Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

martin-fennell Exceptional, told in a simple and effective manner, with little violence. Eastwood is his usual self,(did I mean wooden) but the rest of the cast, particularly McGoohan and Benjamin are excellent. THe atmosphere is catastrophic, and brilliantly conveyed. It would have been even more effective in b/w. Highly recommended.

a-l-bobrick It is good, and it is guaranteed to be enjoyable. If you look at the photographs of Alcatraz, as it were, you will be positively impressed by the resemblance of the corridors, the facilities and the rusty pipes. The fascinating real story only reinforces the movie. However, unfortunately, you know what that story is going to be about and you know exactly how it it is going to end, no spoilers needed.In many of his movies Clint Eastwood plays a strong character who has to deal with repressive other characters of higher status. In here such a tendency is taken to the extreme, and the role is played just smoothly, he is still a strong smart character.

ICanNeverThinkOfAGoodUsername At the end of the film I thought 'is that it?' I couldn't believe I'd sat through the entire film to find out that was the ending.I understand that the film was based on a true story however with it being a film I expected some sort of drama and climax. The first 1 hour of the film was a complete waste of time - I found myself falling asleep and that never happens when I watch a film! You barely find out anything about the characters... Therefore, I felt no real connection to anyone I didn't really care whether they left or not.Nothing dramatic happened in the film and the thing just went from one scene to another with very little happening. Just when you thought they'd be a climax - there wasn't.

Jayanthan Ravi 'Escape from Alcatrz' is always tagged as one of the good films of the impeccable CLINT EASTWOOD. But, I was not very much impressed by the film. It was definitely a good film, with a nice cast and a tight script, but I had a feeling of watching a re-hash of 'THE SHAWSHAK REDEMPTION' while watching this film (It should have been the other way around, but I ended up watching the SHAWSHANK before ALCATRAZ !).To start with, I do agree with my buddy Suppi who says 'All prison movies look similar'. Have to, it is not expected that prisons (in US or elsewhere) differ to a great extent from one to the other. But the librarian in both the films being a black, both the films having characters that tend to assault the newcomer physically, the warden being a person with a stone heart……..all these gave me feel of watching a SHAWSHANK again.But the film is a good one. Clint Eastwood, true to his reputation gives a splendid performance right from the place where he confronts the WOLF with a cool attitude (BLONDIE !!??) to the scene where he shows his controlled temper during the sudden death of character who is supposedly Al Capone…he is just brilliant !The actual escape, right from its planning stage is described well and depicted in a time frame that appears close to the real. It is also not over-dramatized, except for a scene where in the prison guard has a doubt on the sleeping figure in Frank's (Eastwood) cell and goes near to discover Eastwood in the bed and not a dummy as he suspected. The last scene, where in the warden finds a flower left behind by the escaping men, is a nice touch.I did feel the lighting could have been better at some parts of the movie, where darkness overshadowed the physical movements of the screen characters.But on the whole a good movie. A must watch for Eastwood fans.