The Great Escape (1963)

 In an alternate Universe ... he cleared the wire ...

What's interesting about this film is that it was historically over-looked by critics and never considered to be the classic film that it is today.

Films similar to The Great Escape were numerous during the days that this was shot, and honestly, this was just another war movie when it was released. Not many people differentiated this from the other films of 1963. That year produced memorable films that are great in their own right but have probably escaped the same kind of viewing that this film has. The Great Escape is a film with so many really `solid' actors giving riveting performances that films that were critically acclaimed in the day now pale in comparison.

Here's a few films that came out in 1963:

Charade (a fantastic movie)
The Nutty Professor
The Birds
Cleopatra
From Russia With Love
Tom Jones
McLintock!
Jason and the Argonauts
Children of the Damned

And yes, The Great Escape wasn't nominated for anything but editing against these "masterpieces". So, I guess that history is subjective and testosterone wasn't really something that people were interested in. While sad, little did they know what turbulence awaited them for the next few years. Who could blame them?

The DVD restoration of this title is absolutely wonderful. Every frame was cleaned and fully restored. The sound is beautiful and Steve McQueen will live on in his craggly glory with his wry smile and devil-may-care attitude forever.

When they do an honest inventory of the best films ever made, this film will be high on the list without any doubt.

April 21, 2008

 Great movie - If it had both disks
It's pretty horrible when only the special featers disk is included in a 2 disk set. The DVD case is also only a one disk case. March 30, 2008

 My personal favorite
I keep buying this movie because I lend it away and never get it back....My all time favorite. All Star Cast, beautiful locations, and Steve McQueen....can it get any better? December 6, 2007

 Quite possibly the most perfect audience picture ever made
The Great Escape may be nearly three hours long, but it moves like clockwork and holds its audience completely. There is always something happening, often with much wit and sometimes touching sentiment that avoids mawkishness. There is one remarkably bad piece of construction, following a genuinely moving death scene with McQueen's motorbike jump, but otherwise the film is perfectly constructed. Elmer Bernstein's score is one of his best, and with considerably more range and variety than you remember adds much to the proceedings.

If it seems a bit dubious making an entertainment out of one of the grimmest episodes of WW2 - 50 of the recaptured prisoners of the genuine mass escape from a German prisoner of war camp were murdered - the darker elements are not ignored, but despite being very effectively handled do tend to get swamped by the sheer exuberance of the film. It now seems particularly curious to that the impossible motorbike jump, while still a great moment, seems so much more underplayed and credible than the increasingly spectacular and cartoonish CGi action sequences of modern action films.

The cast are all outstanding. In Steve McQueen's `Cooler King' we can see the origins of Indiana Jones, the hero as eternal loser. Garner's wonderfully resourceful scrounger and his touching friendship with Donald Pleasance's near-blind forger make perhaps an even bigger impression. Bronson too is very appealing, with all the dry humour and warmth that two decades of working with Michael Winner managed to knock out of him still intact. However, it must be said that Coburn's Aussie arc-scent is enough to make you grateful he hardly said anything in The Magnificent Seven.

The film is just brimming with familiar faces, from the stars to British war movie stalwart Gordon Jackson and the equally omnipresent Karl Otto Alberty ("Your German is very good. I hear also your French. Your hands - UP!"). Don't remember him? He fought in the 'Battle of the Bulge,' planned the 'Battle of Britain' and had a memorable showdown with Clint Eastwood as a tank commander in Kelly's Heroes. Only Sam Kydd is missing. With so much to enjoy and remember, The Great Escape is quite possibly the most perfect audience movie ever made.
December 6, 2007

 Yeah!
Guy. Movie. Must. Have.

Sensitive kids might freak when a character goes berzerk and commits suicide by attempting to climb a barbed wire fence while under the obvious eyes of prison guards...and mass execution is imaginatively protrayed. But both instances are directed without the gratuitous blood-porn of modern film (thankfully). Other than those caveats, it's a solid family movie, raising questions on character, friendship, duty...

An easy movie to own. November 17, 2007

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