Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Colditz aired between 1972 and 1974. The series is based on the books by Pat Reid, who was a British officer held in Colditz who managed to escape. The series stars David McCallum, Edward Hardwicke, Bernard Hepton, Jack Hedley, Christopher Neame, Hans Meyer,Robert Wagner, Paul Chapman, Richard Heffer and Anthony Valentine.Colditz chronicles the day to day lives of the allied prisoners held in Colditz Castle during the Second World War. This German castle was well guarded and situated on top of a hill, it was believed to be escape proof. The allied prisoners soon proved otherwise. The prisoners held in Colditz were all people who had escaped from other prisons and were recaptured.The series main focus is on the British prisoners. The German soldiers who guard the prisoners are also focused on and we also meet prisoners from other countries including France and Poland.The series shows the escape attempts, some successful and some not successful by prisoners. The ideas they came up with are very clever and you admire their courage and ingenuity as they put their ideas into practice.Colonel Preston (Jack Hedley)is the officer in command of the British prisoners. Preston encourages escape attempts but also insists his men follow orders. Preston develops a relationship of mutual respect and admiration with Colditz's Kommandant (Bernard Hepton).The Kommandant is a Wehrmacht officer and he despises the Nazis as much as the allied prisoners do. He is an honourable man and is worried about his son who is fighting in the army. The Kommandant disciplines prisoners caught attempting escape but respects them all, he is sometimes even greatly amused by some of the things they do.The Kommandant's security chief is Franz Ullmann(Hans Meyer), a difficult man to read Ullmann is intelligent, observant and loyal to the Kommandant. He is always trying to catch the prisoners in the act of escaping. Ullmann also respects the prisoners and their escape attempts.Pat Grant(Edward Hardwicke)is the British escape officer, a clever and focused man, Pat organises escape attempts but as escape officer he cannot take part in an escape himself. Grant is based on Pat Reid. Later in the series the others decide he deserves to escape himself and he is replaced as escape officer by Flight Lieutenant Simon Carter(David McCallum). Simon is a recently married man and is terribly homesick and depressed when he realises his stay in Colditz looks to be a long one. He is a worthy successor to Grant and is one of the most likable characters in the series.American Flight Lieutenant Phil Carrington(Robert Wagner)is a maverick and at first he and Simon are always arguing but end up becoming really close friends.Highly decorated Nazi officer Major Horst Mohn(Anthony Valentine)is assigned to Colditz later in the series, he is one of the most despised characters in TV history. Mohn is a ruthless and cunning man and he fights the Kommandant for stronger punishment for prisoners and wants some SS officers assigned to the castle. Even the Kommandant and Ullmann despise him and he is as much a risk for them as he is for the allied prisoners.Other characters include Captain Tim Downing(Richard Heffer),Lieutenant Dick Player(Christopher Neame)and Captain George Brent(Paul Chapman).The entire cast are superb. Special praise must go to David McCallum, Hans Meyer, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Hepton and Jack Hedley. The series is thrilling and suspenseful and does a good job of showing the harsh conditions faced by the real prisoners. The escape attempts are ingenious and it's great fun when an attempt is successful. Guest stars include Patrick Troughton, Geoffrey Palmer, Joanna David and Michael Bryant.My favourite episodes are Frogs in the Well, Traitor, Name, Rank and Number, Tweedledum, Gone Away part 1 and 2 and French Leave.

This grim and claustrophobic series chronicles the lives of the allied prisoners in the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle designated Oflag IV-C during World War II. It describes events from the arrival of the first British prisoners after Dunkirk to join the existing Polish, French and Dutch prisoners, until the liberation of the castle by the Americans in 1945.It records many attempts to escape, as well as the relationships formed between the various nationalities and their German captors. A grudging respect gradually develops between the two sides. Colditz is a Sonderlager (special camp), designed by the Nazis to hold high-risk and later Prominente (politically important prisoners).Lieutenant Colonel John Preston (Jack Hedley) is the Senior British Officer (SBO). He is the very embodiment of British stiff upper lip. He gets along well with the Commandant, whom he respects but is adept at manipulating.The Commandant (Bernard Hepton), known only by his forename Karl, is a moderate and honourable Oberst (Colonel), a Wehrmacht man, who adheres to the Geneva Convention to the best of his ability. He is anxious to be seen by the German authorities as running an orderly camp in order to prevent the SS and Gestapo from taking control. He relies on Colonel Preston to keep the British prisoners in check.Captain Pat Grant (Edward Hardwicke) a young, hot-headed RAF officer who frequently finds himself in solitary confinement, is the first British escape officer in Colditz. His post is later taken by Flight Lieutenant Simon Carter (David McCallum), so that Pat Grant can himself attempt escape.Hauptmann (Captain) Franz Ulmann (Hans Meyer) is the Security Officer at Colditz. His job is to prevent escapes. Like the Commandant, he is a Wehrmacht man who has no love for the SS. Because of his careful planning and sharp eyes and mind, he is able to avert many escape attempts as well as many attempts of the SS to take over the camp.Major Horst Mohn (Anthony Valentine) is a very highly connected Nazi Party member. He constantly finds himself in conflict with the Commandant, and is frustrated by what he perceives as the treating of prisoners with 'kid gloves'. The prisoners loathe him. Unfortunately for them, he is ruthlessly intelligent and occasionally pulls off a devastating coup.Almost all of the events depicted in the series have a basis in truth. While there is not a direct one-to-one relationship between the real and televised characters, most of the televised characters are loosely based on actual persons.A major goof is that throughout the series captured British fliers are shown wearing full dress uniform, which of course they would not have worn on flying operations.

This is the sort of series where you get invested in the plots and characters and if you watch one episode, you want to see the next until you've gone through the series! It focuses mainly on British soldiers plotting to escape from the almost escape-proof Colditz prison in Germany in WW 2. I've seen Series 1 which seems to be 1940-1941. The United States has not yet entered the war (to my shame) at the time the story is unfolding. Maybe in Series 2 I'll hear about the Yanks joining in.....anyway, it is riveting. How on earth can these men keep coming up with new plans, new devices, new tools for escape? But they do. And you mostly want them to escape, yet if your favorite characters DO escape, they will not show up in the next episodes so you have mixed feelings! There is one American who has joined the RAF, and he's played very well by Robert Wagner. I thought he was an average actor, but with the right director he can be really good.Aside from the plots, the different personality types that coexist in a prison environment make for great psychological drama. One of the best episodes has British actor Michael Bryant feigning madness in order to be sent back to England. It's the "Tweedledum" episode and it is haunting. I think it is hard to find this series on Region 1 DVD but I found a copy so maybe others can. You won't be sorry!

I watched this on T.V. as a Kid, IN PARTICULAR i liked the character played by Bernard Hepton as the commandant and can remember as if it was yesterday this unique part, right down to the frequent clearing of the throat and his general manner, i can never recall missing an episode and used to look forward to it being screened every week, needless to say i was very disappointed when the Series came to an end and would love to own the whole series, Anyone out there know if this was ever released on Video or D.V.D. and if so where it can be obtained OR WHEN IT MAY BE RE-SCREENED IN THE FUTURE ?Please let me know if any one notices it popping up on the History Channel again in the future, Gary@ichthus88.force9.co.uk, Thanks in advance Cheers - Gary