No Escape Movie Review

This is another dreadful prison-of-the-future flick. In 2022, Captain Robbins (Ray Liotta) has been banished (unjustly, of course) to a prison-colony island called Absalom by a sadistic prison warden (Michael Lerner). The island, which looks more like it should be inhabited by Ewoks than the world's most dangerous criminals, is without walls and guards, leaving the prisoners free to kill each other. Robbins discovers a relatively peaceful community of prisoners known as the Insiders, led by The Father (Lance Henriksen). The Insiders help each other and build a sort of medieval community. These guys are poster boys for prison reformation. They are predictably plagued by the Outsiders, the bad guys who live on the other side of the island. This cross between Lord of the Flies and Escape from New York becomes a redundant series of clashes between the good guys and bad guys, and fruitless attempts to escape. The action sequences are well done, but the story is empty. Adapted from the book The Penal Colony by Richard Herley.

1994 (R) 118m/C Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Dillon, Kevin J. O'Connor, Michael Lerner, Ernie Hudson, Ian McNeice, Jack Shepherd; D: Martin Campbell; W: Joel Gross; M: Graeme Revell. VHS, LV HBO