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:

From the makers of "Aliens" and "The Terminator".

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a considerable amount of strong violence, and for some language

Did You Know?

Trivia

It rained a lot during production of the film.

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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

German video retail version is cut for violence to secure a "Not under 16" rating.

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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

A hidden gem of a B-movie

'No Escape' is a B-movie. Fact. It has B-movie written all over it. And that's no bad thing. It never really tries to be anything else. It's about a futuristic world where prisoners are big business for corporations. Unless they don't work. Then they get shipped off to this out of the way island where they can kill each other as much as they like.

One such prisoner is Ray Liotta. He may be a convicted murderer, but he did it for just motives, therefore we can root for him. And he bands together with a load of equally supportable prisoners on the island, compared to the other lot – who are basically barbarians. Thus we have our movie – the 'good' (well, just) prisoners, fighting off the 'bad' prisoners on a little island paradise.

Our boy Ray's helped out by a variety of other B-movie actors. You'll recognise him from what's-it-called and that bloke out of Aliens, plus the Ghostbuster who joined last. Anyway, it doesn't matter. It's a fun film with plenty of action and rolls along nicely, helped no small part by the baddie. He's great fun – naturally psychotic, but great fun. In than annals of B-movie baddies, Stuart Wilson deserves a mention – sometimes camp, always bonkers and ready to slaughter anyone just to keep control of the psychos under him.

Despite its 'B-movie' status, it's actually a little longer than your average 'straight to DVD' flick. Yet it never seems to drag. Basically, if you like action, B-movies with a touch of sci-fi and want something to eat popcorn to, give this one a try. You can pick it up pretty cheaply or even stream it from many a website.

Plus, is it just me, or are all the computer terminals straight out of 'Aliens?' It's like No Escape is set in the same universe.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 April 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Penal Colony

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