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	The Great Escape
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	Categories	General   Charles Bronson   Steve McQueen   Classics   Nazis   P.O.W. Escapes   World War II   Attenborough, Richard   Bronson, Charles   Coburn, James   Donald, James   Garner, James   Jackson, Gordon   McCallum, David   McQueen, Steve   Pleasence, Donald   All MGM Titles   MGM DVDs Under $20   ( G )   The Classic Movies Sale: DVDs as Low as $5.99   Movies & TV on DVD and Blu-ray Disc Trade-In   Disc+ On Demand   DVD   Widescreen   Letterboxed   US & CA DVDs: Region 1   1960 - 1969   English   Closed Caption   Dolby   Standard Edition   Grade Level (feature_five_browse-bin)   All product   Blu-ray & DVD
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Description
In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft North, a maximum-safety prisoner-of-war camp, intended tohold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military historybrilliantly portrayed here by Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburnwho worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted. One of the much ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time, The Excellent Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven), screenwriters James Clavell (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett (Little Caesar), and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story, The Excellent Escape is epic entertainment this "entertains,captivates, thrills and stirs" (Diversity).
A stirring example of courage and the indomitable human spirit, for many John Sturges's The Excellent Escape is together 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, this image is together a template for subsequent action-adventure movies and one of the last glories of Golden Age Hollywood. Reunited together with the director who made him a star in The Magnificent Seven, Steve McQueen provides 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--do the much of their meaty roles (though you have to forgive Coburn his Australian accent). Closely based on Paul Brickhill's book, the various escape strives, scrounging, forging, and ferreting activities are authentically realized thanks in addition to technical advisor Wally Flood, one of the original tunnel-digging POWs. Sturges orchestrates the climax together with total conviction, giving us together high action and very poignant human drama. Not including trivializing the grim reality, The Excellent Escape thrillingly celebrates the heroism of men who never gave up the fight. --Mark Walker
Customer Reviews
A Movie For Men!   2010-07-28
By Sports Spiirt
What a great movie! Great acting, action and more! If there is any poetic license with this true story, so be it! Perfectly done!
Thrilling, Epic WWII Drama!   2010-07-20
By Scotman (Mt. Shasta, CA)
Based on a true story of escape from an officer POW camp, touted by the Nazis as being inescapable, an all star cast do their best to do just that! Imagine being locked up in a high security camp, run by the German Air Force (Luftwaffe) where American and British airmen are sent, and trying to escape without being spotted. Tough call. Charles Bronson plays a guy who is scared of tight spaces and this creates problems when he attempts an underground tunnel launching. Actually three tunnels are launched, named Tom, Dick and Harry. The whole idea is to demoralize and create diversions for the Nazi's. And escape of 200 or more men should do the trick. The first part of the film runs a bit slow, with the men working out the logistics and problems of digging tunnels, keeping them hidden and being one step ahead of their Nazi masters. With the buildings on brick foundations and open to the air, this is not an easy task. The second half of the film is the escape itself, the various situations the 76 escapees take to escape. Most get recaptured, and many are killed in the process. But the demoralization is successful, though the men themselves wonder at the cost in human life! All star cast, well played. Charles Bronson, James Coburn, Steve McQueen, (great motorcycle scenes) James Garner, Richard Attenborough, and more! It's a must-see classic. Reminded me in some ways of Stalag 13 and its TV comedy spin-off Hogan's Heroes, and though The Great Escape has its sense of humor, it's played serious, not slapstick. Other Movies by Director Sturges: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral The Magnificent Seven (Special Edition) Ice Station Zebra
excelente   2010-07-12
By johan
Excelente, Pedido rapido y en PERFECTO ESTADO , gracias comprare Con Frecuencia Este Tipo de peliculas clasicas
The Great Escape is Great   2010-03-20
By Gary P. Cohen (Staten Island, NY USA)
