Arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, John Sturges's dramatisation of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive... more
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GREAT ESCAPE
Arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, John Sturges's dramatisation of
... more
the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive escape from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944, stars Steve Mc...
GREAT ESCAPE^ THE
Blur: Damon Albarn (vocals, piano, organ, synthesizer, handclaps); Graham Coxon (acoustic
... more
& electric guitars, banjo, saxophone, handclaps, background vocals); Alex James (bass, handclaps, background vocals); Dave Rowntree (drums, handclaps, background vocals).Additional personnel: Cathy Gillat (vocals); The Right On Ken Livingstone (spoken vocals); Stephen Street (handclaps); Angela Murrell, Teresa Jane Davis (background vocals).The Duke Strings Quartet: Louisa Fuller, Rick Koster (violin); John Metcalfe (viola); Ivan McCermoy (cello).The Kick Horns: Simon Clarke, Tim Sanders (saxophone); Roddy Lorimer (trumpet); Neil Sidwell (trombone).Recorded at Maison Rouge and Townhouse Studios, London, England between January and May 1995.Beyond British and sensationally sociological, Blur and singer/songwriter Damon Albarn weave tales of stifling middle class ennui into clever pop vignettes. THE GREAT ESCAPE is another demonstration of Blur's unique intelligence, more of Albarn's witty commentary, and substantial proof that the group may be bordering on genius.As usual, Albarn's senses are keen on THE GREAT ESCAPE. His ear for melody and sound textures shines throughout the album's fifteen brilliant tracks. The ska horns and spy soundtrack guitar riffing on Fade Away exemplify Blur's knack for pop music, yet elevate the song beyond simple genre-fication, with a dignity reserved for the orchestra pit. The snide humor behind Mr. Robinson And His Quango rubs shoulders with the desperation of He Thought Of Cars, all the while dwelling on what they hope to escape. It's this nagging dread that carries the album--the sense that the people Albarn describes are as desperate to find meaning as Albarn is to capture it within the song's narrative.THE GREAT ESCAPE may not turn into Blur's great American breakthrough album, but if you're not thrown by Albarn's overwhelmingly British aesthetic, it just might be enough to take you away from the confines of your day to day doldrums.[Reviews]Q (12/99, p.84) - Included in Q Magazine's 90 Best Albums Of The 1990s.Q (2/96, p.62) - Included in Q's 50 Best Albums of 1995.Melody Maker (12/23-30/95, pp.66-67) - Ranked #10 on Melody Maker's list of 1995's `Albums Of The Year.'NME (12/23-30/95, pp.22-23) - Ranked #9 in NME's `Top 50 Albums Of The Year' for 1995.Spin (11/95, pp.124-125) - 6 - Reasonably Good - ...Blur turns the rotating-robot staccato silverware clank of manlier Limeys like Elastica...into dance oriented pop muzik. When it's swirling fast and busy, it's wonderful...Q (10/95, p.110) - 5 Stars - Indispensable - ...THE GREAT ESCAPE's rich tapestry is matched by music of kaleidoscopic surprises--half punk and half pop-psychedelic in its influences, restlessly innovative in its execution...Melody Maker (9/9/95, p.33) - Bloody Essential - ...Blur's fourth album (theirs is now the most interesting career since Joy Division metamorphosed into New Order) is more robotic than rock, less Kinks than Kraftwerk....Blur understand the geometry of the song, and the basic principles of pop, better than anyone today....The experimental hits just keep on coming...NME (9/9/95, p.46) - 9 (out of 10) - ...If Noel Oasis' strength derives from an ambition to be the John Lennon of his generation, then Blur want to be Lennon AND McCartney. Which means THE GREAT ESCAPE is so rammed with tunes, ideas, emotions, humour, tragedy, farce, and edgy beauty that's it's utterly beyond contemporary compare...n
War - Director: John Woo, Roger Spottiswoode, Oliver Stone, Gregory Hoblit, John Sturges, John Irvin, Sidney Hayers, Richard Attenborough, John Guillermin, Robert Aldrich, Walter Grauman - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over
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Undoubtedly one of the most entertaining war movies ever made, this is based on the true story of 76 Allied soldiers who managed to escape from a German P.O.W. camp in 1942. Released in 1963, The Great Escape was one of the most successful blockbusters of its day and consolidated Steve McQueen's status as a film legend. The story begins with the arrival of these Allied P.O.W.s at a newly constructed high-security camp. There, the German commandant ... ...co-operate with their captors until the war is over. Of course, they have absolutely no intention of doing so. Indeed, no sooner have they arrived than some of the more daring among them are trying to break out. It seems the Germans have rather foolishly incarcerated the best escape artists together in one place so what could they have expected? So, led by the determined squadron leader Bartlett, alias Big X (Richard Attenborough), we now have a ...
