Review of The Great Escape (1963) by Jh K — 20 Dec 2012

The mother of all POW movies.

The Great Escape is, all in all, a fantastic movie but I have to point out a few things that bothered me a bit and dragged the whole production a bit down.

First of all, almost three hours is way to long for such a movie. Thanks for the effort and the slow build-up, but come on! Nobody wants to see a straight action movie for three hours, even if it's as good as this one.

Furthermore, how can you possibly screw up the setting part if you're actually shooting on location!!! I googled where it was filmed, and they did indeed produced it in Bavaria, but Bavaria looks more like a huge film set to me - I'm curious what went wrong with these guys.

Also, the comedic tone, especially in the beginning, doesn't fit into the topic matter at all. I guess it's the way war films were made back then (I witnessed similar in The Dirty Dozen), but all the fun and joking feels a bit odd if you make such an ending (which is not really a classic Hollywood happy end).

Today you would definitely do a more sincere and darker film on this subject, but maybe it's this exact approach that lifts the old beloved classics over todays blockbuster fare. I don't know but let's focus on the good things.

One good thing is Steve McQueen on a motorcycle, another one is Steve McQueen grinning mischieviously after a failed escape, another one is Richard Attenborough (I've seen him in Brighton Rock and in Miracle on 34th Street - this role is somewhere in the middle) and yet another one the duo of James Garner and Donald Pleasence. Long story short, an awesome cast you got here.

Especially the latter half is also pretty exciting. The escape itself and the aftermath of the different groups trying to get to the border are tense and creative, and directed pretty carefully, although I might suggest that a lower number of main characters would have been helpful to remember all the ongoings.

I also liked the ending, darker and grimmer than I expected (although, as I said, this clashed a bit with the general tone of the film). Still, I'm a bit curious why The Great Escape has such a prominent place in the Imdb amongst others, but beside that, a highly entertaining flick.