Based on veracious events, the movie has all elements of being a masterpiece. This could not be called to be a tedious artwork despite a gargantuan running time of almost 3 hours. Instead, the movie captures the imagination of the viewers, perhaps due to the ingenuity being shown by the director in the making of it.

The Great Escape is Dare i say it possibly one of the greatest if not the greatest movie ever made.to properly review this film i need to go in depth on the cast and CharactersSteve McQueen plays Virgil Hilts a US Air force captain and leading man of the story, nicknamed the cooler king for spending most of the film in said building, McQueen brings the cocky nature of the Character to life and goes down as one of the most iconic.James Garner plays Robert Hendly, one of the three Americans in the camp and the only Character of the RAF eagle squadron, Garner brings the smoothness to the role that a scrounger would have and by the end of the film you love the character.Richard Attenbrough Plays Roger Bartlett the most faithful of the adapted characters from the true story, Known as the big X and based off the real life Big X Roger Bushel, Attenbroughs performance does the role justice.James Donald plays Ramsey the Senior British Officer, being the second most faithful of the Characters and based off of real life figure Herbert Massey and is wonderful as the leader of the escape party.Charles Bronson plays Danny Valinski, one of two Tunnel Kings, whilst many might say that he over acts in the tunnel scenes in which he breaks down i chalk that up to wonderful acting and a real life fear of Bronson, as his character unravels you begin to learn what he has sacrificed over the course of the war.Donald Pleasence plays Colin Blythe, i will admit he was a major factor in me deciding to watch this film having fallen in love with his portrayal of Sam Loomis in the Halloween saga, whilst in those films he was rough, this film showed another angle to his acting skills playing the soft spoken forger who whilst looking innocent is one of the cunning masterminds of the escape.James Coburn plays Sedgwick, whilst a great actor and a great character i had a hard time buying that the character was Australian the accent was off and the other numerous attempts to show him as Australian felt show horned in but the character added some nice light humour when needed.Hannes Messemer plays Von Luger, Whilst many people look at the whole German Army of WWII with disgust Messemers portrayal of Von Luger is one of the best in the films and shows another side to the German army that is rarely portrayed in today's films, showing that of an high ranking officer who doesn't always appear to agree with the views of his superiors or his underlings and his possible disagreement with the Nazi regime.David McCallum plays Ashley Pitt, not much can be said about his role as he's mainly relegated to the background but is noticeable in every scene he's in and wonderfully written as the character knowingly sacrifices himself for the needs of his superiors, like Plesence he is soft spoken and wonderful to watch.Gordon Jackson plays MacDonald, one of the leading forces of the escape Jackson portrays a man who doesn't agree with the war and is more focused on wanting to get everyone out of the camp no matter the cost, whilst not as soft spoken as the likes of Plesence or McCallum he is a joy to watch.Johny Leyton plays Willie, the second Tunnel King i will say that whoever said that singers can't act is quite mistaken, in fact i was taken a back to realize that he was a singer and this was his first film role, the character is kind and looks out for the panicked Danny towards the end of the film and is wonderfully played throughout.Nigel Stock plays Cavendish, whilst a great actor this is where i take a small disliking to the character is named the surveyor but is shown to be in adequate of doing so and is never seen doing the job and is then relegated to security for the remainder of the film and is played for comic relief, something the film didn't really need except for the bed collapsing scene which was based off of a true story, the character could have been combined with that or Sorans played by William Russell and there wouldn't be any difference although in a personal preference i would preferred Russell in the role.The story is faithful to the true escape with the post escape being added solely for the film but with an escape sequence that had me pausing almost every minute because of the sheer suspense that was killing me wondering who was going to escape, i honestly found myself enjoying this film every minute, I would recommend this movie for how wonderful it is as a timeless classic.

The first half of the movie "The Great Escape", namely the build-up for the escape, is slow and overlong. Also, some scenes lack credibility in the sense that the Germans are too nice to the allied prisoners. The second half, that is to say, the escape process, is much more taut, realistic and breathtaking. The plot is beyond the expectation of the audience, which makes perhaps the greatest prison break film of all time.

THE GREAT ESCAPE is a history adventure drama which describes, in a commercial way, an escape from a German stalag during World War II. The film is based on Paul Brickhill's 1950 book of the same name.In 1943, the Germans have moved all the prisoners of war, who are prone to running away, to a new high-security prisoner of war camp. Their commandant points out the various features of the new camp designed to prevent escape, as well as the advantages that the prisoners will receive as incentive not to try. After several failed attempts on the first day, the prisoners settle into life at the camp. Meanwhile, Gestapo agents bring the infamous "Big X" in the camp. He is introduced as the principal escape organizer. His attempt to escape will be punished by death. However, he, with the support of other escape artists, who are detained in the camp, plans the greatest escape ever attempted, with tunnels to break out 250 prisoners...The story is exciting and tense, with a lot of charm and humor. Unfortunately, it is stuck somewhere between fiction and truth. The characters are based on real men. However, the commercialization of this film, which can not credibly to follow historical facts, has made some damage. The protagonists are defiant, arrogant, disobedient, surprisingly resourceful and entertaining. Well, that is a successful Hollywood trick. The point has remained obscure. The tragic epilogue ends with a smile on the face of one of the rebels. Characterization is very good, given the large number of actors. There is no depth, but it is somewhat expected. Their expression has an amplitude only in a few scenes.Steve McQueen as Capt. Virgil Hilts, the "Cooler King" is a rebellious and persistent character. He is a subtle link between the two hostile sides. A baseball and glove are too excessive segments. However, his performance is very good. James Garner as Flt. Lt. Robert Hendley, the "Scrounger" is a creative and mysterious character. The credibility of his character is quite impaired, in a maximum-security prison, regardless of an apparent change in the second part of the film. Richard Attenborough as Sqn. Ldr. Roger Bartlett, "Big X" is, maybe, too quiet for a notorious prisoner or a great leader. He's a brain of their operation, in which the other participants have a greater role than him. However, he is their balance. Charles Bronson as Flt. Lt. Danny Velinski, the "Tunnel King", is an irreplaceable base of their operation. A melodrama of his character is a little exaggerated in climatic moments. Donald Pleasence as Flt. Lt. Colin Blythe, the "Forger" has offered the best performance of all the actors in this film. His humorous character becomes his personal tragedy and despair from which is born a strange friendship. James Coburn as Fg. Off. Louis Sedgwick, the "Manufacturer" is a man who finds himself in the right place at the right time. James Donald as Gp. Capt. Ramsey, the Senior British Officer (SBO) is a serious and calm captain who has a broad perception of the events around him.There is no strong emotions, everything is mechanically aligned.However, I enjoyed it.