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...how does it relate to The great Escape)? When I asked Mrs TheNeil what she fancied watching, she quite surprisingly opted for The Great Escape. Huh? "But surely dear you mean Grease or some such other twaddle?". No, she was adamant, The Great Escape. Ok then dear, you know best (she's scary when she picks the bread knife up so she tends to get her own way) and anyway, it had been a while since we'd spun this particular DVD.
With German forces stretched, ... ...that is escape proof. Immediately the inmates try escape attempt after escape attempt but it seems that the Nazi's might actually have managed to achieve the impossible and build an escape proof prison. With the arrival of chief escape officer Bartlett (Big X), the escape attempts are focused into one channel - A vast tunnel. Hoping to free 250 men in one go, the 'experts' set to work, tunneling, forging, scrounging, and preparing everything for ...
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I feel mildly guilty. The other week I was composing my top 10 list of films and The Great Escape despite being an absolutely cracking film missed out on inclusion. So to assuage my conscience I'm gonna devote a whole opinion to saying how great it is. And it isn't difficult because this is a truly brilliant film for a whole variety of reasons. But before I go into them just for anyone who's here by accident and has never heard of the Great Escape ... ...- 250 through three tunnels. The first half of the film sets up all of the characters and details of the planning etc. Then the escape happens and despite a cock-up 76 get away. And in case you haven't seen the film I won't entirely spoil the ending by telling you what happens to them then. Instead I'll expand on why this film is so superb:
1. Acting
This film had a truly all-star cast: Richard Attenborough as Sqd Ldr Bartlett the architect of ...
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18.05.2001
For the Fifty Review ofThe Great Escape (Wide Screen)by
Plissken
Advantages: Great cast, great score...Great Escape! Disadvantages: We all know what's going to happen. After all, we've seen it 478 times.
After the harsh realities of combat inflicted on us by the likes of 'Saving Private Ryan', it's sometimes nice to settle back into a different era of war movies. Back when 'The Great Escape' was made, it didn't matter if the movie took a few liberties were taken with the story - as long as it was told in a manner that pleased us, then so be it.
So it's nice to see a bunch of Allied heroes running circles around benign prison guards. Reassuring to ... ...again.
Some genius in the Nazi Prison Department comes up with the wise idea of putting all the most troublesome allied escapologists in one camp. They then provide them with all the stationary they need to make maps and forge documents, and plenty of gardening tools to steal and dig tunnels with. Not only that, the Germans decide to staff the camp with the most inept security guards this side of 'Hogan's Heroes'.
So realism isn't a factor. But ...
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Advantages: Good escapist stuff Disadvantages: None
...actually took place in the German prisoner of war camp Stalag III.
(There were times when we called our school Stalag because of the harsh regime but that's got nothing to do with the Great Escape. But we did have our own tunnel.)
Dramatised for effect as most of these films based on reality are, this is a tale of the "English" spirit in adversity. The fact that there were also Yanks, Poles, French, Russians etc. only marginally detracted from ... ...in POW camps by the senior officers in the film it was also maintained that way in reality. Never let it be said that an Englishman doesn't know his place. Never let it be said that an upper crust Englishman doesn't make sure that we are kept in our place whatever the situation.
Stalag III was a camp were escapees from other camps were sent to after being re-captured, so in effect the Germans put into one place all the escaping experts of the war. ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Still the best war film ever with loads of extras Disadvantages: Maybe not suitable for Scots, Welsh + Irish
..."It is the duty of any officer in time of war...to do all in his power to escape" - General George Harsh.
Never has this been shown in such passionate detail as in the The GreatEscape.
