THE GREAT ESCAPE 4K UHD - Andy's Review

[AndyDursin]

We're just a few weeks into the new year and already numerous catalog titles have been announced for 4K UHD. The lack of compelling new theatrical content has clearly opened the door for revivals of classics in the UHD format, which is great news for movie buffs hungering for fresh remasters of some of their favorites. Kino Lorber starts off 2022 with one such title: a 4K UHD presentation of the box-office smash THE GREAT ESCAPE (172 mins., 1963), which may have preferred fiction over fact but nevertheless rode its success all the way to becoming an enduring staple of the WWII movie genre.

James Clavell and W.R. Burnett's adaptation of Paul Brickhill's real-life account of an Allied escape from the Nazi Stalag Luft III prison camp resembled the historical record only in its basic configuration: over 70 POW's (British in reality but with a more American flavor in the film) eventually escape from the camp, most are recaptured, many of those executed, and just a select few eventually get out of Germany alive. The central story was heavily dramatized in Sturges' all-star film, which added American leads in Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson and James Coburn (playing the most unconvincing Australian you've ever heard), a wild motorcycle chase in its second hour, and before that, a seemingly sanitized portrait of a Nazi prison camp that – between the light humor and Elmer Bernstein's jaunty score – seems barely a step away from an episode of “Hogan's Heroes.”

While I've found the picture a little overrated personally, the star-powered performances of the American leads plus Richard Attenborough, David McCallum and Donald Pleasence made the film an instant success and an action movie that many viewers have long accepted as a piece of escapist entertainment as opposed to a less-than-realistic depiction of war-time horror (there's at least some of that to go around at the end, as Sturges at least sticks to the basic outcome of history).

Kino Lorber debuts MGM's 4K restored master of “The Great Escape” (2.35) here on UHD and it's a marvelous package. The colors and overall texture seems a little richer, a little crisper, than Criterion's previous Blu-Ray, even minus an HDR grading of the image (the Dolby Vision logo is an error on the back cover). Both 5.1 and the original mono soundtracks are on-hand along with two commentaries: one featuring Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin, and another, archival track with Rubin moderating comments from Sturges, Garner, Coburn, Pleasence and many others. The UHD is housed alongside a Blu-Ray sporting a slew of documentaries and featurettes from previous releases plus the theatrical trailer.

[John Johnson]

According to a friend of mine in the UK, although it states Dolby Vision on the box, apparently it isn't. Any truth in that? Also, they haven't carried over the Elmer Bernstein/John Sturges commentary from the Criterion disc.

[AndyDursin]

I wrote about the Dolby Vision packaging error in my review, just above your post

Kino did not have the rights to the Criterion commentary track -- it's an exclusive Criterion produced for their own Blu-Ray from last year, so I wouldn't have expected them to license it to Kino. Criterion is still trying to sell copies of their own GREAT ESCAPE.

The two commentaries it has are a brand new one Kino recorded with Rubin & Mitchell, and the older "archival" crew/cast commentary Rubin moderated for the MGM release.

[John Johnson]

Amazon have the Criterion release marked down to $19.99 if anyone is interested. I'm not sure I would buy it just for the extra commentary though. I think those days are over for me, whether it's movies or film scores. In fact, I'm trying to catalogue the film scores I have in order to sell off my collection.