IMDb > Midnight Express (1978)
Midnight Express
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Midnight Express (1978) More at IMDbPro »

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Midnight Express -- Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. Inspired from and dramatized upon a true event.

Overview

User Rating:
7.6/10   37,895 votes »
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Down 24% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Alan Parker
Writers:
Billy Hayes (book) and
William Hoffer (book) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Midnight Express on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
6 October 1978 (USA) See more »
Genre:
Biography | Crime | Drama See more »
Tagline:
A story of triumph. See more »
Plot:
Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. Full summary » | Full synopsis »
Plot Keywords:
See more »
Awards:
Won 2 Oscars. Another 14 wins & 12 nominations See more »
NewsDesk:
(127 articles)
Creatively, Turkey’s TV Soaps Have Conquered the World
 (From Variety - TV News. 13 April 2013, 3:00 PM, PDT)
Creatively, Turkey’s TV Soaps Have Conquered the World
 (From Variety - Film News. 13 April 2013, 3:00 PM, PDT)
More ‘The Dark Place’ casting; Tennant and Piper return for ‘Doctor Who’ 50th
 (From doorQ.com. 31 March 2013, 9:16 PM, PDT)
User Reviews:
What a tense movie! See more (223 total) »

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)

Brad Davis ... Billy Hayes

Irene Miracle ... Susan

Bo Hopkins ... Tex
Paolo Bonacelli ... Rifki
Paul L. Smith ... Hamidou (as Paul Smith)

Randy Quaid ... Jimmy Booth

Norbert Weisser ... Erich

John Hurt ... Max
Mike Kellin ... Mr. Hayes
Franco Diogene ... Yesil

Michael Ensign ... Stanley Daniels
Gigi Ballista ... Chief Judge
Kevork Malikyan ... Prosecutor
Peter Jeffrey ... Ahmet
Joe Zammit Cordina ... Airport Customs Officer
Yashaw Adem ... Airport Police Chief (as Yashar Adem)

Raad Rawi ... Airport Security Chief
Tony Boyd ... Aslan
Zannino ... Police Detective (as Zanninos Zanninou)
Mihalis Giannatos ... Court Translator (as Michael Yannatos)

Vic Tablian ... Star
Ahmed El Shenawi ... Negdir
rest of cast listed alphabetically:

Alan Parker ... Long-Haired Man at Airport (uncredited)
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Directed by
Alan Parker 
 
Writing credits
Billy Hayes (book) (as William Hayes) and
William Hoffer (book)

Oliver Stone (screenplay)

Produced by
Peter Guber .... executive producer
Alan Marshall .... producer
David Puttnam .... producer
 
Original Music by
Giorgio Moroder 
 
Cinematography by
Michael Seresin 
 
Film Editing by
Gerry Hambling 
 
Production Design by
Geoffrey Kirkland 
 
Art Direction by
Evan Hercules 
 
Costume Design by
Milena Canonero 
 
Makeup Department
Pat Hay .... hair stylist
Mary Hillman .... makeup artist
Sarah Monzani .... hair stylist
Penny Steyne .... makeup artist
 
Production Management
Richard Green .... unit manager
Garth Thomas .... production manager
Antoine Compin .... production manager: second unit (uncredited)
Charis Horton .... production manager: second unit (uncredited)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Corbett .... first assistant director
Kieron Phipps .... third assistant director
David Wimbury .... second assistant director
 
Art Department
Alan Booth .... stand-by carpenter
Karen Brookes .... property buyer
Kenneth Clarke .... stand-by plasterer (as Ken Clark)
Bob Hedges .... stand-by props
John Hemmington .... dressing props
Katharina Kubrick .... art department assistant
Bob Lapper .... stagehand
John Leuenberger .... property master
Douglas Regan .... stand-by painter
Dennis Simmonds .... stand-by props
Bill Welch .... construction manager
 
