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The Great Escape

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03:09

The Great Escape

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• Adventure
• Documentary

• 1963
• John Sturges
• 172 mins
• PG

Summary

Classic Second World War adventure based on a true story, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough and Charles Bronson. In an attempt to contain rebellious PoWs, the Nazis transfer the leading troublemakers to a seemingly escape-proof security camp. However, with the finest escape team in military history now under one roof, the German guards are hard pressed to prevent the Allied prisoners from breaking out.

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Review

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Andrew Collins

This is one of the all-time great war movies, a PoW adventure from director John Sturges that celebrates the indomitable spirit of the Allied forces even when their backs were to the wall. Sturges had already pulled off the same ensemble trick with The Magnificent Seven three years earlier, and here three of the Seven - Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn - are reunited. They join such British stalwarts as Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasence, David McCallum and Gordon Jackson in an escape yarn full of collapsing tunnels, probing searchlights and courage in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. It's impossible not to get caught up in the escape party's plans, and Sturges films each intricate step leading up to the breakout with a masterly attention to detail. The cast is full of brilliant characters, from Pleasence's timid forger to James Garner's smooth-talking scrounger, but stealing the show from everyone is McQueen's anarchic but supercool Captain Virgil Hilts, whose attempt to leap to freedom on a motorbike has become an iconic movie image. It's no wonder that Elmer Bernstein's triumphant score has been adopted as an anthem by supporters of England's football team.

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8.2/10

How to watch

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Streaming

• BBC iPlayer
• Prime Video
• Sky Store

Credits

Cast

rolenameHilts, "The Cooler King"Steve McQueen (1)Hendley, "The Scrounger"James GarnerBartlett, "Big X"Richard AttenboroughDanny Velinski, "Tunnel King"Charles BronsonBlythe, "The Forger"Donald PleasenceRamsey, "The SBO"James DonaldSedgwick, "Manufacturer"James CoburnWillie, "Tunneler"John LeytonMacDonald, "Intelligence"Gordon JacksonAshley-Pitt, "Dispersal"David McCallum (1)Cavendish, "Surveyor"Nigel StockVon Luger, "The Kommandant"Hannes MessemerWernerRobert GrafIves, "The Mole"Angus Lennie

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Crew

rolenameDirectorJohn Sturges

Details

Theatrical distributor

United Artists Corp. Ltd

Languages

English | German | Russian | French | Spanish

Guidance

Violence.

Available on

video, DVD and Blu-ray

Formats

Colour

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