The Great Escape 1963, Escape From New York 1981, Chicken Run 2000, 101 Dalmations 1996, and Toy Story 3 2010
Now this feels like the ideal movie lineup dealing with the theme of escaping. The whole concept deals with a group of people or animals working together to overpower their antagonists in the fight for their freedom. The Great Escape created a new genre of movies with it's release and other great films that didn't make this lineup such as Stalag 17 and The Bridge Over River Kwai. The influence of The Great Escape's storyline can be seen within each of these filns. The Great Escape being the first movie of the evening centers around allied prisoners of war planning for 250 of them to escape from a German camp during World War ll. The film runs an all star cast among the likes of Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasance, and James Coburn as the group of allied prisoners secretly planning their Great Escape.
The second movie of the lineup is the 1981 futuristic John Carpenter classic titled Escape From New York starring Kurt Russell, Charles Cyphers, Ernest Borgnine, Isaac Hays, Lee Van Cleef, Harry Dean Stanton, Adrienne Barbeau, and Tom Atkins. The story takes pace in the year 1997 in a post apocalyptic New York where the President of the United States gets kidnapped and held hostage in the city now turned maximum security prison. It is up to a convicted bank robber named Snake Pliskan played by Kurt Russell to fly into the center of the city and rescue the president who possesses a tape that could prevent the threat of nuclear war. Escape From New York is iconic because it takes the concept of The Great Escape and turns it on it's head.
The third movie of the marathon is Harts War starring Bruce Willis, Colin Ferrall, and Terrence Howard. Feeling much like a modern day retelling of the 1963 classic, Harts War centers around a law student turned Lieutenant during World War ll becoming captured and asked to defend an African American soldier falsely accused of murder in a POW camp. While this trial is happening, the allied general played by Bruce Willis is secretly planning to carry out his mission and plan his troops escape. Harts War feels like a fitting follow up to the story arc of The Great Escape, and ends the era of great escapes occurring during World War ll.
The fourth movie of the lineup is the 2000 animated film starring Mel Gibson titled Chicken Run. Generally considered the direct animated version of The Great Escape, Chicken Run centers around a Bird flying into a chicken farm allowing for the chickens to see him as an opportunity to flee the farm from their evil owners. The film received a golden globe nomination for Best Picture, as well as critical acclaim and box office success for it's charming and original plot that borrows from one of the greats.
The fifth movie of the marathon is the live action adaptation of the timeless classic titled 101 Dalmations starring Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, and Joely Richardson. Taking direct inspiration from both The Great Escape and Home Alone, the story centers around a woman named Cruella Deville played by Glenn Close who wants to kidnap the puppies and kill them for her own personal coats. She enlists two burglars to kidnap the puppies from one of her employees and holds them hostage in a barn waiting to be killed. The burglars are oblivious to the various other animals who gang up against her and get their revenge back in clever fashion. Glenn Close's perfect performance as the iconic animated villain got her a well deserved golden globe nomination for best actress and helped bring 101 Dalmations to critical and box office success.
The sixth and final movie of the marathon is the grand finale to the epic Pixar trilogy titled Toy Story 3. Nominated for five academy awards and winner of two, this critically acclaimed finale to the popular Toy Story trilogy places the toys in a situation where they end up being delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic where Andy placed the toys before leaving for College. It is now up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandon and to make their great escape from the day-care center and to return home. Toy Story 3 is not only the most financially successful of the Toy Story movies but also is the most emotionally powerful and inspirational. It brings it's respective series to a proper close while paying tribute to the legendary film The Great Escape.
So what is the message behind this marathon ultimately? When all of these movies are placed together, the message says that if everyone works together and use each others special abilities or intelligence then they can overcome any obstacle or adversity. It is always best to put aside petty differences or issues with other people and work together as a team.
Our characters for this evening:
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