The Great Escape

This star-laden real-life tale of teamwork and derring-do is a trifle flabby at nearly three hours, but there is no denying that this is one of the best loved of all Second World War films.

For all its missteps, when it comes to escapism, intrigue, and indulgence, you could do a whole lot worse than The Great Escape. Just watch it with an open eye.

This is a Boys' Own Tale, and, as boys, we wanted it, cleansed of horrors, for ourselves.

The Great Escape is simply great escapism.

An exceptional story about teamwork.

Producer-director John Sturges has fashioned a motion picture that entertains, captivates, thrills and stirs.

Steve McQueen turns his movie-star glint to maximum as the swaggering American Cooler King...

Even though the filmmakers make changes to benefit an American audience, the memory of the 50 executed airmen will never be forgotten.

Somehow, The Great Escape manages to mourn the dead and uphold a unified sense of defiance in the same movement.

There is something undeniably quaint about John Sturges' sprawling 1963 World War II epic...