People are voting emotionally.

I wanted to but couldn't!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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 TV-movie adaptation of "Escape from Colditz" manages to pack all the action and intelligence from the book, fine pacing, and unforgettable emotional characterizations into 75 minutes of run time. Terrific pacing, unforgettable musical score -- another rarity for a TV movie. The best kind of history lesson -- well-told, well-acted, truly representative, and thoroughly enjoyable. See it if you get the chance.

This movie's not bad for a TV movie, but it's interesting to note it's historical basis. Colditz Castle was 'Supermax'; the German repository for Allied 'Escape Experts'. Every prisoner in residence had at least one close-to-successful escape attempt from another facility under his belt.Colditz had the distinction of being the only German POW camp where the guards outnumbered the prisoners. Even so, successful escapes were made.The most daring plan involved the building of the glider in this movie.It was actually built, but never used. They were ready to go a month or two before the end of the war, but all prisoners were ordered through the intelligence network by London to sit tight because the Germans had begun shooting escapees. The Colditz gang decided to follow their orders and save the glider to be used in case the Germans starting murdering prisoners and a quick, sure way was needed to get someone 'over the wire' to alert the oncoming Allied forces.The camp was liberated without incident and the glider was shown around for a few weeks as a morale booster to repatriates of other camps. It was then boosted back up into the attic, but disappeared over the winter of 1945-46; probably destroyed by Russian officers billetted there and used as firewood against the unusually severe winter. For more info read P.R. Reid's "ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ".