Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Matho The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

ptyagi-13755 Based on veracious events, the movie has all elements of being a masterpiece. This could not be called to be a tedious artwork despite a gargantuan running time of almost 3 hours. Instead, the movie captures the imagination of the viewers, perhaps due to the ingenuity being shown by the director in the making of it.

elvircorhodzic THE GREAT ESCAPE is a history adventure drama which describes, in a commercial way, an escape from a German stalag during World War II. The film is based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 book of the same name.In 1943, the Germans have moved all the prisoners of war, who are prone to running away, to a new high-security prisoner of war camp. Their commandant points out the various features of the new camp designed to prevent escape, as well as the advantages that the prisoners will receive as incentive not to try. After several failed attempts on the first day, the prisoners settle into life at the camp. Meanwhile, Gestapo agents bring the infamous "Big X" in the camp. He is introduced as the principal escape organizer. His attempt to escape will be punished by death. However, he, with the support of other escape artists, who are detained in the camp, plans the greatest escape ever attempted, with tunnels to break out 250 prisoners...The story is exciting and tense, with a lot of charm and humor. Unfortunately, it is stuck somewhere between fiction and truth. The characters are based on real men. However, the commercialization of this film, which can not credibly to follow historical facts, has made some damage. The protagonists are defiant, arrogant, disobedient, surprisingly resourceful and entertaining. Well, that is a successful Hollywood trick. The point has remained obscure. The tragic epilogue ends with a smile on the face of one of the rebels. Characterization is very good, given the large number of actors. There is no depth, but it is somewhat expected. Their expression has an amplitude only in a few scenes.Steve McQueen as Capt. Virgil Hilts, the "Cooler King" is a rebellious and persistent character. He is a subtle link between the two hostile sides. A baseball and glove are too excessive segments. However, his performance is very good. James Garner as Flt. Lt. Robert Hendley, the "Scrounger" is a creative and mysterious character. The credibility of his character is quite impaired, in a maximum-security prison, regardless of an apparent change in the second part of the film. Richard Attenborough as Sqn. Ldr. Roger Bartlett, "Big X" is, maybe, too quiet for a notorious prisoner or a great leader. He's a brain of their operation, in which the other participants have a greater role than him. However, he is their balance. Charles Bronson as Flt. Lt. Danny Velinski, the "Tunnel King", is an irreplaceable base of their operation. A melodrama of his character is a little exaggerated in climatic moments. Donald Pleasence as Flt. Lt. Colin Blythe, the "Forger" has offered the best performance of all the actors in this film. His humorous character becomes his personal tragedy and despair from which is born a strange friendship. James Coburn as Fg. Off. Louis Sedgwick, the "Manufacturer" is a man who finds himself in the right place at the right time. James Donald as Gp. Capt. Ramsey, the Senior British Officer (SBO) is a serious and calm captain who has a broad perception of the events around him.There is no strong emotions, everything is mechanically aligned.However, I enjoyed it.

beresfordjd The Great Escape is a great film. The main problem with it is that in the UK it has been shown on TV probably twice a year at least since it's first TV showing - in fact it seems like more. When it is on I, for one, usually try to avoid it but if I do catch 5 minutes then I am hooked all over again! The cast is wonderful, a mixture of real stars and character actors. Although it is a long film the pacing is superb and the viewer's attention is held throughout. My favourite characters are played by James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn,Richard Attenborough and James Donald. Steve McQueen plays Hiltz the cooler king in his usual laconic, comic style but I find it annoying considering American POWs did not make such a huge contribution to escapes like these. It was great to see so many actors from The Magnificent Seven (another awesome favourite of mine) back on screen and directed again by John Sturges - he knew what he was doing in casting.

