THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) | FIRST TIME WATCHING | MOVIE REACTION

Enjoy our reaction as we watch The Great Escape for the first time!

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0:00 - Intro
2:24 - Reaction
36:41 - Review

[ammaleslie]

"Can they really make alcohol from potatoes?"

When I think of the things that used to be common knowledge that astound the youth today, it makes me feel very very old

[Mellowcanuck]

When you find out Charles Bronson actually had claustrophobia. He USED it to get the performance he did. Those scenes were really him trying to hold it together. Dude committed.

[luigisanchez]

The reason they treat them so nicely is because most of them are Air Force officers, being guarded by the German Airforce, so there is a common unspoke respect by both sides.

[janescribner]

There was an episode of the "Antiques Roadshow" where a family found a box with pictures and telegrams of a soldier who had been shot down, assumed killed, but then found out to be a prisoner in Stalag Luft III. Turns out that the picture was of the best friend and fellow inmate of the soldier mentioned in the telegrams. It's very touching because someone watching the show that night recognized the picture and got in touch with the Antiques Roadshow. Long story short, the soldier in the picture was one of the "50". The best friend survived the camp and named his son after the soldier in the picture. Heartbreaking.

[robertdurning]

Donald Pleasence (Blythe) was actually in a POW camp during WW2. He said in an interview when the movie came out that he had to walk off the set from time to time because he would start to get flashbacks from his time in a camp.

[glawnow]

Steve McQueen was one of the biggest stars of the 60s and 70s. You're going to have fun discovering his work.

[TheRealSiberD]

My Father was captured when his plane went down over Yugoslavia and was sent to that prison camp two months after this escape. He spent 18 months there until the camp was liberated by allied forces. Thanks for your service tail gunner Army Air Force Staff Sergeant Ronald Mackey.

[greggweaver]

my uncle was a prisoner of this camp at the time of the great escape. He was pilot of a B-17 shot down over Germany he was the last man to exit the plane and broke his back landing. He was an invalid and one of only 3 prisoners who were American in this camp. The bellows shown in this movie was fashioned from a pig skin that my Aunt used to wrap medicine and food in. The Red Cross packages were allowed in by the Luftwaffe. He verified the truthfulness of the events portrayed : he was a guest of the Luftwaffe for 804 days he remained in the airforce to retire as a Lt. Cornel.

[MrBelmont]

Can you recognize Mr. X ? His name is Richard Attenborough who appeared as the head honcho in Jurassic Park. He did a superb performance in the original film The Flight of The Phœnix. Everyone who knows movies can recognize Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, James Garner…and so many more. This film had so many stars that you needed a Hubble Telescope to find them all. Great movie choice ✋🏻

[ThomasCorp]

One of the best war movies ever made. Of the characters and plotlines, my favorite is the one with Colin and Hendley. It makes me cry every time I watch this movie both when Hendley has the line, “Colin's not a blind man as long as he's with me. And he's going with me!” and when Colin is killed and he has his last words, “Thank you for getting me out.”

[shuggiemcg]

Almost every actor in that film was a leading man! So many top notch actors in the movie

[Jon.Cullen]

My father was a POW in this camp, Stalag Luft III. Although he was not there at the time of the events portrayed in the movie, he arrived shortly after, and obviously got to hear of what happened. Another tunnel was being dug, and he did his bit distributing soil down his trousers, but the tunnel was never completed before the evacuation of the camp in January 1945.
There were no USAAF personnel in the British compound, as they had a separate compound, so the character played by Steve McQueen could not have been there, but his part is based on a real person, William Ash, who was a Texan flying for the RCAF, having volunteered by relinquishing his US citizenship, crossing the border into Canada, and joined the Royal Canadian Airforce. Bill Ash was a regular escaper, and did indeed spend a few times in the cooler, and was also at Stalag Luft III. His book, Under the Wire, is well worth a read.
There was a difference in the treatment of POW's by the Germans. The Luftwaffe ran the "Luft" camps, and generally treated the POW's better than the army camps.
The other escape from this camp worthy of mention is the story of "The Wooden Horse", which took place before the events in this movie. Also turned into a movie, it is a less well known story, but was a successful escape.
Richard Attenborough played Roger Bushell, or Big X, and was a real character, who had been shot down in May 1940. Richard's brother is Sir David Attenborough.
After the war, most of the Gestapo men who shot the prisoners were tracked down and hanged.

[SubduedPenguin]

Wally Floody, the real-life "Tunnel King" who was a Canadian miner in Ontario before joinging the Royal Canadian Air Force was transferred to another camp just before the escape, served as a consultant to the filmmakers, almost full-time, for more than a year.

[Greybeardmedic]

This has got to be one of the best ensemble casts of all time. Just spectacular!

[thorthorson]

You should also see "The Dirty Dozen, " which stars Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, and others. It's another WW2 film that's a must-watch.

[TequilaToothpick]

Incredible movie. The final scene is so powerful. Even though 50 of them were murdered and only three escaped you can tell that they may be down, but they aren't out. Hilts continuing to bounce that ball just shows that these men will never be broken.

[robertsnare]

The moment you said “I suppose the only reprieve is that if they don’t make it they’re not going to kill them”, my heart sunk, knowing that for 50 of them, that’s exactly what happened.

[dammitspock]

One of the greatest casts ever ensembled. Richard Attenborough, James Colburn, Donald Pleasance, David McCallum, Steve McQueen...legends

[toygiants]

The young lady reacting to this picture has an impressive memory recalling earlier lines that came into play later in the picture. She's not looking for Internet fame. This woman has something to contribute to fans of classic motion pictures.

[byrontowles]

Cassie: two other under-the-radar war films for you are 1966's "The Sand Pebbles", starring Steve McQueen (3hrs, but worth it!), and 1953's "Stalag 17", starring William Holden. Both excellent war dramas.