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The Great Escape (1963)
Starring: Steve McQueen, James Garner Director: John Sturges Rating: Not Rated
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In 1943, the Nazis open a new prison camp designed to hold even the craftiest escape artists, who promptly devise the greatest prison breakout ever attempted.
John Sturges's dramatization of the true story of a group of British, American, and Canadian POWs who successfully escaped from Stalag Luft III in Upper Silesia in March 1944 is arguably the greatest World War II adventure film ever made. A host of big-name stars meshes beautifully in this meticulous recreation of the legendary great escape. Although this is a film about courage, Sturges wisely takes a low-key approach, leavened with humor, rather than allowing the cast to indulge in macho antics.
The German high command has filtered out all of the allies' most talented escape artists and placed them in a POW camp specifically designed to foil any unwanted departures. But as soon as they arrive, the prisoners, led by Steve McQueen as the rebellious Virgil Hilts, 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. 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 Great Escape, based on the book by Paul Brickhill, 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 simply unforgettable.
Theatrical release: August 8, 1963.
Shooting location: Bavaria, Germany.
Donald Pleasence, the Forger in , was an RAF wireless operator during the war, serving time in a German POW camp after his LancasThe Great Escapeter was shot down.
Walt Floody, the actual Tunnel King, was a technical adviser on the film The Great Escape.
The famous barbed-wire scene in The Great Escape that made Steve McQueen's career was done by his friend, stuntman Bud Elkins, with one of the Triumph 600s used in the film.
The Great Escape is also available as part of The Steve McQueen Collection |
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| Cast & Crew: |
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Starring:
Steve McQueen | James Garner | Richard Attenborough | James Donald | Charles Bronson | Donald Pleasence | James Coburn | Hannes Messemer | ...more
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Directed By:
John Sturges
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Genre:
Action/Adventure, Drama, War
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DVD Release Date:
October 1, 2008
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Format: Region 1
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Rating:
Not Rated
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Year:
1963
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Regional Coding:
R1:
Will only play on North American Region 1 or multi-region DVD players.
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Number of Discs:
1
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Subtitles:
English, French, Spanish
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Screen Ratio:
Anamorphic (16:9), Widescreen Edition - 2.35:1
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English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround) | |
Running Time:
172 minutes
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Studio:
MGM/UA
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Catalogue Number:
906680
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UPC/Barcode Number:
027616668028
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Closed-Captioned: Yes
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Color: Yes
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- The Making Of The Great Escape featurette
- Production Notes
- Original Theatrical Trailer
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