One of my favourite WW2 movies, based mostly on the actual life story of the escape of Allied Air Force Prisoners from Stalag Luft III in 1944, a excessive safety POW Camp in-built such a means, that tunnels couldn’t be constructed simply n.The film begins with the prisoners arriving on the camp to the tune of Elmer Bernstein’s great background rating.
The camp is manned by Col Von Luger( Hannes Messemer) which he claims to be escape proof and that none can escape from there. Most of those POW’s have a repute of being escape artists, and probably the most harmful of all of them is Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett( Sir Richard Attenborough), on whom the Gestapo have put a shoot to kill, if he’s discovered escaping.
Bartlett nonetheless is unfazed and instantly begins work on escaping. Only this time, it’ll be one of many largest escape makes an attempt involving 250 males. And thus a plan is about in movement to execute some of the daring and audacious escape ever tried. Teams are organised to survey, dig, disguise grime, forge paperwork, present distractions.
The three tunnels nicknamed “Tom”, “Dick” and “Harry” are dug. After Tunnel 1 is found, efforts are targeting the final tunnel which nonetheless simply falls 20 ft wanting the woods which might give them the quilt. Even then 76 males handle to flee, earlier than the guards uncover one in every of them comming out of the tunnel. And the escape try is foiled.
The greatest a part of the film is the characters themselves.
Steve Mc Queen is the “Cooler King”, due to his penchant to get into fights, with the German guards and infrequently ending up within the cooler. Brash, cocky and good alec, he usually manages to get onto his captor’s nerves together with his behaviour.
James Garner is the *“*Scrounger”, so referred to as as he has this means to acquire something proper from pretend paperwork to ID playing cards to cameras. His associate and greatest buddy performed by Donald Pleasance is “The Forger” for his means to forge any form of doc. Both of them plan to flee in a aircraft, however it leads to tragedy.
Sir Richard Attenborough is “Big X”, attributable to his repute as an escape artist, and a person on the Gestapo’s hit checklist. He proves to be the mastermind behind your entire plan, proper from planning to the execution.
James Coburn is “The Manufacturer” who’s an skilled at manufacturing the instruments wanted to dig via like picks and shovels. He additionally makes these air blowers wanted to maintain the oxygen stage in tunnels. Charles Bronson is “The Tunnel King” so referred to as attributable to his means to dig the tunnels.
Apart from the good bunch of characters, the dramatic stress is properly maintained, the scenes exhibiting the prisoners, plan their escape, the dry runs, the implementation is properly depicted. One nice scene, when the prisoners hear the guards comming in, and instantly rearrange the whole lot in a jiffy. Danny saying “I am taking a shower”, when he’s standing proper on the spot the place the tunnel begins.
Again the precise escape sequence is brilliantly shot, you are feeling the stress, you really feel the suspense, and you retain asking your self “Will they or wont they?” , And thats the place The Great Escape scores overwhelmingly, it catches you by your lapels and pulls you alongside, making the viewer part of the story, which is what i point out is important for any entertainer.
With nerve wracking stress, wonderful pacing, very good performances and a few nice motion sequences, this can be a film that’s not to be missed at any prices. And my advice, get the popcorn, get the soda, lie again and revel in this 2.5 hours curler coaster journey of a film.
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