The Great Escape

I don't know why common sense would give this movie 8+ while movies like the Marvel's Avengers get 13+. Those blockbuster superhero movies do have intense and kinetic scenes and they do have a high body count. But that stuff is fantasy and CGI. The great escape deals with POWs, war and war crimes. The invested emotions in these human characters are greater. While there is no gore and minimal blood the deaths seem much more real. The movie itself is very good. Strong characters. Combines humor and suspense. My kids liked it. My 8 year old handled it fine but I would have been OK waiting a couple of years.

The last hour of the movie is very tough to take for kids under 12. The excitement leading up to the escape from the German POW camp is now over, but the men are far from being safe. They are still in Nazi controlled Germany. One by one they keep getting recaptured and returned. The most awful part is that during the last hour, fifty of the allied men who have been recaptured (our heros up to that point), are told to go & stretch their legs and then they are machine gunned down. I have real trouble believing that the age range for this movie should be less than 12. My children are 8 and 9, and it was TOO YOUNG. They were understandably very upset. They had so many questions about war, being a prisoner of war, the camps. They had many, many questions that started with Why, many of which I had trouble explaining. The film just raised too many questions about the brutality of war that my children weren't ready to deal with yet. I think the movie is better for a child of 12+ years, who will be emotionally stronger, more mature, and better able to handle the very real disappointment of fifty unarmed prisoners being executed. A twelve year old would also be more aware of the realities of war. An eight year old is too young to see this movie, in my opinion.

The story of prisoners of war escaping their prison camp by means of tunneling, is clever and fun, and the kids were enjoying it. Then the prisoners do escape and it all goes a bit pear shaped.. my husband and I forgot that many of them get gunned down. The final straw was a POW on a motorcycle who is shot entangled in barbed wire and it completely traumatized my 9 year old son. He was beside himself, we stopped the movie and it took a very long time to calm him. It really really upset him, which we weren’t expecting, as he’s seen some milder action movies before and enjoyed. We feel terrible, I don’t think he’ll get over this for a long time. For this reason I would recommend for early teens as minimum age, but perhaps it’s just my kid and others will be fine. It really loses the uplifting tone as all the protagonists efforts to escape end up for nothing.

It's a great movie, but really not for kids. Teens would be ok with it. As others say, heroes are gunned down and other tragic moments that aren't good for kids. I'm surprised they have 8+ here.

The movie the great escape has 5-10 bad words and I bought the movie because this site said no Language present.

There is violence, yes, but it isn't graphic -- I'd say this film is no more violent than the Star Wars films. Be prepared for some perfectly benign uses of "hell" and "damn." I was worried that the humor and drama would be over the heads of my 10 and 8 year olds. Nope -- although there was some contextual explanation required, they were much more into it than I expected, and they managed to articulate and even anticipate some of the minor plot points. I'd say the 10 year old got almost everything, the 8 year old liked it but needed a lot of help. Hence the age rating. They laughed at the Cooler King getting thrown in the cooler over and over I had to explain how Hendley was blackmailing Werner and how the British officers could barely hold a conversation after drinking the moonshine, but they did enjoy these parts once they got it. They were also sad when Tom was discovered and when Ives went wire happy. It is very long, however, so we watched it in two segments. I stopped it on a cliffhanger -- when the siren goes off during the escape. They were sure eager to see what happened the next day! I see some people complaining that this film is cliched -- it isn't so. It's just that so many subsequent movies have modeled themselves after this one. You are watching the film that gave birth to the genre.

This movie would have been so great if the foul language had been left out. Multiple uses of "Oh my God", "damn", and "hell." Very disappointed in that. They do just fine until about halfway through the movie.

The great escape was not the movie I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. There were a few, (2 I think) uses of H*** and D***. There was very little blood, but a fair amount of violence. One definitely bitter pill to swallow was the gunning down of many of the escapees, however it isn’t shown and all things considered in a war POW camp with Nazis its well done without being gory. As a parent we always want to be careful what our children are exposed to in terms of war and it’s hurtful effects. In our house we are well aware of the ugliness and horror of war, and choose to allow even our littlest to watch sad war movies as long as there is very minimal blood and guts. But as that’s a personal decision, you may feel differently. Yes there are very sad parts. But it was a great movie, and we will be looking for a copy to own.

My son (7, almost 8) has been into superheroes since he was very young. I was surprised that the movie kept his interest for almost 3 hours, since the pacing is far slower than modern movies. I appreciated the opportunity to talk about the fact sometimes there things worth fighting and risking and sacrificing for, especially when it's connected to true history. I believe boys need good role models who know how to work, respect others and fight when necessary, without inappropriately graphic violence. This is one of the best in that regard.