One of the most ingenious and suspenseful adventure films of all time, The Great Escape is a masterful collaboration between director John Sturges (The Magnificant Seven), screenwriters James Clavel (Shogun) and W.R. Burnett (Little Ceasar), and composer Elmer Bernstein. Based on a true story, The Great Escape is epic entertainment that "entertains, captivates, thrills and stirs" In 1943, the Germans opened Stalag Luft North, a maximum security prisoner-of-war camp, designed to hold even the craftiest escape artists. In doing so, however, the Nazis unwittingly assembled the finest escape team in military history - brilliantly portrayed here by Richard Attenborough, Gordon Jackson, Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, David McCallum and James Coburn - who worked on what became the largest prison breakout ever attempted.