The Great Escape is a cultural touchstone. I’ve seen war movies before, and I’ve seen caper movies, but I’ve never seen anything like The Great Escape. It’s massive, nearly 3 hours long, and the caliber of the cast is amazing. The movie features standout performances from an incredible ensemble: Richard Attenborough, Steve McQueen, Donald Pleasence, David McCallum, and James Garner, who I’ve never enjoyed more than in this movie. Even James Coburn is great with his shaky Australian accent. I didn’t even recognize Charles Bronson, who did an outstanding job. The set was amazing, and the stunts were incredible. The only part that seemed out of place was the famous motorcycle chase: it was a painfully obvious “Insert Steve McQueen Being Awesome Here” moment, but I was able to get over it because it was, well, Steve McQueen being awesome.

The movie glosses over some of the uglier aspects of war, at times trying to give the audience a lighthearted romp, but when confronted with the truth, director John Sturges and screenwriters James Clavell & W.R. Burnett don’t give you the typical Hollywood ending. It’s similar to another classic war movie, La Grande Illusion, both in its theme and its tone, but it’s ultimately more American: less insightful and more entertaining, but still with emotional impact. And Elmer Bernstein’s score is one of the classics in film music. The Great Escape comes close to romanticizing the war at times, but it’s ultimately an incredibly likeable movie with an incredible cast that should be on your must-watch list.

I have loved this film ever since I was a little kid.

The running time might intimadate you, but by the end you’ll wonder where the time went, have learned a new song you can whistle while you clean the bathroom / do your bad job / yard work / crap the woman wants you to do, wish Steve McQueen was still alive, wish you could have met Steve McQueen, and finally understand what Miss. Crow was singing about.