The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 14, 2026

Roy Ward Baker's "The One That Got Away" (1957) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing. The supplemental features on the release include vintage trailer and archival promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The ace

Franz von Werra’s story is very well known for two reasons. The first is the false claim that he was the only German prisoner of war during WWII to escape his captors and return home. This claim was legitimized after the end of WWII, when various bits of Werra’s escape story were extracted from Werra’s own recollections, military and newspaper reports, and additional information supplied by individuals who had encountered him. The second is James Leasor’s novel “The One That Got Away”, published in 1953. (Various later editions of this novel also cite Kendal Burt as a co-writer). Leasor’s novel became the inspiration for Roy Ward Baker’s film The One That Got Away, released in 1957, which, over the years, acquired the reputation of a classic.

In Baker’s film, the crucial details of Werra’s story are not embellished and are all arranged in a proper chronological order. During the Battle of Britain, Werra, played by Hardy Kruger, is a Luftwaffe ace pilot who successfully crash-lands his damaged plane in a field near Maidstone, Kent. British soldiers immediately arrest Werra and transfer him to the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment barracks in Maidstone. Here, reunited with other German prisoners of war, Werra quickly begins plotting his escape.

One of the grayest areas of Werra’s story is from his time spent in Maidstone. In Baker’s film, Werra is seen collaborating with several other German prisoners of war, digging a small tunnel under the barracks, and attempting several escapes. Each time, Werra is captured. Before and during each escape, however, a lot of his interactions with the other prisoners and various local public and military officials are, to put it mildly, impossible to take seriously. For example, in one of his failed escape attempts, Werra pretends to be a Dutch pilot seeking help to return to his base in Scotland and successfully fools numerous suspicious British military officials, police officials, and residents. Werra may have gone as far as shown, but not as Baker’s film shows.

Werra’s inexorable desire to escape eventually secured him a trip to a secluded camp in Ontario, Canada. In 1941, Werra and dozens of other German prisoners of war arrived in Canada and were promptly loaded on a train that was supposed to transport them to their final destination. However, somewhere in the middle of frozen Ontario, Werra managed to break a window, jump off the train, and disappear into the nearby forest. After miraculously enduring the brutally cold weather, Werra then travelled to the St. Lawrence River and crossed into the United States.

Baker’s film ends here, which is somewhere in the middle of Werra’s story. In the United States, Werra apparently received help from the German consulate in New York City and then traveled to the southern border, where he successfully crossed into Mexico. After reaching Brazil, Werra eventually returned home and then rejoined the Luftwaffe.

It is obvious that Werra’s story is full of special adventures, so it makes perfect sense that various people wished to reconstruct and retell it after the end of WWII. However, some parts of it feature substantial gray material, while other parts of it are incomplete. Also, it is usually the first part of Werra’s story that attracts the most attention, while the complete story, even with some questionable details, is a lot more intriguing.

*Hardy Martins' film As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me retells an even bigger and more incredible true story. This story does not have any notable gray areas either. In 1944, German paratrooper Clemens Forrell, whose real name was apparently Cornelius Rost, was captured by the Soviets and dispatched to Camp Dezhnev, a massive death camp in the Far East of Siberia, which was part of the notorious GULAG system. In 1949, Forrell managed to escape from Camp Dezhnev and, for the next three years, survived Mother Nature's harshest tests and the NKVD's best assassins. In 1952, having walked more than 10,000 kilometers alone, Forrell finally reached the Iranian border and from there was transported back to Berlin. Martins' film was released in 2001, following a very successful TV series.

The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The One That Got Away arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Network Releasing.

This release was produced a decade ago, but its presentation of The One That Got Away is still rather impressive. (For what it's worth, I believe that the film was remastered in 2K shortly before the release was announced). All visuals boast wonderful delineation, clarity, and depth, and maintain strong density levels. They grayscale is very good, too. I think that in a few darker areas the blacks could have been managed a tad more carefully, but there isn't any distracting crush. Also, there are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. As a result, grain is properly exposed. I must say, however, that a dual-layer disc and some encoding optimizations would have ensured an even more impressive presentation. Image stability is excellent. I did not see any distracting cuts, debris, marks, warped or torn frames to report in our review. My score is 4.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clear, sharp, and very easy to follow. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and did not notice any distracting age-related imperfections to report. In a few areas, the upper register is a bit uneven, but this is to be expected given the age of the film. The music sounds good, possibly a tad thin at times, which is also to be expected. I suspect that some enhancements can be introduced with modern digital tools, but they are unlikely to make a notable difference.

The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for The One That Got Away. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• Gallery - a collection of archival promotional materials for The One That Got Away.

The One That Got Away Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Franz von Werra's story is a wild roller-coaster ride that probably should have killed him several times before he even reached the United States. Only a portion of this story is reconstructed in Roy Ward Baker's The One That Got Away, which is somewhat unfortunate, but also understandable. Why? Because this is the type of story that people love to alter, embellish, and create myths with, and while I do not think Baker intended to misuse it, as retold in his film, it is obviously incomplete. Nevertheless, Hardy Krüger looks great in it, and his journey from England to Canada and eventually the United States is pretty entertaining. If you decide to acquire the Blu-ray release we have reviewed, please keep in mind that it is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.