Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15029 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-03-05
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 166 minutes

Synopsis
Arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, John Sturges's dramatisation of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive escape from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944, stars Steve McQueen as the rebellious Virgil Hilts. The German high command has filtered out all the most talented escape artists of the Allies' and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed to foil any unwanted departures. Of course, as soon as they arrive, the prisoners begin work on a series of tunnels under the direction of Roger "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough). He assigns the POWs to jobs according to their specialties: Bob "Scrounger" Hendley (James Garner) steals necessary items, Eric "Dispersal" Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) hides the soil being dug from the tunnels, and Danny "the Tunnel King" Willinski (Charles Bronson) and Colin "the Forger" Blythe (Donald Pleasence) have self-explanatory handles. For more than a year, 600 prisoners, most of whom won't be leaving, work toward an escape that will temporarily disrupt the operations of the German army. The host of big-name stars meshes beautifully in this meticulous re-creation of the legendary escape. Although this is a film about courage, Sturges wisely takes a low-key approach, leavened with humour, rather than allowing the cast to indulge in macho antics. However, McQueen's memorable motorcycle stunts could be said to fit in that category. THE GREAT ESCAPE, based on the book by Paul Brickhill, is quite simply one of the grandest war films ever made, featuring many key scenes (McQueen's motorcycle chase, McQueen tossing the baseball against the cell wall, Bronson sliding on his chest in the tunnel) that are unforgettable.

Customer Reviews

The Great Escape - Definitive Edition
Subtitles on Disc 1:
Croatian, Czech, Danish, English, English HoH, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Slovenian, Swedish and Turkish

Disc 2 has only English subtitles.

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1

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Extras are;

on disc 1:
Audio commentary with cast and crew

on disc 2:
"The Real Virgil Hilts" documentary
"The Great Escape: Heroes Underground" narrated by Burt Reynolds
"The Great Escape: The Untold Story"
Additional interviews
Theatrical trailer
Photo gallery

The Best War Film Ever ...
This must be the best war film ever. Wonderfully entertaining and an essential for anyones collection. I love it !

A movie for children
Ah yes and here we go again with yet another dvd version of this famous WW2 movie featuring a dozen movie stars. The picture and sound are first class, however the film itself is hugely over-rated. The music is annoyingly brilliant, but once the opening credits are over the plot flaws become apparent.

This dumb flick is like a prequel to "Hogan's Heroes." The Allied POWs are plucky, cocky and handsome. The German soldiers who guard them are bumbling oafs. At the end of the movie the German guns come out and many of the POWs are slaughtered. Nothing seems to actually happen in the 2 hours 45 minutes. There is lots of moralising about values, and how good the Allies are and how rotten the Germans are. There is plenty of egotistical, over-the-top acting by the all-star cast. Although this is a film about courage, the director takes a childish approach (leavened with humour) to allow the plot to kick in (the escape).

The Great Escape is a rather mundane three hour escape movie. It is cliched and it is dumb; for example how on earth are the Germans going to allow Steve McQueen to enter a prison camp with a cool leather jacket and a baseball glove (and ball). Do you think the Germans allowed the prisoners to walk around a prison camp drinking coffee and smoking cigarttes all day waitning for postal packages sent from the wife in sunny old USA.

All the good guys are locked up in a Prison Camp in Germany and they instantly become best mates and come up with a plan to escape (funnily enough). There is a mish-mash of Nationalities in the Camp ranging from English, Russian, American, Australian and Scottish. Sterotypical heaven here as the English play the stiff upper lip; the Americans play it strong and silent, and the Scottish man dreams of drinking whiskey and dancing with his girlfriend in Kirkaldy or Fife or someplace....

Anyhoo, One part of the movie that reduced it's quality was the unnecessary comic relief throughout the movie. Almost from the start, many POW's act like they are on vacation and not a prison camp. I don't think real-life POWs would have acted like that. In the same vein, the German officers appeared fools and clowns, who not only tolerated much insolence but didn't seem to have a clue at all.

Do yourself a favour, switch your brain on and watch a proper escape movie - Escape from Alcatraz.