A great thrilling experience....not to be missed

Rating: 8/10 (8 December 2009)

I am watching quite a few 'Escape' movies recently and nothing gets better and bigger than this one. Based on a true incident about Allied Prisoner's of War's planning mass escape mission to flee from German POW Camps, this movie takes into account all the pre and post escape incidents. The POW Camp is also known to be escape-prone and it will take something big and special to flee from there. The prisoners present in the camp are also veteran 'escapers' who are given specific jobs for the escape. For example, one is made a 'Forger' who creates false ID's, another one is made the 'Tunnel King' who will plan a tunnel long enough to get out of there . There is also a separate story of Captain Hilts (Mcqueen), an American who at the beginning tries to get out on his own but then joins the rest of them due to circumstances. The movie can be divided in two parts, The initial part shows the planning and digging of the tunnel and the second part shows the post-escape incidents. The second part is stretched a little bit IMO and the editor could have come in handy here.But the movie is a great thrilling experience nevertheless.
Steve Mcqueen as the arrogant 'American' is a treat to watch. He has done some daring stunts in the second half where he hasn't used any double. That was really impressive. Richard Attenborough as the leader of the escape team did his job convincingly . Well He can act too The rest of the actors (There are a lot of them) have fit the bill efficiently. Overall, You have missed something if you haven't watched this one.
Rating : 8/10