This is the third of four mini-documentaries that actually make up one long documentary about the making of "The Great Escape"--one of the better war movies. "The Flight to Freedom" has to do mostly with what happened to the escaped prisoners and how it differed from the film's accounts. Like the film, it talks about the murder of 50 of the men but this short also points out that this portion of the film is a bit inaccurate because the men were not all killed en masse. Another mistake (a biggie) concerned Steve McQueen. First, there were no Americans in the escape. Second, McQueen was really, really keen on doing motorcycle stunts--even though there is zero evidence anything like this occurred in real life. Well, I guess that's artistic license. And, an interesting little film overall and a nice addition to disc two of "The Great Escape".
2 Reviews
Excellent Entry in the Four-Part Series
Michael_Elliott27 January 2012
Great Escape, The: The Flight to Freedom (2001)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
The third film of three in MGM's documentary about the making of THE GREAT ESCAPE is certainly the best up to this point. This one takes a look at the aftermath of the escape, which history buffs already know wasn't the happiest moment. The documentary covers the problems trying to explain what happened after the men escaped and of course how you end the movie without doing so on such a tragic and sad note. POWs Albert Wallace, John Weir and James Cullen are joined by second director Robert Relyea and author Jonathan Vance as they talk about this portion of the film. Everyone knows that when a movie is being made then there's going to be issues that come up or facts that need to be changed for entertainment purposes. The decision on what to change about the escape is very interesting but what makes this so entertaining is hearing from the real POWs and what it was like at the camp once news of the event had reached them. You can hear their stories but you can also see the anger in their eyes. Fans of the film and history buffs should enjoy this featurette as it really touches on both sides of the story.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
The third film of three in MGM's documentary about the making of THE GREAT ESCAPE is certainly the best up to this point. This one takes a look at the aftermath of the escape, which history buffs already know wasn't the happiest moment. The documentary covers the problems trying to explain what happened after the men escaped and of course how you end the movie without doing so on such a tragic and sad note. POWs Albert Wallace, John Weir and James Cullen are joined by second director Robert Relyea and author Jonathan Vance as they talk about this portion of the film. Everyone knows that when a movie is being made then there's going to be issues that come up or facts that need to be changed for entertainment purposes. The decision on what to change about the escape is very interesting but what makes this so entertaining is hearing from the real POWs and what it was like at the camp once news of the event had reached them. You can hear their stories but you can also see the anger in their eyes. Fans of the film and history buffs should enjoy this featurette as it really touches on both sides of the story.
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