History Film / TheGreatEscape

* TheBadGuyWins: Played mostly straight, just as in the true story it was based on. A few of the escapees do manage not to get captured again but most of them are re-apprehended and the majority of the re-apprehended ones are killed. Von Luger is arrested for failing to prevent the breakout, leaving the camp in control of the SS. That said, Roger's main purpose for the escape (to inconvenience them by forcing them to waste more resources on capturing escaped [=POWs=] than ever before) is effectively achieved, pushing the Nazis further towards their eventual surrender in the war.

* TheBadGuyWins: Played mostly straight, just as in the true story it was based on. A few of the escapees do manage not to get captured again but most of them are re-apprehended and the majority of the re-apprehended ones are killed. Von Luger is arrested for failing to prevent the break out, leaving the camp in control of the SS. That said, Roger's main purpose for the escape (to inconvenience them by forcing them to waste more resources on capturing escaped [=POWs=] than ever before) is effectively achieved, pushing the Nazis further towards their eventual surrender in the war

* AluminumChristmasTrees: 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.
** 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]].

** Some viewers initially thought that having one of the escapees disguised as a German soldier was a notable and rather unfortunate case of CriticalResearchFailure, 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]].

* DescriptionCut: Bartlett and other leaders decide that Hilts and Ives can go ahead with their quicker and less elaborate escape plan; their reasoning is that a lack of escape attempts might make the Germans suspicious, but they also concede that Hilts's plan is clever enough to actually work. Immediately cut to Hilts and Ives, covered in dirt, being led back to prison.

** Goff [[spoiler: is very upset when he sees the large suitcase that Sedgwick has elected to take with him through the tunnel, apparently believing that he'll get stuck in the tunnel with it and ruin the escape plans. Actually, it's Goff himself that ruins them, after becoming impatient for the go signal and coming out of the tunnel right next to a German guard.]]

** Hilts (And the audience) are on pins and needles as [[spoiler: a German guard hovers right next to the exit of the tunnel outside of the fence. After a few moments, it seems that the guard hasn't noticed anything, and is going to give up, allowing the exodus to continue...That is, until Goff, growing impatient, decides to exit the tunnel before getting the signal from Hilts, and ends up popping up right next to the guard, who immediately raises the alarm and holds Goff at gunpoint.]]

* InopportuneImpersonationFailure: During the planning for the POW Camp escape, one of the planners warns that a common German tactic to spot British or American escapees is to say something to a suspect in English as SchmuckBait to see if they'll respond in English by mistake. The exact officer whom this is said to later gets caught by a Gestapo operative who tells him "Good luck" as he's getting on a train, and mistakenly thanks him in English.

** Only Sedgwick, Danny, and Willie manage to escape Nazi Germany entirely. Most of the others are either killed during the escape, or executed afterward. A small number (including Hilts, Hendley and Nimmo) are recaptured and simply put back in the camp. Also, the Luftwaffe Commandant is being replaced by the SD, who will probably make life more difficult for the remaining [=POWs=]. That said, everyone agrees that Roger's main motivation for the escape (to inconvenience the Nazis by causing them to waste more resources on catching [=POWs=] than ever before) was a success, but fifty were murdered. It's openly asked: "Was it worth it?" and answered with: "That depends on your point of view."

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The trailer reveals that [[spoiler:a bunch of men do, in fact, escape, which happens very late in the film]].

** [[spoiler:The calculations for Harry were off, and the tunnel comes out in the open rather than the safety of the trees as planned. As a result, they're only able to get 76 men out before the Germans catch on, of the proposed 250.]]

** If you work out the math, 76 prisoners escaped, three got out of German held territory, twelve were captured and sent back to prison, at least fifty are killed by German (Ramsey doesn't know about Blythe's death prior to the executions but does know about Ashley-Pitt's). That leaves nine escapees unaccounted for. They may have ended up killed while resisting recapture offscreen like Blythe and Ashley-Pitt were.
*** It's more likely that the twelve we see being brought back were just the first batch, and the other nine were returned later, sent to different camps, or (unlike in real life) did escape occupied territory.

* TheVonTropeFamily: Colonel von Luger.

