War movie fans will be pleasantly surprised by this film

Rating: 10/10 (7 May 2008)

Most war movie fans enjoy being thrown into the fray with a rag tag company of men, thrust into the battle, experiencing the thrill of victory, and the pain of loss: of men, a battle, etc. But what will attack these fans to this film, is the perspective of the prisoner of war. In this case, the Allied prisoner of war. Where this film diverts from many, is in the comedic aspects of the film. Some, tongue in cheek situations, that keep the pace of the film from being too serious. A wonderful, and eclectic cast of characters comprise the film, and they all seem to work well together. There isn't that awkward pairing of actors that don't play well off each other, like so many of todays Hollywood output. You have accomplished foreign actors like Richard Attenborough, and Donald Pleasance, who lend a credibility to the film. And then you have some rather brash, unpolished, but extremely talents yanks, like Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and James Coburn. They have a playful quality about them, they come across as the young braggarts, a bit loose with their approach, but a nice contrast to the stiff regimen of the British army. This film uses the escape, not so much as a central focus, but rather more like a centerpiece. A thing of beauty and and great effort, but something that will oftentimes get overlooked due to the playing out of the occasion. The performances here overshadow a quite riveting story (based upon a true life happening), about a daring escape plan hatched by the allied prisoners of a German P.O.W camp. They see themselves as contributing to the war effort by creating as much chaos and havoc as possible, naturally this will be brought about with an escape of a great number of prisoners, they plan on two hundred, and the subsequent search by the German army for the escapees behind enemy lines. A film with a great plot, excellent execution of story, and some of the finest acting performances seen of film.