1963 · drama · war · adventure
The Great Escape (1963)
Directed by John Sturges2h 53m1963
The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.
Our read: The Great Escape (1963) (1963) reads as a neutral, kinetic, grounded drama · war · adventure entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, measured in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.
Neutral, kinetic, measured drama / war, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, measured.
- brisk
- intense
Watching The Great Escape tonight? Spin for your lens.
Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.
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Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.
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How The Great Escape feels to watch.
Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.
What watching it is actually like.
“You want a thrilling true-story POW escape with ingenuity, teamwork, and Steve McQueen.”
Skip it tonight — You dislike long war films or the cost of many characters not making it.
Eight films that feel like this one.
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Discussion
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