Steve McQueen plays Steve McQueen.

Rating: Null/10 (22 May 2002)

There are only two things wrong with The Great Escape:
(1) There was no sequel.
(2) I have never figured out how to get my A-2 flight jacket to look as beat up as the one worn by Virgil Hilts.
McQueen personifies the American Air Force officer in WW2. He is a strong individualist, put off by Mickey Mouse discipline but has put up with it in order to fly. Yet when faced with a political and moral challenge- escaping from a POW camp, or harassing the enemy, both to maintain his dignity and continue the fight, he shows an inner discipline and strong team player mentality.
McQueen's own military experience shows though here and gives real depth and credibility to his character (despite his arrogance, Hilts addresses the German Commandant by ending each response with "Ya Voll, Herr Oberst" [Yes sir, My colonel]. As he passes the Senior British Officer [SBO] in the last scene, he nods and acknowledges his superior officer with a simple "...sir"). These are traits of an experienced soldier, not an actor reading lines. McQueen plays his role this way throughout the movie.
Like every other McQueen fan, I keep watching the film again and again, because I know if I do he will eventually jump the motorcycle over the barbed wire fence and head off to freedom.
(Note: The character Hilts was based upon was an OSS agent named Sage. Sage eventually did escape from another POW camp later in the war, so even though the bike jump wasn't successful, Hilts was. Somewhat of a consolation).
A beautiful Elmer Bernstein sound track is hauntingly choreographed with stunning German Bavarian scenery. John Sturges has assembled his cast of "usual suspects": McQueen, Coburn & Bronson from previous war and western flicks. Sir Richard Attenborough is superb as "Big X" the escape committee mastermind, and James Garner plays James Garner plays James Garner...as (Bret Maverick) the perennial wise cracking thief and scrounger.
Even after nearly 40 years, I still love watching the intro credits roll and the music start...Once the POWs jump down from the trucks I'm absorbed into the plot all over again.