The D-Day Veteran Who Escaped His Nursing Home to Revisit Normandy Is Getting a Second Movie

Before we go any further, let’s be clear: No one is complaining about this.

The story of Bernard Jordan, the British citizen who escaped from his nursing home in 2014 at 89 years old to travel to the anniversary of the greatest amphibious invasion ever dared, is a compelling one. The first movie based on his final mission, 2023’s “The Great Escaper,” was a dramatic retelling of his actual journey for the 70th anniversary of Operation Overlord. The newest movie, “The Last Rifleman,” is not a direct retelling of Jordan’s adventure, but based on the same story.

Pierce Brosnan (“GoldenEye”) stars as 93-year-old Artie Crawford, a pensioner in Northern Ireland who requests to travel to Normandy for the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. When his caretakers decline his request, he takes off anyway, making a dash for the coast of France in time to catch the ceremonies.

In reality, Bernard Jordan was a veteran of the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy who served aboard a tank landing ship that was among the first wave of invaders put ashore on D-Day. The staff of his assisted living facility tried to get Jordan on a trip to Normandy with the British Royal Legion, which provides financial, social and emotional support to UK veterans. When they failed to secure him a spot on the trip, Jordan decided he wasn’t going to wait for the legion. 

Jordan’s escape wasn’t as much of a caper as the media made it out to be. A longtime resident (and the former mayor of Hove, East Sussex), Jordan had all his mental faculties and was free to come and go as he wanted. One morning, he dressed in a nice jacket with his war medals pinned on his breast, covered it up with a gray mac raincoat and simply walked out of the facility as if he would return shortly. Instead of coming home, he hopped on a train to Brighton and boarded a ferry across the English Channel.

Related: A World War II Veteran Escaped from a Nursing Home for the 70th Anniversary of D-Day

“I thought it was such a heartfelt story, and it took me back to a part of Ireland that I didn’t know,” Brosnan told The Hollywood Reporter. “My stepfather was in the Second World War. He was a Scotsman from Glasgow. He talked little of the war, but he was in the tank regiment, and he talked about a particular incident which haunted him.”

In “The Last Rifleman,” Crawford is an Army veteran and the last surviving member of his Irish unit. At 93 years old, he is in Northern Ireland and decides to return to Normandy for the 75th anniversary after his wife died. His nursing home refuses to let him go, citing responsibilities for his care as the reason. So Crawford escapes in a laundry truck, hitches a ride and hops on a train. When his expired passport can’t get him where he needs to go, friendly strangers smuggle him into France.

“The Last Rifleman” also features Clémence Poésy (“Tenet”), Jürgen Prochnow (“Das Boot”), Ian McElhinney (“Game of Thrones”) and was the last feature film role for the late John Amos (“Good Times”). It is currently available to stream on Apple TV+ or on demand.

Keep Up With the Best in Military Entertainment

Whether you're looking for news and entertainment, thinking of joining the military or keeping up with military life and benefits, Military.com has you covered. Subscribe to the Military.com newsletter to have military news, updates and resources delivered straight to your inbox.