Bangkok Hilton 

The story of Kat Stanton (Kidman), an Australian woman searching for her father who, whilst travelling back from London to Australia via Thailand, makes friends with Arkie Ragan (Ehlers), a... See full summary »

Stars:

Nicole Kidman, Denholm Elliott, Hugo Weaving

3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Nicole Kidman	...	Katrina Stanton 3 episodes, 1989
Denholm Elliott	...	Hal Stanton 3 episodes, 1989
Hugo Weaving	...	Richard Carlisle 3 episodes, 1989
Joy Smithers	...	Mandy Engels 3 episodes, 1989
Lewis Fiander	...	James Stanton 3 episodes, 1989
Judy Morris	...	Catherine Faulkner 3 episodes, 1989
Jerome Ehlers	...	Arkie Ragan 3 episodes, 1989
Noah Taylor	...	Billy Engels 3 episodes, 1989
Gerda Nicolson	...	Lady Faulkner 3 episodes, 1989
Pauline Chan	...	Kang ('Pretty Warder') 3 episodes, 1989
Richard Carter	...	Detective King 3 episodes, 1989
Tan Chandraviroj	...	Major Sara 3 episodes, 1989
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Astra 3 episodes, 1989

Storyline

The story of Kat Stanton (Kidman), an Australian woman searching for her father who, whilst travelling back from London to Australia via Thailand, makes friends with Arkie Ragan (Ehlers), a photographer. Kat is tricked into carrying some luggage through Thai customs for Arkie, only for the police to find drugs in his bag. Kat is sentenced to spend time in the horrific "Bangkok Hilton" prison, where she makes friends with fellow inmate Mandy Engels (Smithers), who has been sentenced to death. Whilst she endures the terrible conditions inside, Kat's lawyer Richard Carlisle (Weaving) and ex-patriot Hal Stanton (Elliott) battle with the authorities to have her freed.

---

Plot Keywords:

condemned to death | death row | frame up | friend | lawyer | 

---

Taglines:

From the captivity of her childhood, the ultimate prison awaits

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English Thai

Release Date:

9 October 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Regresso a Banguecoque

Filming Locations:

New South Wales, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kennedy Miller Productions

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Alternate Versions

Originally shown as three one-and-a-half-hour episodes, on the British DVD it was edited into six 45-minute episodes.

---

Connections

References South Pacific (1958)

---

Soundtracks

Mercedes-Benz
(uncredited)
Written by Janis Joplin, Michael McClure and Bob Neuwirth
Sung by Mandy and later by her cell-mates

User Reviews

Superior work from Australia.

This is the ultimate TV mini-series. Everything is right. The story, the acting, the filming, the length, the locations, what not?

It looks as if even the prison scenes have been filmed in a real Thai prison, although one might doubt if permission would have been given for that by the Thai authorities if the script was known to them. All the other Bangkok scenes are definitely filmed on real locations. Also the airport scenes. They were definitely filmed at Bangkok Airport. I can guarantee this, knowing the place well. In this series Nicole Kidman broke through as an actress and she would deserve an Oscar, if there were one for this category (TV movies). Her acting is so perfectly natural and it looks as if she is going through the events herself, like in a documentary. One seldom sees such superior acting in a TV mini-series. All the locations have been chosen extremely well. I happen to know Bangkok quite well and I would not have been able to suggest any better locations. The movie last for about 4.5 hours, but this is not one minute too long. One needs every scene in the movie and it never bores. One can hardly believe that 4.5 hours have passed when the end credits appear. Time flies and if one looks at a video or DVD version it is impossible to interrupt it.

This one clearly shows that a TV mini-series can be of high quality and can be far superior to a movie, made for theaters. We can be happy that there is a DVD version (at least there is one in Europe). Everybody will want to see this one more than once. Superior work from Australia! Without any hesitation: 10/10!