Characterised as one of the definitive war films of all time, this must-see classic is now available to stream for free on Amazon Prime.
One of the original war films, The Great Escape, is a genre-defining film that anyone interested in films or cinema has to watch in their life.
With its iconic music and one of the standout performances of the century by Steve McQueen, it produced the classic scene of the actor riding a motorcycle over barbed wire that has gone down in cinema history.
Alongside the Hollywood icon is a star-studded cast including the likes of Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasence and James Coburn, who all take up the roles of real-life British, American and allied soldiers who become trapped in a prisoner of war camp.
The film is based on the 1950 non-fiction book by Australian author Paul Brickhill of the same name and tells the story of the Allied attempted escape from Stalag Luft III camp in 1944.
Among the prisoners determined to escape are American Captain Virgil Hilts and British Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett.
It’s careful planning and ingenuity that got Allied prisoners-of-war to escape under the noses of the Nazis in one of the greatest stories of resilience and struggle from the war. However, while the film ends with some escapees finding success and fleeing Germany, many are recaptured and returned to the camp.
In reality, the escape was a much darker reality with only three making a successful escape from the camp, with the rest ordered to be killed by Hitler, who was humiliated at the almost successful attempt.
The Great Escape has regularly appeared in top 10 lists of the greatest war films ever made. It’s not just beloved by critics and historians but also generations of audiences who continue to discover it as it is passed down from generation to generation as a classic Sunday afternoon watch.
With a “certified fresh” score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll often find it at the top of the best war films ever created.
Warning of its particular long run time, Wendy Ide of the Times wrote: “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.”
While Andrew Collins from the Radio Times added: “This is one of the all-time great war movies, a PoW adventure from director John Sturges that celebrates the indomitable spirit of the Allied forces even when their backs were to the wall.”
The film is available to stream for free on Amazon Prime Video for anyone with an active Amazon Prime subscription.