Arte’s Great Escape: This is the one stunt Steve McQueen couldn’t pull off, and we mean it!

Steve McQueen was an outstanding driver, car driver and motorcycle pilot and actor who portrayed the archetypal anti-hero in the 1960s and 1970s among his most famous films, we often cited Bullitt, Papillon or The Affair as more popular than The Great Escape.

Steve McQueen is there doing all the stunts except one!

Airing tonight on Arte, the film is inspired by a true story and tells the story of Luftwaffe prison camp inmates who attempt a massive escape in the middle of World War II. Among them is the King of the Escape, Captain Virgil Hilts (McQueen).

Directed by John Sturgess and released in 1963, The Great Escape is still considered one of the greatest war films of all time, as evidenced by its audience rating of 4.3 out of 5 on AlloCiné. And if you remember the movie, it’s for its strong themes, but also its stunts, and one in particular.

Wire jumper

During one escape attempt, Captain Hilts manages to escape from the camp and recover a German soldier’s motorcycle. He continues to fly with her, but soon finds himself surrounded by soldiers. In an attempt to escape from them, he gains momentum and jumps his motorcycle over the barbed wire!

But the most impressive waterfall Steve McQueen could not reach Having done all his other stunts in the film, it made sense that he would perform this one, but it’s his stunt double, Bud Eakins, who finally gets to jump on top of himself on screen. A scene that ends up being too short in the film, but has become iconic.

Of course, McQueen is no slouch in the film, as we see him crawling through narrow tunnels and riding a motorcycle in every other scene, including skating! As for Bud Eakins, he will be so good in this film that McQueen will cast him in certain scenes from Bullitt, another classic in his filmography. No jealousy, only respect!