Based on a true story, it is set in 1943 in a brand new POW camp in Germany. This camp was constucted by the German's to hold all the troublesome Allied POW's - Summed up by Von Luger, the Commandant in the movie as "Putting all our rotten eggs in one basket".
The film stars world renowned actors such as Steve McQueen(Hilts - The Cooler King), James Garner(Hendley - The Scrounger), Richard Attenborough(Bartlett - Big X), James Donald(Ramsey - SBO), Charles Bronson(Danny - Tunnel King), Donald Pleasence(Blythe - The Forger) and James Coburn(Sedgwick - The Manufacturer). All these stars play huge parts in the film with none having a 'more important...
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Actor(s): Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, Donald Pleasence, James Donald, Gordon Jackson, John Leyton, David McCallum, Nigel Stock, David McCallum, Gordon Jackson, Angus Lennie, Jud Taylor
Director(s): John Sturges
Genre: War
Classification: Parental Guidance
Production Year: 1963
Running Time: 2 hours 52 minutes
Video Category: Feature Film
Plot: Arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, John Sturges's dramatisation of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive escape from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944, stars Steve McQueen as the rebellious Virgil Hilts. The German high command has filtered out all the most talented escape artists of the Allies' and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed to foil any unwanted departures. Of course, as soon as they arrive, the prisoners begin work on a series of tunnels under the direction of Roger "Big X" Bartlett (Richard Attenborough). He assigns the POWs to jobs according to their specialties: Bob "Scrounger" Hendley (James Garner) steals necessary items, Eric "Dispersal" Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) hides the soil being dug from the tunnels, and Danny "the Tunnel King" Willinski (Charles Bronson) and Colin "the Forger" Blythe (Donald Pleasence) have self-explanatory handles. For more than a year, 600 prisoners, most of whom won't be leaving, work toward an escape that will temporarily disrupt the operations of the German army. The host of big-name stars meshes beautifully in this meticulous re-creation of the legendary escape. Although this is a film about courage, Sturges wisely takes a low-key approach, leavened with humour, rather than allowing the cast to indulge in macho antics. However, McQueen's memorable motorcycle stunts could be said to fit in that category. THE GREAT ESCAPE, based on the book by Paul Brickhill, is quite simply one of the grandest war films ever made, featuring many key scenes (McQueen's motorcycle chase, McQueen tossing the baseball against the cell wall, Bronson sliding on his chest in the tunnel) that are unforgettable.
Arguably the best World War II adventure film ever made, John Sturges's dramatisation of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who executed a massive escape from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944, stars Steve McQueen as the rebellious Virgil Hilts. The German high command has filtered out all the most talented escape artists of the Allies' and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed to foil any unwanted departures. Of course, as soon as they arrive, the prisoners begin work on a series of tunnels under the direction of Roger Big X Bartlett (Richard Attenborough). He assigns the POWs to jobs according to their specialties: Bob Scrounger Hendley (James Garner) steals necessary items, Eric Dispersal Ashley-Pitt (David McCallum) hides the soil being dug from the tunnels, and Danny the Tunnel King Willinski (Charles Bronson) and Colin the Forger Blythe (Donald Pleasence) have self-explanatory handles. For more than a year, 600 prisoners, most of whom won't be leaving, work toward an escape that will temporarily disrupt the operations of the German army. The host of big-name stars meshes beautifully in this meticulous re-creation of the legendary escape. Although this is a film about courage, Sturges wisely takes a low-key approach, leavened with humour, rather than allowing the cast to indulge in macho antics. However, McQueen's memorable motorcycle stunts could be said to fit in that category. THE GREAT ESCAPE, based on the book by Paul Brickhill, is quite simply one of the grandest war films ever made, featuring many key scenes (McQueen's motorcycle chase, McQueen tossing the baseball against the cell wall, Bronson sliding on his chest in the tunnel) that are unforgettable.
Special Features: Return To The Great Escape Making Of Documentary, Original US Theatrical Trailer, Booklet, Interactive Menu, Chapter Search
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full Frame, 2.35 Wide Screen
Sound: Mono
Dubbing Sound: Mono English French German Italian Spanish
Professional reviews
Review: "...THE GREAT ESCAPE is the finest, all-out entertaining movie from that pot of World War Two, multi-star films..." -- 4 out of 5 stars (Total Film, p.108, 01/07/2000)
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04.11.2005