Top 250: #87

The Great Escape

Plot Overview: A group of POWs near the end of WWII devise a plan to escape through a tunnel.

I picked this movie up at Superstore in a bargain bin. I had actually picked out another movie that I wanted instead, but I put it down to look at what else was available, and someone then picked it up and walked away. The Great Escape was my second choice.

Having now watched this movie, I can see why it is a classic. There are many characters in this movie, but unlike some films I found it easy to keep the characters straight and to know who was doing what and why.

It's weird, but I find I don't have much to say about the film. I probalby should have kept notes while I watched it, like I usually do for this sort of thing. Plus, I'm tired and sore. But I do find it interesting that one of the main characters later went on to play John Hammond (the old dude with the beard) in Jurrasic Park, and he also directed Gandhi in 1982, which is currently at #162 on the list. I wonder if there are any other movies on the list that were directed by actors who also appear as actors in movies on the list. I bet Clint Eastwood has a director and actor credit on the list. Yup - Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven.

Anyway, The Great Escape actually surprised me at the end due to how many of the characters get caught or killed, but that is accurate to real life, on which the story is based, which I did not know.

Steve McQueen shows his cool, of course. He was a pretty good motorcycle rider and he got to show that off a bit here, which was cool. Later, he died of lung cancer. Sad.

I was surprised at the main music theme because I knew the music very well from other movies. It is a song that usually plays over montages, especially when characters are preparing weapons for a fight. You would probably recognise it if you heard it.

Early in the movie, the warden of the prison camp says that the camp was built to be unescapable, and that they have gathered all of the prisoners who were most notorious for escaping from POW camps (obviously only to be recaptured later). Later he seems surprised that some of them escaped. No wonder Germany lost the war.

Something else that I enjoyed about the movie was seeing things that were familiar to me because I lived in Germany. I miss it there.

Well, hopefully I'll get to more movies from the list soon.