The Great Escape (1963)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1963
	Director: John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven)
	Actors: Steve McQueen (Sand Pebbles, Le Mans, Bullit), James Garner (Space Cowboys), Richard Attenborough (Jurassik Park 1-2), Charles Bronson (Once Upon a Time in the West), James Coburn (Cross of Iron), Donald Pleasance (Halloween)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Adventure, War
	Conditions of visioning: 18.07.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Prisoner of War British officers arrive in a new camp in Germany and start to plan for escape.
Review: I have seen the movie many time on TV with my father when I was young and never since. I was looking forward to this first Blu-ray release and I enjoyed a lot watching it again, although the HD image quality was not what one could expect for such a classic. I have read on internet that everybody noticed it: the colors are improved compared to previous DVD editions but the resolution only barely. The actor's faces in close-up are OK but no more, and the Bavarian landscapes towards the end are not shown to their best, especially compared to other movies of the same period like Where Eagles Dare (1968) or The Sound of Music (1965). The soundtrack however is crystal clear, and you surprise youself whistling the main theme, as you may have done when watching The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), another movie of that time which looks splendid in Blu-ray. The action takes place during war time but it is more a gathering of great actors playing those prisoners who find any way to outsmart their jailers and escape the camp. There dedication and organization makes the movie feel like a comedy sometimes. In this sense it is even questionnable whether the prisoner camps were so comfortable during WWII (the movie does depict a true story). The last hour of the movie brings you back to reality. Many promising bonuses on the Blu-ray disk will probably tell me how much of the story actually happened. In a nutshell, the story is funny and shows another side of war (even if in a fictionnal way), all the actors are brillant, but another Blu-ray edition is required to fully enjoy this movie.
Rating: 8 /10