Sound Department
Don Banks .... sound camera
Rusty Coppleman .... dubbing editor
Bill Rowe .... dubbing mixer
Ken Weston .... boom operator
Clive Winter .... sound mixer
 
Camera and Electrical Department
Beaumont Alexander .... clapper loader (as Beau Alexander)
David Appleby .... still photographer
Peter Bloor .... electrician
Ray Coates .... electrician
Nobby Cross .... electrician
Freddy Fry .... camera grip
Red Lawrence .... rigger
Reg Parsons .... electrician
Roy Rodhouse .... electrician
John Stanier .... camera operator
Bernard Lutic .... director of photography: second unit (uncredited)
 
Casting Department
Penny Perry .... casting: USA
Patsy Pollock .... casting: UK
 
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bobby Lavender .... wardrobe
Yvonne Zarb Cousin .... wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
 
Editorial Department
Eddy Joseph .... assistant editor
Tony Orton .... assistant editor
Richard Taylor .... assistant editor
 
Other crew
Paul Cadiou .... assistant accountant
Valerie Craig .... production secretary
Kay Fenton .... continuity
Brian Harris .... follow focus
Angela Micklesburgh .... assistant to producer
Ron Phipps .... production accountant
Caryn Picker .... assistant to producer
Roy Scammell .... fight arranger
Kathy Smith .... production assistant (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


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Additional Details

Also Known As:
See more »
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
121 min
Country:
UK | USA
Language:
English | Maltese | French
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 See more »
Sound Mix:
Mono
Certification:
Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1978) | France:-16 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Singapore:M18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:18 | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 (re rating) (1989) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1996) | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1999) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Italy:VM18 | New Zealand:R18 (original rating) (1979)
Filming Locations:
Fort St.Elmo, Valletta, MaltaSee more »
Company:
Casablanca FilmworksSee more »

Did You Know?

Trivia:
The documentary I'm Healthy, I'm Alive and I'm Free (1977) (TV) is about the making of this movie.See more »
Goofs:
Factual errors: The Turkish spoken by the Turkish characters in the film is uniformly broken. The actors are obviously not Turkish; sometimes the language is so broken it is difficult for native speakers to understand what they are saying.See more »
Quotes:
[first lines]
[Susan makes her way through a line at an airline checkpoint]
Susan:Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me.
[she reaches Billy in line]
Susan:Nervous?
Billy Hayes:No.
Susan:Geez, I hate flying.
Billy Hayes:It's something I ate. I think I've been poisoned.
Susan:Or you're just excited about getting home.
Billy Hayes:No, I think it's the baklavas.
[...]
See more »
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Eagle Eye (2008)See more »
Soundtrack:
Istanbul BluesSee more »

FAQ

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User Reviews

   (Review this title)
101 out of 162 people found the following review useful.
What a tense movie!, 21 May 2002
Author: madmad from santa cruz, ca

It's interesting to note the comments on this movie.

I saw it on TV last night, not for the first time, and I noticed how the Turks in the film are all one-dimensional bad people, and physically ugly to boot. I also read that many of the scenes are completely fictional. I am not one of those people who think that a "true" story must be completely true; I think that the purpose of movies is to entertain, and this one certainly does that, if in a harrowing way. But, given the politics of our time, if the author of the screenplay wanted to create a demon people for dramatic effect, perhaps it would have been better to have set the story in a fictional or unidentified country.

The other observation I would make is, we are not much better than they are. We regularly sentence people to ungodly amounts of prison time for drug offenses, both on a state and federal level. Our prisons are no picnic, either, with many of the same sorts of things that were portrayed in the movie happening right here at home.

So, go check "the man in the mirror" before you condemn anyone else.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Midnight Express (1978)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
People you would think were in the movie but were not. Ramuna
Creepy with dad. gjc5083
Portrayal is fair nerhal1
This whole thing could have been avoided....... brettweir3
More movies like this? eyeforaneye2002
Best line in the movie BrionyTallis
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