Not such a great escape

Rating: 5/10 (11 October 2002)

Loosely based on the true story of 70-odd American, British, and other allied prisoners of war who escaped from jail to deliberately throw confusion on Germany and divert troops from the front lines. Top cast of character actors makes the most of all the scenes and the action is good, so one doesn't tend to notice the film's excessive length too much. Lots of thought went into making the film relatively inoffensive to the European market, even including sympathetic Germans and courageous Frenchmen, cheapening the film's realism.