Midnight Express (DVD)

Turkey may be a wonderful place to visit but I'm sorry, I don't think I could ever go. Midnight Express, the story of a man imprisoned and used as an example for attempting to smuggle cannabis out of Turkey, based on a true story and starring Brad Davies, with Randy Quaid and John Hurt. The music is haunting, the direction of the film is superb by, I believe, Alan Parker. The first time I saw the film I couldn't get it out of my mind for a very long time. Watching it many times since has never alleviated the horror of the story. I read somewhere that Brad Davies became really screwed up after filming Midnight Express, who ...  Read the complete review

Based on a true story, Midnight Express is a 1978 drama movie directed by Alan Parker about the nightmarish experiences of a young american during his stay in a turkish prison following what would be in his home country a minor drug-charge, and his eventual escape. (Not a spoiler.) Midnight Express is prison code for escape. It is an incredibly moving and profound film, brilliantly directed with superb casting and some truly tremendous performances. Character development is absolutely brilliant, and makes for a riveting piece. It is 2 hours (approx.) in length and every minute is as gripping as the last. It fuses aspects of dull prison ...  Read the complete review

DVD MIDNIGHT EXPRESS Starring Brad Davies, with Randy Quaid and John Hurt. This story is about a guy who tries to smuggle pot (marijuana) out of Turkey. He straps it around his belly with tape and proceeds to the security gate with his girlfriend. This is a true story! In the film he wears dark glasses and is chewing gum (he looks guilty just by the way he is acting - dark glasses - indoors??). You get the feeling instantly that he will be caught. Put it this way I would not wear dark glasses and chew gum if I was about to walk through security and that's with nothing to hide. He manages to get passed security and makes his way to the ...  Read the complete review

Midnight Express made in 1976, for its time, has to be one of the most prolific and interesting movies I have seen. Excellent acting in this movie and beholds stars such as John Hurt, and the most facsinating aspect about this movie is the fact that iit is a very true account of what happened to a young man when he tried to smuggle out marijhuana from Turkey. Normally, I am not a fan of blood and guts, and horrific torture, but this film is so detailed and brilliantly portrayed it kept me watching. What his young man endures throughout the film is almost unbeleivable, yet is is easy to beleive. It shows life in the Turkish prisons, of how it ...  Read the complete review

This is a bit of a classic in my eyes, Alan Parker has a nice style as a director, and the music by Giorgio Moroder is fantastic. The music really adds to the slighty off beat atmosphere of the film. The plot is that a young guy tries to smuggle hash out of Turkey and into the US by taping a kilo to his body. It is set in 1970 and at the time air security was high because of high jackers. He din't know that and gets caught boarding the plane. It is all about his life in a Turkish prison, it looks like hell. There are very few foreigners there, and the conditions are filthy and violent. It is quite a harsh film to watch but utterly compelling too. When I was in ...  Read the complete review