The Great Escape II: The Untold Story (1988) Blu-ray Review

Christopher Reeve will forever be Superman to most movie fans, even though he was in some very good films throughout his career. Films like The Aviator, Village of the Damned, The Remains of the Day, and Switching Channels. Christopher Reeve was tragically paralyzed after a horse-riding accident. After that accident he would star in the remake of Hitchcock's Rear Window, and he would guest star in the DC show Smallville.

Before his accident he would star in a made for TV mini-series. A sequel to the Steve McQueen classic The Great Escape, entitled The Great Escape II: The Untold Story. Now the good folks at Film Chest Media Group have released this 2-part mini-series on Blu-ray for the first time ever.

Synopsis: The Stalag Luft III where murders were ultimately established as war crimes perpetrated by members of the German gestapo, following their escape attempt on March 25:1944, by tunneling beyond the camp's perimeter. Of the 76 successful escapes. 73 were recaptured, most within several days of the breakout, and 50 were executed by the Gestapo on the personal order of Adolf Hitler. These orders were put forward by Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, in violation of the Geneva Convention, which specified that prisoners of war could not be killed for trying to escape. the executions were completed within a short period of time following the escape and carried out by Part II's primary protagonist, Burchardt, an SD officer put in charge of capturing and killing the escaped airmen.

Now to be honest this film is not really a sequel, as he plot focuses on the escape just like the original film. And while maybe not as exciting as a film as the Steve McQueen one, it is a true tale. Christopher Reeve is great in this mini-series, but there are also tremendous performances by Judd Hirsch (TV's Taxi), Anthony Denison (TV's Wiseguys), Donald Pleasence (Halloween film series), Ian McShane (John Wick), and many more.

It is a well-crafted, written and directed mini-series. The film was directed by Paul Wendkos ad Jud Taylor. Jud Taylor was the perfect choice to direct as he played Goff in the original "Great Escape" film. So well-crafted was this film that it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award! 

Part 1 and Part 2 of these movies are given their own Blu-ray disc. They have been transferred in 1080p and are presented 16:9 aspect ratio. The audio track is an English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono track. And there is English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

The transfer of these two movies to Blu-ray is great. They look and sound beautiful. There are no signs of digital artifacts, and no hiss or pops in the audio. So, you can enjoy this mini-series with no worries of a bad visual experience. 

As for bonus feature for this Film Chest Blu-ray release. It comes with a beautiful slipcase. The on-disc feature is the original trailer. Then included is a booklet insert that includes information about the cast, storyboard timelines, a photolog and my favorite trivia.

I love when Film Chest Media Group rescues these TV mini-series, shows and movies from obscurity and gives them a Blu-ray release. The Great Escape II is a wonderful piece of television history and deserves to live on. Now it can in your collection thanks for Film Chest Media Group.

So, if you love historical dramas and Christopher Reeve, get the best of both worlds with The Great Escape II now on Blu-ray. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today! 

Out of 4 TV sets (4 being the best) The Great Escape II recieves.....