Well, I have a big crush on Damian Lewis but that is not enough to propel this series into a high star rating. There isn't nearly enough time spent on the attempts to escape from what is almost an inescapable fortress. There isn't enough attention to the place, or to the feelings of frustration and uselessness and claustrophobia that these POW's feel. In addition, sometimes it is difficult to understand what is being said. I could understand Lewis though.There are too few scenes showing how these prisoners actually spend their TIME, other than staring out the window. Escape plans which took months in reality are glossed over, and suddenly you see a bunch of guys on another daring attempt, almost out of the blue. The Colditz story is a fascinating one and the 1972 series is well worth seeing. This one, see it once and you really get how great the original was.I thought this version had a love triangle that took up too much screen time and pulled the viewer into London too often. That defeats the purpose of creating the proper atmosphere for the viewer to feel what it was really like to be stuck in Colditz with very little hope of escape. I will say that the acting and sets are good.

I've already watched some 2 hours of this incredible flop! I'll go through it to see to what an extent the two script writers have gone.Have they ever read a single line of the many books about Colditz and in particular Pat Reid's. Probably not.Their sole interest in this movie is to show a love story and all the rest is just for the fun and accessory. The skills of all those prisoners, the friendship which developed between 6 or 7 nations united in the same hardships is second in line in the story.This movie is an insult to the memory of so many young chaps who suffered for days in that awful prison."Biscuitcharley" has written in his review in 2012 "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!".I totally adhere to his analysis. What would say Americans if we Europeans dared to rewrite the Civil war period? They should really be ashamed of themselves. No words can express my disgust before such a production!

Colditz is a castle near Leipzig where during WW II the Nazis held Allied troops who were particularly at risk as escape artists. Many of the men had escaped POW camps prior to their incarceration in the huge castle, and the man in charge of the prison warns every new inmate that the castle is impenetrable: there is no possibility of escaping and those who attempt will be killed.The film begins in London 1939 as men are preparing to leave for the front. Among them is a slightly naive but warmly human lad, Jack Rose (Tom Hardy) who has fallen in love with Lizzie (Sophia Myles), in a sweet, innocent union that represents the concept of 'the love we leave behind'. Jack leaves for duty with fellow soldiers Nicholas McGrade (Damian Lewis) and Tom Willis (Lawrence Fox) and soon they are captured by the Nazis and placed in a POW camp. Of course, being cunning lads, they soon escape only to be captured again and sent to the ominous Colditz - all except Nick. There they bond with men from home such as artist Sawyer (Guy Henry) and from other countries including France and Canada - among them Rhett Barker (Jason Priestly) who is a manipulator able to buy goods from Nazi guards including drugs to which he is addicted.Nick is sent back to London where he meets Lizzie to tell her of Jack's safety. In time the two feel an attraction that proves to have fatal consequences because of Nick's obsession to have Lizzie to himself. Meanwhile the men in Colditz attempt multiple escapes only to be caught each time and put into solitary confinement. The drive to escape is aided by all of the inmates and yet their efforts are thwarted by colleagues turned informers for their own selfish needs. Artist Sawyer does escape and is assigned in London with the Intelligence outfit with Nick: he learns that supposedly Jack has been reported as killed in action (a letter forged by Nick to gain access to Lizzie's emotions) and the remainder of the story concerns the end of the war, the release of the prisoners from Colditz, and the fatal schism between the returning Jack and his rival Nick over the love of Lizzie.Director Stuart Orme manages to keep the pace of this over three hour long film, allowing the viewer to meet and understand and care about a very large cast of characters (writers Richard Cottan and Peter Morgan have created deft personalities). Filmed in London and the Czech Republic the atmosphere is correctly captured and the large cast of characters includes many very fine cameos. If there is a single message to summarize a complex story, it is the old adage 'brothers in arms, rivals in love'. This made for television miniseries is well acted and is another opportunity to see the background stories of World War II. Recommended viewing. Grady Harp

I have to disagree strongly with other reviewers.I have had the opportunity of visiting Colditz and talking to inmates of the prison.I have to say that if there was any authenticity in this feeble effort it was more by accident than design.For example when the prisoners are greeted at the camp by the security officer they are told that they will be shot if they try to escape.This is palpably incorrect.The treatment of prisoners was governed by the Geneva convention and this did not permit such a punishment.Prisoners could be shot if they were caught in the act of escaping and refused to surrender.This unfortunately did happen.As for the love story was this written by the ghost of Barbara Cartland.The dialogue was dated 40 years ago.I resent the fact that the exploits of some very brave men were cheapened by this feeble effort.Thankfully It will now sink without a trace so that we still have the evocative feature film to refer back to.