No Escape (1994)

A soldier convicted for murdering his commanding officer is dumped and left to die on a prison island inhabited by two camps of convicts.

Director:

Martin Campbell

Writers:

Richard Herley (novel), Michael Gaylin (screenplay)

Stars:

Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ray Liotta	...	Capt. J.T. Robbins
Lance Henriksen	...	The Father
Stuart Wilson	...	Walter Marek
Kevin Dillon	...	Casey
Kevin J. O'Connor	...	Stephano
Don Henderson	...	Killian
Ian McNeice	...	King
Jack Shepherd	...	Dysart
Michael Lerner	...	The Warden
Ernie Hudson	...	Hawkins
Russell Kiefel	...	Iceman
Brian M. Logan	...	Scab
Cheuk-Fai Chan	...	Skull
Machs Colombani	...	Ratman
David Argue	...	Cellmate

Storyline

Robbins is sentenced to prison for the assassination of his general officer, a prison you leave only when you die. Since nobody ever leaves the prison, nobody knows what the prison is like. The prison manager realizes this and buys himself an island playground called "Absolom," where the worst prisoners are free to create an isolated barbaric society, and where the strongest men rule...a living hell. Robbins is sent to Absolom after he almost kills the prison manager.

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Plot Keywords:

island | prison | prisoner | island prison | ex soldier | 

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Taglines:

Welcome to the future at it's most primitive. This is a prison with just one rule: Survival of the Fittest.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the extras were European backpackers from local backpacking hostels in and around Cairns, North Queensland.

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Goofs

When Dysart hands Robbins a pair of Molotov Cocktails, he says they were invented by a man named "Sergei Molotov". This is, in fact, incorrect. The Molotov Cocktail was first used in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) before actually gaining this name in the Winter War (1939) between Finland and the Soviet Union. The Finns used this incendiary weapon to great affect against the Soviets and gave it the name the "Molotov Cocktail" as an insult directed towards the Soviet foreign minister, Vyacheslav Molotov. No one named Sergei was involved in the making of the weapon.

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Quotes

Ralph: [Licks knife, uses it to smash a statute, then screams threatening] AAAAHHHHH!
Robbins: [Hurls knife into 'Ralph's' chest, killing him instantly. The mob is shocked into silence for several seconds]
Marek: That's extraordinary. It's not EXACTLY what we had in mind, but...
[laughs]
Marek: Extraordinary!
Marek: I could use a man like you! A position on my staff, perhaps?
[gestures at Ralph's body]
Marek: we appear to have an opening! Think about it! Your own room, full run of the place, free meals: anyone you can catch, kill and eat!
Robbins: [...]

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Alternate Versions

The chief villain bloodily landing on the spike at the end is missing two shots of his actual impalement in the UK version.

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Connections

References Papillon (1973)

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Soundtracks

Is Anybody Goin' to San Antone
Written by Dave Kirby and Glenn Martin
Published by Tree Publishing Co., Inc.
Performed by Doug Sahm
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Better Than How It First Looks

On the surface, this looks like a dumb movie which is overly violent and too seedy because it features nothing but hardened criminals plus the normal sadistic warden Hollywood always shows in all modern-day films.

But....it turns out the story isn't as sordid as it looks and the violence, although plentiful, is somehow not overdone. Also, the chief villain " Walter Marek" (Stuart Wilson) is a man with a good sense of humor. The comedic relief he brings is a real plus to the story. By the way, Wilson doesn't look like Mel Gibson but his voice sure sounds similar.

"No Escape" is strictly an action movie with an all-male cast that has a grim atmosphere of convicts fighting it out on an inescapable island in the year 2022.

Profanity isn't as much as you'd except in a tough film like this and - in a real oddity - Lance Henriksen is the nicest guy in the movie! He never utters a bad or angry word. If you know the characters Henriksen usually plays, you know this is a rarity. Ray Liotta, Michael Lerner and Ernie Hudson also star, so it's a decent cast.

You could do a lot worse looking for two hours of "escapist" fare.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

No Escape

Filming Locations:

New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,588,736, 1 May 1994

Gross USA:

$15,339,030

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,339,030

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Pacific Western, Platinum Pictures (III)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1