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There are a few scenes more iconic in the history of American cinema than Steve McQueen’s motorcycle jump over the fence of a Nazi concentration camp in The Great Escape—but not many. John Sturges’s 1963 based-on-a-true-story film following a mass escape from Stalag Luft III remains a classic that’s worthy of an upgrade to true high-def home viewings. Now it finally makes the jump to Blu-ray, and while the film is still as enjoyable as ever, the new transfer leaves something to be desired.
Set in the latter days of World War II, The Great Escape stars McQueen as Captain Virgil “Cooler King” Hilts, who’s transferred to a new camp that’s meant to hold the most troublesome POWs in Nazi-occupied Poland. Each of them has attempted escape before, and under the leadership of British officer Roger “Big X” Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) they’re planning the biggest all-or-nothing prison break in the history of the war. Despite his own misgivings, Hilts finds himself drawn into the ambitious and complicated scheme.
So what happens when you put a whole bunch of resourceful and sneaky prisoners in the same place with nothing but time and a burning desire to escape? You get secret tunnels, a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse, and one of the best caper films of all time, featuring a cast that includes James Garner, Donald Pleasance, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. What’s true about the story is also true about the movie: throw that much talent into one project, and there’s a good bet that something amazing is going to happen.
There’s a definite boys’-club vibe to the film. Each of the men brings a unique skill, personality, and requisite cool nickname to the table, and one of the film’s greatest strengths lies in its ability to make each of them seem important. The first two-thirds of the three-hour film includes a lot of quiet, often funny moments that help define the large cast. By the time the escape occurs, we’re invested in each of them as they try to make their way to friendly territory.
Despite the desperate nature of its narrative, The Great Escape takes its time to set up each beat as it comes, and it generally plays those beats softly. There aren’t any big action set pieces to speak of, but the deliberate pace and excellent character work make up for the lack of pyrotechnics. That said, there are a few sequences set in the tunnels that will make claustrophobics like me squirm . There’s also a fair bit of tragedy, as history doesn’t tend to allow happy endings for everyone.
At its heart, though The Great Escape succeeds by keeping it simple. There’s no overwhelming message about the nature of war—and not a hint of forced romantic subplots or slapstick. It’s an adventure movie that sticks close to a well-known historical event and offers something loved by POWs and filmgoers alike: pure escapism.
Blu-ray Review:
The best thing this Blu-ray has to offer is its collection of special features. The extras don’t offer anything that wasn’t included on the previously-released two-disc special edition DVD, but it still includes plenty. There’s a commentary track that was pieced together from interviews with the director and cast, a full set of featurettes that detail the making of the film, and an hour-long documentary about the real-life escape.
There’s really only one area where this new release falls short, but it’s a big one. One of the joys of the Blu-ray format has been seeing remastered versions of classics that just haven’t really looked that good at home before. I don’t know if it’s owing to the state of the original media or compression issues from including nearly six hours worth of movie and features on a single disc, but the picture frequently looks washed out and grainy. It’s better than DVD—but not by nearly as much as it should be.
If you don’t have already have a copy of The Great Escape or you want the full slate of extras, it’s worth checking out on Blu-ray. If you’ve already got it—especially that two-disc DVD edition—there isn’t enough improvement in quality to justify the upgrade. Hopefully, someday soon, they’ll make a real effort to give this classic the home viewing experience that it deserves.
