The Great Escape

The Great Escape

Most prison and POW movies are very introverted at heart: they are about people struggling against the system, people struggling against their own weaknesses, people struggling with the loneliness of being a convict… That’s why it’s so refreshing that The Great Escape managed to take a true story of a bunch of POWs tunneling out of a WWII era camp and turn it into a full-blown adventure movie instead (though admittedly one with a depressing ending in which practically all the prisoners are all recaptured or killed). From Steve McQueen jumping the wire in an attempt to escape his motorcycle-mounted guards, to the awesome theme music, to the great culture clash scenes in the prison between the American and British prisoners, the movie is full to bursting with great lines and classic moments. Along with the Indiana Jones series, The Great Escape helped to define what fun movie-watching is meant to be about.