Line #0 YMMV/TheGreatEscape


1	* AluminumChristmasTrees:
2	** At the airfield, several of the planes are American AT-6 Texan trainers painted in Luftwaffe colours. The Luftwaffe did indeed have [=AT-6s=] in service, captured from Belgium, who had purchased them from the United States.
3	** Some viewers initially thought that having one of the escapees disguised as a German soldier was a notable and rather unfortunate mistake, since this was completely against protocol due to the fact that the punishment for being caught in such a disguise would be far more severe than being disguised as a civilian, but the source book indicates that one escapee really was disguised a Luftwaffe Unteroffizer[[note]]this actually caused a brief panic on the escape night as the other prisoners, unaware of the planned disguise, initially believed a guard had entered the hut before realizing it was one of their own guys[[/note]].
4	* AwardSnub: The film only received one UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination for Best Editing. It was snubbed for Picture, Director and even Score.
5	%%* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The main musical theme.
6	* CompleteMonster: [[FourEyesZeroSoul Preissen]] is a Gestapo officer who is the most evil of the Nazis in the film. Regularly capturing [=POWs=] to be thrown into camps, Preissen is distasteful of Von Luger's comparatively professional, merciful methods, as Preissen prefers a more brutal approach to dealing with prisoners. After the titular great escape, Preissen oversees the re-capturing of 50 [=POWs=], has them brought into a field, then massacres them all with machine gun fire as a statement of the Gestapo's power. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Von Luger himself is disgusted by this action]], and it is implied Preissen has him executed for his "soft touch" soon after the film's end.
7	* HarsherInHindsight: The [[WasItReallyWorthIt justification]] that the Great Escape caused the redeployment of thousands of Germans soldiers from the front lines [[DatedHistory did not bear up under historical scrutiny]]. No troops were redeployed to deal with the breakout. All the mass escape did was [[MakeAnExampleOfThem provoke retaliation]], and guarantee that German security forces would be on the alert for the escaped [=POWs=].
8	* HilariousInHindsight:
9	** The license plate on the bike Hilts drives reads WH-[[LeetLingo 1337]]1. [[http://www.anchoragefilmfestival.org/2008/images/greatescape.jpg Seriously.]]
10	** When von Luger sends Hilts to the cooler, he refers to him as simply Hilts, who corrects him with "[[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Captain]] Hilts."
11	* HoYay:
12	** The close friendship between the "Tunnel Kings" [[ThoseTwoGuys Willie and Danny]] reeks of this. They're always together and quick to stand by the other - especially Willie, who is always ready to comfort the claustrophobic Danny and refuses to leave him behind in the most difficult of situations, like escaping from the camp the final time. Even the ending has them [[spoiler: rowing a boat together with pretty music playing in the background before boarding a Swedish freighter to freedom.]]
13	** Several of the other [=POWs=] have a rather ''close'' relationship with each other as well, especially [=MacDonald=] and Bartlett. Nothing brings out the slash quite like a Nazi POW camp filled with Allied prisoners, apparently.
14	** There is a subtle whiff of this between Yank "Scrounger" Hendley and German officer Werner who befriend each other as well as "Cooler King" Captain Hilts and the gentlemanly Kommandant von Luger.
15	* HomegrownHero:
16	** A good portion of the leads are American, whereas in RealLife, there weren't even any American [=POWs=] in the camp at the time of the escape. It makes the whole July 4th celebration scene a lot more cringeworthy to watch.
17	** The film as a whole falls uncomfortably between two stools -- the original source book contains various scenes involving the American [=POWs=] who are involved in the early stages (including the July 4th scene) but are subsequently redeployed to their own compound. This wasn't regarded as sufficiently "box office" so the American characters remain in the film, with some originally British characters recast as American.
18	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The 1987 isometric action-adventure by Ocean is a classic 8-bit era game with a complex gameplay for its day, including an "auto-pilot" feature where the player character follows the camp routine by himself.
19	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The 2003 game, on the other hand, is widely regarded as lackluster and unremarkable.
20	* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/WilliamRussell appears in a small role as Sorren, a few months before his debut as Ian Chesterton in ''Series/DoctorWho'', the role for which he is best known today.
21	* SignatureScene:
22	** Thanks to many posters featuring it, the scene of Hilts trying to escape on a motorbike is one of the scenes people remember the most from the film.
23	** Another strong candidate is Hilts in the cooler bouncing a baseball against a wall, a move that achieved [[BrigBallBouncing memetic status]].
24	%%* TheWoobie: Ives and Blythe.

Context YMMV / TheGreatEscape