Like many others, I’m sure, I didn’t bother to try to make the first four episodes of Stranger Things 5 last. I gobbled up Volume 1 faster than Thanksgiving leftovers, and I have no regrets. In fact, though I’m obviously very excited to see what happens when more episodes arrive on the Netflix 2025 premiere schedule, I wasn’t left with nothing to watch after I finished that roller-coaster-of-a-ride Episode 4 (“Chapter Four: Sorcerer”). Because the moment Robin referenced The Great Escape, I decided it was time to finally watch the 1963 war movie. And guess what? It was great. Yeah, I’m late to the party there, but watching it so soon after the Stranger Things episode that references it did allow me to appreciate a few connections.
I’m assuming you – like many, many others – have seen the first four episodes of Stranger Things 5, but if not, there are big spoilers ahead. In terms of The Great Escape, this article gets progressively more spoilery about the movie with each section. I
What To Know About The Great Escape If You Haven’t Seen It
If you haven’t seen The Great Escape, the film stars Steve McQueen and centers on a group of allied soldiers from various parts of the world who are POWs during World War II. Oh, and all of the prisoners have a history of trying to escape other POW camps, so as you can imagine, plans for an exit from this Luftwaffe-run prison get underway before some people have even started to unpack.
This World War II movie, often considered one of the best war movies of all time, has comedic moments, but also some very serious and violent ones, as you might guess, given the circumstances. You can catch it streaming for free with ads on Pluto TV or YouTube, or do what I did and give MGM+ a try (I added it to my Prime Video subscription), as it’s also streaming there.
The Great Escape Reference I Appreciated Most In Stranger Things
The reference to The Great Escape in Stranger Things that I’m about to talk about was staring us right in the face, or more specifically in the ears. When Robin (Maya Hawke) is pitching her idea about the tunnels during Episode 4, the theme music from The Great Escape is playing. This reference to Elmer Bernstein’s memorable score might seem obvious to anyone who’s seen The Great Escape, but before I watched the movie, the music only sounded vaguely familiar to me – it’s been used in other films and TV shows as a nod to The Great Escape – and I didn’t realize that it was the exact theme from the iconic film Robin was talking about. Of course, rewatching Robin’s speech after seeing the movie, it was impossible to miss, and I absolutely love the nod.
Big spoiler warning for both Stranger Things and The Great Escape in the final section below!
I Couldn’t Help See Other Possible Connections
Ok, I’m assuming you’ve either seen The Great Escape and are caught up on Stranger Things 5 Part 1, or you don’t care about spoilers from either. While it’s possible that this was not the intention when referencing The Great Escape in Stranger Things, but after watching The Great Escape, I did wonder if events later in the movie offered a bit of unfortunate foreshadowing to what happens at the end of Episode 4 of Stranger Things 5.
In The Great Escape, the escape is interrupted when the soldiers spot a prisoner who didn’t wait for the go-ahead and exited the tunnel at the worst possible time. This puts an abrupt end to the escape efforts. In Stranger Things, one of the kids slips on the water outside the bathroom, which tips off another one of the kids that something’s awry, and leads to an end to the escape. In both the movie and the show, the plan almost worked perfectly… until it didn’t.
As dark as the ending to Episode 4 was for Stranger Things 5, with the children ending up in the clutches of the Demogorgons, I don’t think anything could’ve prepared me for the ending of The Great Escape. The film left me with a mixture of emotions, and I can easily see why it’s such a memorable and frequently referenced war movie. I’m also really glad for the excuse to watch the movie after Stranger Things, and it’s made me even more determined to catch up on classic films I haven’t seen before.