Review of The Great Escape (1963) by Ivan D — 04 Jul 2010

It might look as a gimmick war film when one would see the star-studded cast written all over the film posters, a timely genre to squeeze in some marquee names to capitalize on war sentiments. So I was quite surprised on "The Great Escape's" richness of character, letting it develop in its almost 3-hour length, without hinting how much time has passed.

And like the case of "Grand Illusion", the film never took advantage of the world's perception of the German soldiers at the time, they never was portrayed as evil captors, but more of strict observers that only happens to have soldiers a couple of notch smarter than them as captives.

Almost an automatic verdict, one actor always rises above the all-star cast, taking command of the camera with a show-stealing performance, and no, it's not Steve McQueen. Richard Attenborough, almost resembling the physical menace of Peter Lorre, portrayed a squadron leader with pure authority, composure, almost self-centered personality, but still has the heart to organize everyone for a plan.

The climactic motorcycle set piece was exciting in the sense of being entertained, but the recurring idea of the inevitable pay-off still makes it emotional, but I told myself not to be, because McQueen's character would certainly jump into the ocean with coconut floaters into his freedom.

Oh wait, that's "Papillon".