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The great escape7/26/2023 ![]() ![]() Two men begin to unravel under the stress, not so much a "choice" as an involuntary response. Hilts works on his own, or with one man, while others work on a massive group escape. Show moreĪs in Stalag 17 and other films about prison camp, the prisoners in this remarkable drama adapt to the direst of circumstances with differing approaches. The Germans track almost all of them down, and fifty are killed, including Big X. Seventy-five of the prisoners are able to escape before the tunnel is discovered. But when his friend is killed trying to escape, Hilts changes his mind. When "Big X" (Richard Attenborough), the British officer supervising the escape, asks Hilts to go through the tunnel to get important information, and then allow himself to be recaptured so he can give them the information, he refuses. An American loner, Hilts (Steve McQueen), becomes the "cooler king" for his long stints in solitary, as a result of his own escape attempts. ![]() There are "tunnel kings" to dig the three tunnels, a "forger king" (Donald Pleasence) to forge the papers the soldiers will need when they escape, a "scrounger" (James Garner) to obtain required materials, and others. This is the true story of the extraordinary courage and ingenuity of Allied men imprisoned in the Germans' special high-security WWII prison camp, and their plans for the greatest escape ever. An eight year old is too young to see this movie, in my opinion. A twelve year old would also be more aware of the realities of war. I think the movie is better for a child of 12+ years, who will be emotionally stronger, more mature, and better able to handle the very real disappointment of fifty unarmed prisoners being executed. The film just raised too many questions about the brutality of war that my children weren't ready to deal with yet. They had many, many questions that started with Why, many of which I had trouble explaining. They had so many questions about war, being a prisoner of war, the camps. My children are 8 and 9, and it was TOO YOUNG. I have real trouble believing that the age range for this movie should be less than 12. The most awful part is that during the last hour, fifty of the allied men who have been recaptured (our heros up to that point), are told to go & stretch their legs and then they are machine gunned down. One by one they keep getting recaptured and returned. ![]() They are still in Nazi controlled Germany. The excitement leading up to the escape from the German POW camp is now over, but the men are far from being safe. The last hour of the movie is very tough to take for kids under 12. ![]()
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