nevertheless qualifies as choice escapist fare, the sort best watched on a lazy Saturday afternoon when it s just too hot to venture far from the A/C. Frank Sinatra, typically solid (he remains an underrated dramatic actor, Oscar for From Here to Eternity notwithstanding), stars as Colonel Joseph Ryan, a POW whose initial efforts to cooperate with his German captors earns him the nickname Von Ryan from the other prisoners, specifically the senior British officer (Trevor Howard) in the camp. But once the POWs are herded onto a train headed for another internment camp, it s Ryan who leads the revolt against the Nazis, taking over the train and steering it toward Switzerland and freedom.
Many fine vignettes make up this popcorn picture, culminating in a ferocious battle between the train s occupants and strafing German airplanes atop an Italian mountain. An epic in every sense of the cinematic term -- lavish production values, widescreen presentation, hefty running time, even an intermission at the halfway mark -- is also noteworthy in that it was one of the first films to touch upon the Vietnam War. It does so in a roundabout way -- after all, this film is set in 1926 China -- yet with its explorations of the imperialist mindset and the unwanted American presence on foreign soil, it s not hard to connect the dots.
The story centers on the members of the gunboat the San Pablo, specifically its maverick engineer (Steve McQueen), his sensitive best friend (Richard Attenborough), and the captain (Richard Crenna) who must take care to remain neutral in the political skirmishes among the Chinese while also protecting his crew from the threats posed by those who clearly resent the U.S. This earned eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor (Mako as McQueen s tenderhearted assistant); it also marked the only time that McQueen was nominated by the Academy for Best Actor.
Each film is supplemented with an impressive array of extras, including audio commentaries by filmmakers and film historians, numerous making-of featurettes, and lobby card reproductions. nevertheless qualifies as choice escapist fare, the sort best watched on a lazy Saturday afternoon when it s just too hot to venture far from the A/C.
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