Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSundance Film FestivalBest Of 2023STARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Midnight Express

  • 1978
  • 18
  • 2h 1m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
88K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
3,349
137
Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
Theatrical Trailer from Columbia Tristar
Play trailer1:18
1 Video
99+ Photos
BiographyCrimeDrama

Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

  • Director
    • Alan Parker
  • Writers
    • Oliver Stone
    • Billy Hayes
    • William Hoffer
  • Stars
    • Brad Davis
    • Irene Miracle
    • Bo Hopkins
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    88K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    3,349
    137
    • Director
      • Alan Parker
    • Writers
      • Oliver Stone
      • Billy Hayes
      • William Hoffer
    • Stars
      • Brad Davis
      • Irene Miracle
      • Bo Hopkins
    • 318User reviews
    • 73Critic reviews
    • 59Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 2 Oscars
      • 17 wins & 14 nominations total

    Videos1

    Midnight Express
    Trailer 1:18
    Watch Midnight Express

    Photos112

    Paul L. Smith in Midnight Express (1978)
    John Hurt and Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    John Hurt and Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis and Irene Miracle in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Brad Davis
    Brad Davis
    • Billy Hayes
    Irene Miracle
    Irene Miracle
    • Susan
    Bo Hopkins
    Bo Hopkins
    • Tex
    Paolo Bonacelli
    Paolo Bonacelli
    • Rifki
    Paul L. Smith
    Paul L. Smith
    • Hamidou
    • (as Paul Smith)
    Randy Quaid
    Randy Quaid
    • Jimmy Booth
    Norbert Weisser
    Norbert Weisser
    • Erich
    John Hurt
    John Hurt
    • Max
    Mike Kellin
    Mike Kellin
    • Mr. Hayes
    Franco Diogene
    Franco Diogene
    • Yesil
    Michael Ensign
    Michael Ensign
    • Stanley Daniels
    Gigi Ballista
    • Chief Judge
    Kevork Malikyan
    Kevork Malikyan
    • Prosecutor
    Peter Jeffrey
    Peter Jeffrey
    • Ahmet
    Joe Zammit Cordina
    Joe Zammit Cordina
    • Airport Customs Officer
    Yashar Adem
    • Airport Police Chief
    Raad Rawi
    Raad Rawi
    • Airport Security Chief
    Tony Boyd
    • Aslan
    • Director
      • Alan Parker
    • Writers
      • Oliver Stone
      • Billy Hayes
      • William Hoffer
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Banned (and never released theatrically) in Turkey until 1992 when the private television channel HBB broadcast it.
    • Goofs
      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.
    • Quotes

      Max: The best thing to do is to get your ass out of here. Best way that you can.

      Billy Hayes: Yeah, but how?

      Max: Catch the midnight express.

      Billy Hayes: But what's that?

      Max: [laughs] Well it's not a train. It's a prison word for... escape. But it doesn't stop around here.

    • Crazy credits
      The only opening titles are: Columbia Pictures presents a Casablanca FilmWorks production an Alan Parker film Midnight Express After this, the opening prologue text reads "The following is based on a true story. It began October 6, 1970 in Istanbul, Turkey."
    • Alternate versions
      Some of the VHS and Betamax copies included text before the end credits run that did not appear on the DVD and Blu-ray copies "On May 18,1978 the motion picture you have just seen was shown to an audience of world press at the Cannes Film Festival.... 43 days later the United States and Turkey entered into formal negotiations for the exchange of prisoners." This dialogue existed on HBO's showing of the movie back in 1985.
    • Connections
      Featured in I'm Healthy, I'm Alive and I'm Free (1977)
    • Soundtracks
      Istanbul Blues
      Vocals by David Castle

      Written By Oliver Stone, Billy Hayes (as William Hayes)

      Arrangement and lyrics by David Castle

      Acoustic / Electric Guitars by Patrick McClure

      Drums, Percussion: Jerry Summers

      Strings: Fritz Sonnleitner, Sid Sharp

      Bass: Rick Tierney

      Piano, Electric Piano, Clavinet: David Castle

      Published by Rick's Music, Inc./Gold Horizon Music Corp. (BMI)

      (p) 1978 Casablanca Record and FilmWorks, Inc.

      © 1978 Columbia Pictures

    User reviews318

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    What a tense movie!
    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.
    helpful•177
    92
    • madmad
    • May 21, 2002

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ21

    • How long is Midnight Express?Powered by Alexa
    • What happened to Jimmy Booth?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 13, 1978 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • Official Site
      • Sony Pictures (United States)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Maltese
      • French
      • Turkish
    • Also known as
      • Ponoćni ekspres
    • Filming locations
      • Fort St. Elmo, Valletta, Malta(as the Turkish prison)
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Casablanca Filmworks
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $2,300,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $35,000,000
    • Gross worldwide
      • $35,000,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 1 minute
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Brad Davis in Midnight Express (1978)
    Top Gap
    What is the Hindi language plot outline for Midnight Express (1978)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Editorial Image
    Photos
    Top Stars to Watch in 2024
    See the gallery
    Production art
    List
    The Most Anticipated Movies of 2024
    See the list
    Production art
    List
    James' 5 Picks for January
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2024 by IMDb.com, Inc.