felixoteiza I don't claim to have been in WWII—or maybe I was, during a past life— but this I know for sure: life in a German POW camp had nothing to do with what we see in TGE, let alone a POW camp where they had gathered Allied airmen. See, at a time when Allied warplanes were bombing German cities to dust the German populace had developed a deep hatred for all them and when they had the chance to get their hands on one of them the poor sap was lucky if all he got, before the local military came to get him, was just a good beating. In fact a number of them were lynched by irate mobs. Not to mention that many had had to bail out from their burning planes and then land on mud, water, bushes; had to spend hours, days, hiding in barns, forests, running for their lives, before being caught. And that some of their camp wardens had suffered themselves the effects of their bombing, lost homes, probably dear ones because of it and so were in no mood for youthful pranks. Not, life wasn't a picnic in those German POW camps. Not to mention that the Luftwaffe was a Nazi haven, Goering's baby. And yet what we see here is more like a group of well fed and contended, sharp and alert vacationers arriving to their resort in the heart of nature. If it wasn't for the guns you could even picture the German guards handing out leaflets with the activities of the day while Hendley looks for a comfy spot where to light up his pipe and engage in some good reading.But things don't get any better as we trod along, as we are next subjected to a stream of usual 60s war flick clichés, not the smallest of them that of the decent, fair, even likable German military officers who "are just doing their duty", as opposed to the dastardly Gestapo and SS goons. If you have seen enough of these U.S-U.K war flicks of the 50s, 60s you got to be familiar with the obvious dichotomy. Now, while I am sure that there were many honest and fair German military fighting in that war—despite the well known complicity of the brass of the Wehrmacht with the atrocities of the Nazis—the fact that they are a staple in these war flicks is not so much due to Hollywood's regard for historical truths as due to necessities of the Cold War, which by the 60s was going full steam. As Germany had gone from enemy to NATO ally, it wasn't anymore sensible to depict their military men as murderous brutes—as it was the case during the war of course—so they got around all it just putting all their bad deeds on the shoulders of the SS and Gestapo. That is the main reason why there are always nice, good, fair Germans in these war flicks.Now, if TGE is already looking pretty unrealistic by the moment McQueen's Hilts appears, with him it turns into a real masquerade. For one, Hilts must be the only man in History who comes out of a month in solitary confinement in a German POW camp looking far better than he did when he got in. With clean clothes—remember, he had entered all covered in mud—impeccable, well groomed, perfectly shaved. (Who washed his clothes, who cut, combed, his hair there, who gave him such clean shaves?) I'm not fan of Guns of Navarone, but compared to this one it looks like Shakespeare because, despite all its shortcomings it still has that aura of reality, is still happening in the real world, it still gives us a sense of what really Nazi occupation looked and felt like, In TGE there is instead there is no tension, no sense of vulnerability, no fear for your life from the part of the POWs. You feel like watching the youthful shenanigans of a bunch of teens in summer camp who, if caught will get just a slap in the wrist. See for ex. that after Tilts physically attacks two guards armed with automatic guns he is just let go scot free, he is not even reprimanded! After that scene you can't possible take TGE seriously. And what about guard Warner, who is smart enough to immediately discover the concealed tunnel but not enough to put the obvious two plus two together, that Hendley was the one who stole his wallet?. But the unrealistic reaches new heights with that Fourth of July parade. The German would have never ever allowed such a thing. No military in the world would ever allow their POWs such kind of display, let alone the Germans, who knew well how dangerous the mix of beer and flag waving could be. All that is pure Hollywood mythology. And to make things even worse, we got Steve McQueen, who every time he is on the screen, no matter what he does, say, he seems to be flaunting his star ratings. Not for a moment he makes you feel you are watching a real POW there, a man that feels impotent because deprived of his freedom, totally vulnerable to the whims and moods of his captors, but instead he gives you all along the feeling that Steve McQueen is all that there is to watch there and the rest is secondary. He feels all along so sure of himself that he can even engage in a staring contest with a SS heavy, a guy who could turn him into dust with a gesture of his little finger. But of course he knows he can do that, after all he is making thousands times more dough for this flick than the other guy, and than everyone else. He is the star here and he will never let them forget it, neither you, the spectator. In all, not worth watching, except for his fans. 3/10.