A Great Prison-Break film leading by McQueen

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2019)

Didn't see Shawshank Redemption yet, so it was perfect timing to watch it before the film you call it "masterpiece". First, I'll start judging this:
The Great Escape based on a true story by Paul Brickhill, about a group of prisoners of war capturing by Nazis in one camp called POW, and they've put people who are the best what they do in one place by giving them the ability to escape the prison behind German lines. By doing so, the escape plan they initiate requires number of people to escape, forcing the Germans to look away from their lines to recatch the prisoners.
First thing this film commits is both human and realism. Throughout the film, you can absorb the humanity level of every character personality in difficult and stressful situations, which is absolutely splended. It shows all the humanity individuals each character: you how cruel the person can be, how afraid the person can be and how human the person can be. It also shows the proper relationships between the people of different origins. I mean, normally, the prisoners would've fight each other to have their freedom but here, it's totally different: the British and Scottish are celebrating with Americans the 4th of July and Christmas, it's really fun to watch how the Americans the British initiating to escape the prison with hilarious and memorable moments and etc... It's also great to see the relationship between Hendley (Garner) and Blythe (Pleasence) and the relationship between Wille (Leyton) and Danny (Bronson) who struggle to survive in the oblivion as they represent their fear in the eyes of viewers.
The cast ensemble was solid and each actor delivers his own performance. Steve McQueen (as Hilts "The Cooler King") delivers coolest and terrific performance as American pilot who messes up with the Germans authorities. The final act is masterfully piece of action as the various escapees struggle for their freedom; I think it mainly refers to the motorcycle chase scene by McQueen, of which he's trying to jump the barb fence to get to Switzerland is memorable and symbolizes tension and hope for freedom (Bravo Steve!). James Garner (as Hendley "The Scrounger") was excellent as a supporting member of the escape plan. The rest of the cast was spectacular: Richard Attenborough (as Barlett "Big X"), Charles Bronson (as Danny "Tunnel King"), James Donald (as Ramsay "The SBO"), Donald Pleasence (as Blythe "The Forget"), James Corbon (as Sedgwick "Manufacture"), Hannes Messemer (as Von Luger "The Kommandant"), David McCallum (as Ashley-Pitt "Dispersal"), Gordon Jackson (as MacDonald "Intelligence"), John Leyton (as Wille "Tunnel King"), Angus Lennie (as Ives "The Mole") and Nigel Stock (as Cavendish "The Surveyor"). Tbh, I stopped the film more than 5 times to get to know the movie characters better and believe me, it was not easy.
John Sturges and screenwriters, James Clavell and W.R. Burnett, adapt from the book written by Paul Brickhill, who appears to be one of those prisoners of POW camp who attempted to escape, which of course is what The Great Escape is born from. Sturges touched by his story and after trying to get it onto the screen as fictional extent without failing, his vision finally succeeded, which is still enthralling new generations with each passing year. However, John manages to present in its usual way with blending elements of suspense, action and comedy and offers many pleasures and visual issues involved in every escape thread.
Credit should be given either to Elmer Bernstein's score. If you can listen closely to it, it is a battle between Allied Prisoners and Germans. He does it brilliantly. I find his score as one of his best known of any film in cinema history.
All in all, The Great Escape by John Struges is a tribute of old-fashioned heroism and bravery, based on real events and real men, which shows what men can accomplish under the most unusual circumstances.