* AntiVillain: Von Luger.

* ArchEnemy: Von Luger to "Cooler King" Hilts.

* RefugeInAudacity: Hilts, Goff, and Hendley, the only three Americans in a camp filled with hundreds of British POW's, host a boisterous Fourth of July celebration with some homemade moonshine. The Brits (and others) are more than happy to join in the fun. Again, TruthInTelevision; the actual event is described at length in the book, as are the various distillers of home-brew

* DescriptionCut: Bartlett and other leaders decide that Hilts and Ives can go ahead with their quicker and less elaborate escape plan; their reasoning is that a lack of escape attempts might make the Germans suspicious, but they also concede that Hilts's plan is clever enough to actually work. Immediately cut to Hilts and Ives, covered in dirt, being led back to prison.

** We get a highly comical GilliganCut of Hilts and Ives being returned to the cooler covered head-to-toe in mud just after Bartlett, Mac and Ramsey have speculated that their bizarre "mole" escape plan might actually work...which is instantly followed by Ives suffering his first HeroicBSOD.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: Immediately after Lt. Henley tells Colin that they are just one mountain ridge away from Switzerland, their plane flies past the famous castle of Neuschwanstein, which is on the Austrian border, about 60 miles (and some very high mountains) away from Switzerland.

* AdaptationalNationality: Averted, save for a downplayed country lift. There were mostly British-Commonwealth prisoners in the camp and the movie reflects that. On the other hand the Americans were transferred to other camps just before the great escape but the movie has only three American characters, one of them fairly minor. This isn't too bad when you consider that the transfer happened while Hilts was in the cooler (meaning he might have been left behind) and might not have applied to Hendley as he was from a RAF Eagle squadron. American actors Creator/JamesCoburn and Creator/CharlesBronson (of Polish-Lithuanian ancestry) are playing an [[FakeNationality Australian and a Pole]], respectively.

* LaResistance: The 'X' organisation that arranges the titular escape, part of their goal is to disrupt Nazi operations by forcing them to start a manhunt for the escaped prisoners. Sedgwick is aided by members of the French Resistance movement after escaping and making it to France. They protect him from a drive-by shooting of Nazi officers and ultimately help him make his way to Spain.

A [[VideoGame/TheGreatEscape video game]] based on the movie came out in 2003 for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, PC and Xbox,. It managed to maintain a small cult following. There was also [[https://youtu.be/YKNzSiiyN8g an earlier game]] during the 8-bit computer era which didn't really follow the movie plot, but has the distinction of being considered one of the best games for the ZX Spectrum.

A [[VideoGame/TheGreatEscape video game]] based on the movie came out in 2003 for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2, PC and Xbox,. It managed to maintain a small cult following.

** If you work out the math, 76 prisoners escaped, three got out of German held territory, twelve were captured and sent back to prison, fifty were captured and then murdered, and two were more or less legitimately killed in the process of escaping. That leaves nine escapees unaccounted for. They may have ended up killed while resisting recapture offscreen like Blythe and Ashley-Pitt were.
*** It's also possible that the twelve we see being brought back were just the first batch, and the other nine were returned later.

''The Great Escape'' is a classic 1963 UsefulNotes/WorldWarII film, directed by John Sturges and featuring an AllStarCast including [[Creator/SteveMcQueenActor Steve McQueen]], Creator/RichardAttenborough, Creator/JamesGarner, Creator/CharlesBronson, Creator/DonaldPleasence, Creator/JamesCoburn, and Creator/DavidMcCallum. It's InspiredBy the true story of a mass escape from a German POWCamp, by way of Australian author Paul Brickhill's ([[AdaptationDisplacement now nearly forgotten]]) autobiographical account of the same title.

* SpotOfTea: Blythe is most grateful to Hendley for getting him milk, as he believes that "tea without milk is so uncivilised".

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Willie and Danny are very dear friends who go back a long way. The same can be said for Bartlett and Mac. In a more short-term variation, you've got the close friendships that develop between Hilts and Ives, and Hendley and Blythe.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: Willie and Danny are very dear friends who go back a long way. The same can be said for Bartlett and Mac. In a more short-term variation, you also have Hendley and Colin.