Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1596 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-05-20
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL, Special Edition, Widescreen
• Original language: English, French, German
• Subtitled in: Danish, Norwegian, Slovene, English, Hebrew, Polish, Swedish, Hungarian, Portuguese, Finnish, Greek, Czech, Croatian, Turkish
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 172 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Great Escape image of Steve McQueen (as "The Cooler King") astride his motorcycle has entered silver-screen iconography, alongside Brando on his bike from The Wild One. Based on a true story about a group of POWs who mount a daring breakout from a supposedly inescapable Nazi prison camp, this rousing and suspenseful World War II epic features an all-star cast, including James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, and David McCallum. --Jim Emerson

Amazon.co.uk Review
A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges' The Great Escape is both the definitive World War II drama and the nonpareil prison escape movie. Featuring an unequalled ensemble cast in a rivetingly authentic true-life scenario set to Elmer Bernstein's admirable music (who writes contrapuntal march themes these days?), this picture is both a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven Steve McQueen gives a career-defining performance as the laconic Hilts, the baseball-loving, motorbike-riding "Cooler King". The rest of the all-male Anglo-American cast--Dickie Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, James Garner, Charles Bronson, David McCallum, James Coburn and Gordon Jackson--make the most of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent).

Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape attempts, scrounging, forging and ferreting activities are authentically realised thanks also to the presence on set of technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climactic mass break out with total conviction, giving us both high action and very poignant human drama. Without trivialising the grim reality, The Great Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight.

On the DVD: The Great Escape special edition is indeed a special event. The anamorphic 2.35:1 picture is good if a tad grainy, and the remastered Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is a fitting vehicle for Elmer Bernstein's magnificent contribution. Accompanying the feature there's a reasonable cut-and-paste group commentary culled from interviews with various cast and crew, plus text trivia captions about the actors and the real-life camp.

The second disc features a first-rate Granada TV documentary from 2001, "The Untold Story", which tells of both the escape itself and the subsequent post-war search for the Gestapo officers who butchered 50 of the 76 escapees. This has an appendix of further valuable interviews with survivors, and there's also an American making-of documentary, "Heroes Underground", which is good though annoyingly divided into separate chapters and featuring non-anamorphic clips from the film. Perhaps best of all though is the 25-minute life of American POW David Jones, "The Real Virgil Hilts", whose career both during and after the war is extraordinary and inspirational. A classic movie finally gets the DVD treatment it merits.--Mark Walker

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Dolby 5.1 Sound
Audio Commentary by cast and crew
An American Icon
History versus Hollywood" documentary
The True Story of The Great Escape documentary
Trivia Track
Theatrical trailer
Photo galleries

Customer Reviews

Great film great music great performances
Is it possible to watch The Great escape too many times ?

I have just finished watching it for the umpteenth time and it is as good as ever.

A great cast of British and US actors with a classic and iconic performance by Steve McQueen. Even if you know nothing else about the film you will remember the motorcycle jump of the first border fence by McQueen.

It is easy to forget that it also portrays a war crime by the Germans in murdering 50 of the escapees. They show the machine gun but not the bodies afterwards.

The film is usually portrayed as a war time romp. In Colditz they spend their time organising concerts and escaping in the Great escape they spend their time digging tunnels and escaping.

It is not possible to praise this film too much . It is up there with Zulu , 633 Squadron, the Longest Day.Bridge too Far, Dirty Dozen.

THE BEST OF ALL TIME....................................................
This must be the greatest war film of all time. The cast is the best of the best and though three hours long, it flies and never bores.
There is something realistic and naive about the film and our feelings go out to these desperate men who are trying to outwit the German war machine in order to return home.
The most memorable part of the film will be the motorcycle chase. Steve McQueen excels as the dissident American who spends much of his time in the cooler because of his numerous excape attempts. I particularly liked James Garner as the scrounger.
There is not one menber of the cast who did not rise to great heights.
A marvellous film which I never tire of watching.

This film is realistic.
I have noticed that there a small amount of reviews that comment on the realism of the film, quick word in your ear. The camp in the film was guarded by the Luftwaffe (german airforce), most of the camp consisted airforce personal RAF ect ect. This is how the Luftwaffe treated the prisoners, showing some respect for the captors.