I can't imagine anyone has not seen this great film. I saw it as a kid in 1963 and have loved it ever since. It is director John Sturges' triumph, coming three years after his other legendary film "The Magnificent 7." The plot in quite simple. The Germans stupidly put hundreds of allied prisoners with histories of escaping from other camps in one "escape-proof" prison camp. It isn't. This is based on a true story. However the original escape was by basically all British prisoners. In order to heighten box-office, a few American prisoners were added to the film, namely Steve McQueen and James Garner. When one thinks of "The Great Escape," one thinks Of McQueen on his motorcycle being chased by dozens of German soldiers. (No, despite what a lot of people think, McQueen did not do the motorcycle jump over the high German barbed-wire fence near the end. That was done by a buddy of his, professional motorcycle racer and stuntman Bud Elkins.) McQueen was a star before this film, he was a superstar afterward. Yet as we learn on one of the retrospectives included in this set, McQueen was unhappy with his role, thinking it did not give him enough to do. His co-stars, James Garner and James Coburn, had to go meet with him personally at his hotel to convince him to return to the film and stop creating so many problems during the filming. Despite what McQueen thought, his role as Hilts, the "cooler-king" is the star role in the film. Garner is as good as Hendley, the "scrounger," the type of good-natured con-man that Garner played in "Maverick" and turned into an art-form 11 years later with "The Rockford Files." Richard Attenborough also stars as "Big X," the British prisoner in charge of the operation of constructing three tunnels to get 250 prisoners out of the camp (75 did get out.) Charles Bronson is terrific as Willy, the Polish prisoner in charge of digging the tunnels and James Coburn as the Austrailian who invents many of the gadgets needed for the escape. (This film reunited McQueen, Bronson, Coburn and director Sturges after their previous triumph "The Magnificent 7.". Before "Magnificent 7," McQueen was terrific in a supporting role in another Sturges' WW II film: "Never So Few." McQueen co-starred with Frank Sinatra in this exciting film.) Donald Pleasence brought a sense of reality as the British prisoner in charge of forging documents since Pleasence was a real German P.O.W. in WW II. Finally there was a little known British actor named David McCallum in a nice role as "Ashley-Pitt," the British Lieutenant who figures out a way of dispersing the soil dug up in the digging of the tunnel. The next year, McCallum would become "Illya Kuryakin" on "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and the rest is history. He is currently "Ducky" on "NCIS." This film is nearly 3 hours long. I have watched it many, many times and I never tire of it (except for one scene which still makes me cringe. I won't say what that is.) The great music is by Elmer Bernstein, who also scored "The Magnificent 7" with its classic theme. The theme music from this film makes one forget the "Colonel Bogey March," from the great P.O.W. film before this one: "The Bridge on the River Kwai." (I have always preferred this film.) There are several retrospectives included on the escape itself and the making of this legendary film. As stated at the beginning, if you love war films, P.O.W. films or great classic films in general, I can't imagine you have not seen this one. However, if you have not, you should grab this DVD right away. You will love it. (Like so many other great films, I look forward to its arrival on blu-ray.)
Very impressive 2-disc edition, however....   2010-03-03
By Nagronsky (Skagit Valley, Wa USA)
OK, first, "The Great Escape" did not inspire the lame 60's TV show Hogan's Heroes - The Complete First Season. That was inspired far more by Stalag 17 and George Segal's King character from King Rat. And while I'm usually very critical of films that overplay the US contribution in WWII(like the execreble U-571 (Collector's Edition)) or the overrated The Longest Day (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)(before you bitch about my dissing The Longest Day, I saw it the weekend it came out, and at 12 years old thought it fakey). However, in the case of The Great Escape, I'll give Hollywood a pass, since if not for Hollywood, this story probably would not have made it to the silver screen. English cinema at the time was gearing up for Swinging 60's films like Alfie, A Hard Day's Night, and Billy Liar - Criterion Collection. There were so many great war films out of the UK in the late 40's to mid 50's, it was as if Ealing and Pinewood and the rest just wanted to forget WWII and get on with it! One thing that I've really come to treasure about The Great Escape is that the screenplay was written by James Clavell, ex-RAF pilot & POW at Singapore's notorious Changi POW camp and the author of the semi-autobiographical King Rat. While there were POWs from the US in Stalag Luft III, they didn't play large roles as James Garner's "Canadian" scrounger, or Steve McQueen's Hilts "The Cooler King", although for an interesting insight into a Hilts-like character, read Sage by Jerry Sage. Yes, Steve McQueen's bike scenes were contrived, and he was riding a Triumph, and that lame bF-108 from The Longest Day reappeared here & US AT-6/Texan/Harvard trainers with German markings were used, but The Great Escape is still a thrilling movie, and I'd never known that Donald Pleasance("The Forger") was an ex-RAF Lancaster crewman who was a former POW in Germany. The one problem I really had with the set was in the Extras: an English-made look at the real Great Escape showed "German" guards wearing RAF uniforms, and carrying British Mk III Enfield rifles and Sten guns. It's not like there aren't plenty of Mausers and Schmeissers out there that they could have used. Still, the looks at the memorial to the 50 were touching.