Midnight Express (1978)

You won't be disappointed!

Just what I expected

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Despite the many racist rants, I think some are missing the point, the location of the prison is irrelevant, the nationality of the guards matters little. The fact it is based on a true story which took place in Turkey dictates the setting, had it taken place in Asia, Morocco, etc etc the film would have been just as brilliant as it is. John Hurt is almost unrecognisable, ignore the political votes, watch it for its lingering and well directed depth. I love it.

Firstly my background is Turkish and my academic background is in history. The unfortunate Turks here claiming this film isn't historically accurate know nothing but a whitewashed version of our history.If anyone doubts this one can look at literally scores of peer reviewed works by Turkish historians documenting the TENS of THOUSANDS who died in Turkish prison in the 60's and 70's. With the single exception of the Soviet gulags, no country on earth had worse prisons with those kind of death rates.Another reviewer mentioned Abu Ghraib. More people died in Diyarbakir Prison in Turkey in any given week in the 1970's than died during the entire US administration of Abu Ghraib.Indeed there are now dozens of memoirs of Turks held in Turkish prisons that show the conditions, torture and sadism we see are accurate

Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. Midnight Express is a film that was surrounded by a huge buzz for decades and to be honest after watching it i can't understand the big deal about it or how it was exactly shocking there's like 2 scenes where some inmates and Billy himself get beat up and a scene where Billy cut the ear of this snitch the rest of the film is people talking and talking all the time. The first 2 acts of this film were really boring and i didn't find anything interesting about it some actors got totally wasted it here John Hurt and Randy Quaid were good but their characters were easily forgettable the best performance in the film is Paul L. Smith as Hamidou he was ruthless and menacing as for Billy himself Brad Davis was alright in some scenes like in the court or when he basically turned insane the 3rd act was easily the strongest part of the film although i don't get it why he basically loved both his girlfriend and also cheated her with a guy. Anyways moving on this film barely had anything shocking i've seen shocking and that is called The Green Mile or Lock Up those films had something shocking in them but this one? It was barely memorable except some good but forgettable performances, the ruthless way that the Turkish are being portrayed and some good moments the movie is easily a disappointment and probably one of the most overrated films of all time and i will give it an 4/10

Great prison drama.Loosely based on a true story (many details are changed), the movie revolves around a man, Billy Hayes, who is imprisoned in Istanbul for drug possession/smuggling. Director Alan Parker and writer Oliver Stone slowly ratchet up the tension, scene by scene. Initially Hayes' predicament does not seem so bad - the Turkish police are depicted as harmless, almost buffoons - but as the movie goes on it becomes more and more claustrophobic as Hayes' position becomes more and more dire. You wonder if he gets out at all...Oliver Stone got the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 1979 for his screenplay - his first Oscar.Good performances from Brad Davis and John Hurt. Hurt got a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. However, Randy Quaid is a bit over-the-top and irritating in his performance.