As an avid follower of all things Colditz, I have to admit I shall boycott this number until the end of time. Fine, drop a love story in front of the war, it's been done over and over again, and it works. It is greatly romantic, with all the heart wrenching death and lovers being ripped apart by the German army... I'm making myself sick thinking about it! I am sad that Colditz has been brought into it. I watched a trailer, and heard I think one English accent. It is an abomination of history. Drugs? In Colditz? The Germans letting someone go? It is a stack of poop so high, we are all in peril of being covered if it topples. It may have been filmed in the Czech and England, but it is an American production, and yet again, they have demonstrated their ability to rewrite history to fulfill their own greedy, empty past. Thanks again Hollywood, for making me sick to my stomach and aching for you not to destroy history, again! Don't even get me started on U-571!!

Thrilling wartime heroics take a back seat to a lackluster romance in "Puppet Masters" director Stuart Orme's atmospheric but disappointing British P.O.W. escape saga "Colditz." During World War II, the Third Reich rounded up all the worst Allied escape artists from prisoner-of-war camps and cornered them in an ancient castle. Although quite a bit of the action takes place in Germany with P.O.W.s struggling to get out of Colditz, the bulk of the action transpires in England. Murderous Irish soldier Corporal Nicholas McGrade (Damian Lewis of "Band of Brothers) escapes from Colditz and makes it back to London where his superior, Lt. Colonel Jimmy Fordham (James Fox of "Performance"), congratulates on his good luck and promotes him to lieutenant. Naturally, this upstart Irish decides to take revenge on a fellow prisoner, Second Lieutenant Jack Rose (Tom Hardy of "Black Hawk Down"), and tells Rose's girl, Lizzie Carter (Sophie Myles of the "Underworld" movies), that Jack is dead. Smug Nicholas eventually persuades reluctant Lizzie to share his bed. Things go awry when another Colditz prisoner, Captain Sawyer (Guy Henry of "V for Vendetta"), escapes and suspects that McGrade has lied to Lizzie and told her that her boyfriend Jack was shot while trying to escape.The best scene in this dreary World War II romance thriller occurs when three escape happy Brits plunge into the sewer system to squirm out of Colditz. Otherwise, "Colditz" is barely worth watching for its lengthy three hour running time. The Germans are portrayed as thugs without any individuality. Jason Priestly is truly unsavory as Flying Officer Rhett Barker who scourges things for his companions to make their escape. The most pathetic character is Captain Willis (Laurence Fox of "The Last Drop" where he played an SS officer) who repeatedly tries to escape but never succeeds. His last demoralizing act of escape is valiant but futile.It's easy to tell that "Colditz" is a post-World War II war movie. The Allies spend more time fighting each other than they do the Nazis. If you want to see a crackerjack World War II escape movie, check out John Sturges' "The Great Escape" with Steve McQueen. James Bond director Guy Hamilton had better like with Colditz in his own version "The Colditz Story." You'd think that the people at Granada who produced "Colditz" should have known better than to spoil a vintage World War II tale with a forgettable soap opera love triangle. Furthermore, the DVD presentation of this saga lacks not only English language subtitles but also closed captioning. Most of the dialogue is virtually muffled and you have to rewind scenes to understand what the leads are staying to each other. Finally, none of the protagonists are remotely sympathetic. Instead, everybody is selfish and egotistical, not exactly the kind of heroes that you want to root for.

I enjoyed watching "Colditz" very much. However I was extremely disappointed in the character of Bunny Warren, played by Timothy West. This character is based on the war activities of Clayton Hutton (always known as Clutty). He was a remarkable man and I commend his book "Official Secret" as a true guide to the man. Clutty was one of those unsung heroes of those days who played a vital role during those dark days. To portray him as some kind of bumbling, irascible "boffin" does great discredit to the man. The writers of "Colditz" should be ashamed of their manner in which they presented him in this drama. He deserves better than that.

Before watching "colditz" i was rather sceptical, i thought "Oh typical, ITV producing another prisoner of war themed drama" (remember P.O.W from last year, which was rather a disappointment, but i can safely say, the ITV have really outdone themselves on producing such a fine, accurate drama about life in Colditz. Also the gripping storyline about the love triangle between Lizzie, Mcgrade and Jack was truly intense in its self. The twist at the end is also very well thought-out. I am rather going of at a tangent now, but i have to say how wonderful Jason Priestley played Rhett Barker (im trying to ignore the fact i have a soft spot for him..!) i truly think that the heroin storyline was different, and i think that it was good to see a representation of this as in my opinion really helped to paint a picture as to how bad life really got for the prisoners. The DVD is coming out soon in the UK, my advice? BUY IT!