-tech theft of Jules Dassin's Topkapi). When you see it now, it's still great, and McQueen really seems to be performing all of his own stunts. The new DVD shows just how good a 40 year old film can look when it's given a proper restoration. The colors and even the textures of the cloth (or tent fabric) jump out at you as though they were brand new. The funny thing about historical films is that, no matter how accurately they try to portray the period they're set in, well, look at them forty years later and they just scream 60s. This one does but it adds to the charm.
The commentary is great and I wish more of the actors had lived to join John Sturges, etc., on the tracks. And the documentary about the Forrest-Gump-like Davy Jones, who he claims participated in most of the major events of our day, is extraordinary, even if he did half of the things he says he did it would be a coup to have him speak on screen! He is amazing!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Cast in a great war movie
Review: There are so many movies made about the Second World War and most of them deal with the actual war itself. The Great Escape is, as the title suggests, about escaping. In this case English, American (Steve McQueen) and Australian (James Coburn), all seasoned escapers that unfortunately always were caught again.
The leader of the group is a great Attenbourough who devises a great plan. In the end 76 escape but the ending is not a happy one.
The acting is great in this great story which is based on a true stories, one of the escapers was even an adviser to this movie.
One of the best war movies.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie
Review: This is surely the greatest masterpiece in the history of cinematography. Quite definitely the perfection of cinema art, the Great Escape tells of the American and British prisoners of war held in Stalag Luft North a German "Super camp" if you will. The acting is impeccable throughout the story, as the plot thickens and leads up to the most ingenious escape attempt in history. however, it is rather depressing to see the some of the ecapees caught. But I won't ruin it for you. a classic of undeniable proportions, the great escape will stand for all time, a monument to cinema.
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