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Poster (c) MGM
Young children will know it as Chicken Run, while older folk (like myself, at the ripe old age of 14) know it as The Great Escape, the classic POW escape film from 1963 with Steve McQueen and James Garner. With its familiar score by Elmer Bernstein, The Great Escape puts us into a German POW camp and we go along with everybody to try to escape in this three hour film.
The smorgasbord of characters include Hilts, the “Cooler King” (McQueen), who spends much of his time in isolation, Hendley, the “Scrounger” (Garner), who can get anything he wants, and Danny, the “Tunnel King” (Charles Bronson). During WWII, these people are sent to the POW camp, and decide to escape by digging three tunnels under the camp, nicknamed Tom, Dick, and Harry. If one fails, then they move onto the next. Two hours are spent on this, and the third is spent on what happens to those who escape.
Wait a minute! Did I just give away the ending? No, because of two reasons. One is the title: The Great Escape. It isn’t called The Great Attempt to Escape. Also, the opening titles say how this is a true story, et cetera, so you know what basically happens. That doesn’t mean, however, that it isn’t a thrilling and enthralling piece of work. I wasn’t exactly on the edge of my seat for the entire piece, but the 2 hours and 52 minutes flew by, and I didn’t want to leave the film. I was engaged with everything this picture brought me: an interesting ensemble of characters (alas, like all ensemble movies like this, it’s hard to keep track of EVERY character), an interesting and authentic (and I mean AUTHENTIC) set, and a certain air of unpredictability. I knew what was going to happen for some of it, but what happened overall and to each individual, I had no idea.
There were some very good action scenes, also. Hilts, after he escapes, is evading German officers on a motorbike (possibly the most famous sequence of the film). He did most of the stunts himself. There was never a dull moment. The set looked very authentic, and it was shot on location. Although it’s obvious how they shot it, it really looked like a tunnel under a POW camp. To sum everything up, The Great Escape is a very entertaining, three-hour classic that won’t disappoint you.
Not Rated
Review Date: May 29, 2003