just watch it!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Right from the git-go I just couldn't accept Richard Basehart as the German Commanding Oficer of the Colditz Castle prison. Sometimes he speaks English, sometimes he speaks German, which is distracting, and Basehart played more like a camp counselor that a prison warden. I think Klaus Kinski would have been a much better choice for Basehart's part, but then this is only a TV movie, so I guess that is just wishful thinking on my part. Doug McClure is also rather bland, actually normal for him, in his role as the man responsible for getting a valuable scientist out of Germany. In reality, this is nothing more than a small television film, that tries to be much more than it really is. - MERK

I don't know if I can trump the rest of you with my age but I first saw this movie on TV in 1975. (some of you probably weren't even born yet). Anyway, it came on TV again a year later, 1976 (hey, I can add). Since then, I've just been waiting and looking. And remember a good 20 of those years "waiting and looking" there was no such thing as an the Internet. I searched through EVERY video rental store I could find (we didn't know what a DVD or CD was back then). In fact when I started looking for this movie there was NO where to look because video machines hadn't been invented yet. So as a 10 year old I got my pencil and loose leaf paper and started writing TV stations to please play the movie. I was in Canada so I wrote to the 2 Stations in Canada and the 3 in America. But nothing. Now here it is AND I discover there are people from all over the world who love this movie too. I feel like a black person returning to Africa. I have found "my people". Of course, it's about time this movie came into it's own. you wouldn't believe the weird looks a 10 year old gets when a bunch of grown ups are discussing their favorite movie stars (Richard Burton, David Niven, Gregory Peck, Charleton Heston) and I slip by with my glass of Kool-Aid and say, "my favorite actor is Rene Auberjonois." You'd have thought I had a banana growing out of my head! (I actually wrote to Rene Auberjonois about this movie because it had so many titles it was making it difficult to look for. He wrote me back a lovely note AND sent me a photo which he wrote the name of the movie and my name on it as well. By then he was on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" and most people knew who he was. That renewed my vigor to keep looking) But I think what those who haven't watched the movie and are reading these reviews should notice something important. Almost all of us gave this move a 9 or 10 stars. Personally I WANTED to give it 10 stars but that would mean "perfection" and I just can't hold to believe that there is anything this side of heaven that doesn't have at least ONE FLAW.Which brings us to Doug McClure. HE AIN'T IT! They may make characters to spoof him on "The Simpsons" ("Hi. I'm Troy McClure"). But good old Doug redeemed his entire career of somewhat goofy movies with this one. Way to go Doug! And thanks to the rest of you who have reminded me that we are never alone. Just perhaps a little distant from those we belong to. Love Laura-Lee

This is one of those world war two films that capture every boy's sense of adventure and remains with you into adulthood. It did get a theatrical release in both the USA and o/seas.NBC screened it on TV as has many other networks both in the USA and o/seas.However like many films as they are shown around the world on TV and then on VHS and DVD, the actual running time gets shorten considerably. Once upon a time it was due to commercial breaks but when these shorten versions of the actual film start to turn up on VHS / DVD and now Blu-ray it is very frustrating for the consumer.They are paying top dollar especially in the case of Blu-Ray for an inferior product being the severely edited film. For the first time, Escape Of the Birdmen has been made available on DVD and Blu-ray however it has suffered from the above fate of severe editing or at least poor mastering.The current DVD and Blu-ray release is missing a total of 10mins of crucial footage.The first involves Doug McClure when he consults the engineer "Fitz" played by Tom Skerrit in the library about a book on engineering specifically on flying. the second scene is when the scientist character "Volda" or "Brevick" has a flashback to how his first escape plan from a top secret facility run by the Nazis fails after an attempted rescue by British Commandos.The third scene missing from the DVD / Blu-Ray release is when the blind character called "Davies" an ex British commando has a flashback to the raid on the Nazis top secret facility and how he became blind due to an exchange of gunfire during the failed raid. All three scenes are crucial to the telling of the story and especially the establishment of the relationship by chance between Brevick and Davies.If by some chance you can watch an unedited version of this film based on a true story, you will be pleased.

I feel "The Birdman"was one of the best war movies ever made. The cast of actors is excellent. The plot was interesting, and the movie was well produced. Any fan of Richard Basehart or Chuck Connors, should check out this movie. They will be in for a pleasant surprize. P.S. I'm currently looking for a copy of this movie.