Rent Midnight Express (1978)
3.9 of 5 from 148 ratings
1h 56min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- "Midnight Express" is the harrowing story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), a young American tourist condemned to a Turkish prison for his futile attempt to smuggle hashish out of the country. Made an example of by a corrupt legal system and a victim of ineffectual diplomacy, Hayes is sentenced to 30 years and must overcome ruthless brutality and his own descent into madness in order to survive and, hopefully, escape.
- Actors:
- Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, John Hurt, Mike Kellin, Franco Diogene, Michael Ensign, Gigi Ballista, Kevork Malikyan, Peter Jeffrey, Joe Zammit Cordina, Yashaw Adem, Raad Rawi, Tony Boyd, Zannino, Mihalis Giannatos
- Directors:
- Alan Parker
- Producers:
- Alan Marshall, David Puttnam
- Writers:
- Billy Hayes, William Hoffer, Oliver Stone
- Others:
- Oliver Stone, Giorgio Moroder, Gerry Hambling
- Studio:
- Sony
- Genres:
- Drama
- Collections:
- A World of Difference: A History of Gay Cinema, Acting Up: British Actors at the Oscars, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, Behind Bars: Visit These Essential Prison Films, Drama Films & TV, Films & TV by topic, The Biggest Oscar Snubs: Part 1, What to Watch Next If You Liked Chariots of Fire
- Awards:
1979 BAFTA Best Supporting Actor
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 13/07/2009
- Run Time:
- 121 minutes
- Languages:
- English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English LPCM Mono, French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, German Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- Subtitles:
- Arabic, Danish, Dutch, English, English Hard of Hearing, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Norwegian, Swedish, Turkish
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.33:1 / 4:3
- Colour:
- Colour
- Bonus:
- Commentary with director Alan Parker
- Featurettes
- The making-of Midnight express
- Photo gallery
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Reviews (2) of Midnight Express
One of the best prison films ever - Midnight Express review by PT
Based on a true story about an American student caught at a Turkish airport attempting to smuggle a relatively small amount of dope out of the country.
Initially sentenced to 4 years, his sentence is extended to life.
The Turkish jail's are a nightmare come true, making our jail's look like 5 star hotels in comparison. The brutality of the guards, especially "Hamid the bear" is a sadistic vision of hell, who can forget this beast of a man wiping his sweaty brow as he puts all his energy into a beating.
Brad Davis is stupendous in the lead and captures the deterioration of a healthy young man into a virtually broken spirit consummately.
Don't miss this train, it's a ride you'll never forget.
2 out of 2 members found this review helpful.
Despite its disownment by it's subject/the fierce backlash, this is still powerful filmmaking - Midnight Express review by TB
Midnight Express (ME) is a film which in many ways is deeply problematic and also immoral. And despite my insistence on judging a film or a piece of work on the work itself, not the furore surrounding it, it is important to reference the problems in certain cases, such as this one.
ME has, once you know about them, some really big issues and also the truth is at times the complete polar opposite to what is shown. The biggest problem is that the way the Turkish are portrayed: not one single Turk is shown in a good light, in any way shape or form, despite the repeated statements from the real Billy Hayes of the close bonds he formed with and his love for Turks as people. And as much as there was the massive backlash and anger from Turkey itself, the thing which sticks most for me is Hayes. He has repeatedly publicly condemned the film, it's story and how it changed the real events for its own version. He also visited Turkey once the warrant for his arrest was lifted and apologised for the great offence and upset caused.
However, having said all of this, and with the full knowledge of the film's misrepresentations, I did really enjoy it. What I enjoyed most was the spirit of Billy Hayes that the film really brilliantly showed and was acted superbly by Brad Davis. This was a man who was in many ways just a stupid kid, who thought he could make a few quick easy bucks by smuggling hashish out of the country. When he was inevitably caught and made an example of as an American citizen, sentenced to 30 years in prison, he then has to survive mentally as well as physically in this inhospitable environment.
The rest of the cast, particularly John Hurt, are incredible and really give huge gravitas to the film and story. The sets and soundtrack are also amazing.
So despite the real problems, I absolutely can look past these and say without issue that as a piece of work, this is almost essential viewing. In fact, my 4 star score is only not 5 stars because of the chronic misrepresentation that I spoke of earlier. But the fact that it has been so widely reported by multiple sources about the veracity of the film's events does count for a lot. A final warning though: this is at times a highly distressing film, particularly the scenes in the psychiatric hospital.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.