Rent The Great Escape (1963)
4.1 of 5 from 275 ratings
2h 45min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft North, a maximum security prisoner-of-war camp, designed to hold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military history-brilliantly portrayed here by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn - who worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted.
- Actors:
- Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Hannes Messemer, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, Angus Lennie, Nigel Stock, Robert Graf, Jud Taylor, Hans Reiser, Harry Riebauer, William Russell, Robert Freitag, Ulrich Beiger
- Directors:
- John Sturges
- Producers:
- John Sturges, James Clavell
- Writers:
- Paul Brickhill, James Clavell
- Others:
- Ferris Webster
- Studio:
- MGM
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- 10 Films to Watch if You Like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Cinema Paradiso's 2022 Centenary Club, Cinema Paradiso's 2024 Centenary Club: Part 3, Drama Films & TV, Films to Watch If You Like..., inema Paradiso's 2023 Centenary Club: Part 2, Richard Attenborough: A Centenary Special Instant Expert's Guide, A Brief History of Film..., The Instant Expert's Guide, Top 100 AFI Thrills, Top Films, WWII Films: Beaches, Oceans and Camps
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 03/06/2013
- Run Time:
- 172 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS 5.1, German DTS 5.1, Italian DTS 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Dutch, English Hard of Hearing, French, German, Italian, Portuguese
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Audio Commentary by Director John Sturges, Cast and Crew
- The Great Escape: Bringing Fact to Fiction
- The Great Escape: Preparations for Freedom
- The Great Escape: The Flight to Freedom
- The Great Escape: A Standing Ovation
- The Great Escape: The Untold Story
- The Great Escape: The Untold Story - Additional Interviews
- The Real Virgil Hilts: A Man Called Jones
- Return to The Great Escape
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 11/01/2022
- Run Time:
- 172 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English
- DVD Regions:
- Region 0 (All)
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- (0) All
- Bonus:
- Audio Commentary by Filmmaker/Historian Steve Mitchell and Combat Films: American Realism Author Steven Jay Rubin
- Audio Commentary with Director John Sturges, Actors James Garner, James Coburn, Donald Pleasence, David McCallum, Jud Taylor and Many Crew Members - Moderated by Steven Jay Rubin
- Return to The Great Escape - Making-of Featurette
- The Great Escape: Bringing Fact to Fiction - Featurette
- The Great Escape: Preparations for Freedom - Featurette
- The Great Escape: The Flight to Freedom - Featurette
- The Great Escape: A Standing Ovation - Featurette
- The Real Virgil Hilts: A Man Called Jones - Featurette
- Great Escape: The Untold Story - Documentary
- Great Escape: The Untold Story - Additional Interviews
- Theatrical Trailer
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Reviews (3) of The Great Escape
movie not as brilliant as the true story - The Great Escape review by CW
The escape from a high security German prisoner of war camp is almost too extraordinary to believe but it is a true story. I can understand how difficult it would be to translate this story to a movie. For me, the movie just didn’t capture the real events. The prison camp seemed like a school for wayward boys. The security was lax, the guards inept, the freedoms granted to the prisoners unbelievable. It seemed as if the movie was just to showcase Steve McQueen’s talent and skill at riding a motorcycle. I did enjoy knowing that he did all of the stunts himself. This is purely my opinion, many probably find this a great movie but I just didn’t buy it. I watched most of it on fast forward.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Great Escape - Steve Mcqueen at his best. Pity about the realism. - The Great Escape review by OL
The Great Escape whilst a reasonable war film is marred by its realism or rather lack of realism. Obviously made for a US audience as no US escapees were in Stalug Luft III at the time. No real mention of Canadians. About as realistic as The Bridge on The River Kwai.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Remains Fantastically Entertaining WW2 Adventure - The Great Escape review by GI
A famous Second World War adventure film that sits as one of the multi star vehicles that were popular in the 60s and designed to be the cinematic attraction that could woo people away from their television sets. Director John Sturges was adept at big budget films such as this and reunited several of the American stars he's worked with on The Magnificent Seven (1960), namely Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn (attempting an awful Australian accent). But it's a nice mix of British character actors led by Richard Attenborough along with the American western stars including James Garner, that works really well. Sturges directs and edits this big story expertly especially in the final third. The film loosely tells the story of a famous escape by allied air force officers from a German POW camp using tunnels and managing to get 76 prisoners out under the watchful eye of the guards. The film is roughly set in three acts, the planning and building of the tunnels, the actual escape from the camp and the adventures of the various escapees as they attempt to get to a safe haven. It's in this last part that Sturges keeps the action going as we follow several diverse storylines. There's the famous stunts (McQueen getting to ride a motorcycle and that big jump!), humour, sadness and ultimately big tragedy. It's a thoroughly entertaining and spectacular film and has become a Christmas season favourite for some reason (there is a rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas at one point). Despite the big names it's the smaller characters that are the most memorable especially Donald Pleasance as a forgery expert who is going blind and Angus Lennie as Ives, an RAF officer who begins to suffer mental breakdown due to his incarceration. A film to watch once a year, to sit back and simply relish the sheer entertainment of the whole thing. Don't get bogged down on what is true and what isn't, that's all irrelevant, this is just brilliant fun.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.