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Plot Summary
Superstar Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegal re-team for their fifth film in this fascinating account of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years, the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary, which housed Al Capone and "Birdman" Robert Stroud, was only broken once - by three men never heard of again. Eastwood portrays Frank Morris, the cunning bank robber who masterminded the elaborately detailed and, as far as anyone knows, ultimately successful, escape. Patrick McGoohan is a superb counterpoint as the suspicious warden. Filmed on location in Alcatraz, this gritty and realistic reenactment of a true story has all the power one expects of an Eastwood/Siegel movie.
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Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
95%- Reviews Counted: 20
- Fresh: 19
- Rotten: 1
- Average Rating: 6.9/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: What Mr. Siegel has made is fiction, a first-rate action movie that is about the need and the decision to take action, as well as the action itself.
Fresh: Escape from Alcatraz is relentless in establishing a mood and pace of unrelieved tension.
Fresh: It's one of those very difficult exercises in which large emotions, like the compulsion to be free, are reflected in minute actions, like the chipping away at stone with a pocket nail clipper.
Fresh: It's an austere depiction of the tedious routines of prison life, and of the courage and strength of spirit needed in coping with unpleasant warders, tough fellow-inmates, and a life sentence.
Customer Reviews
A classic
It's a great classic movie. I think the release date is a little misleading as this is an older movie, perhaps something to do with remastering or whattnot. If you haven't seen it and are looking for a good watch, this is a safe bet. fyi... it's a little on the slow side.
Great Movie. Period.
If you like movies like The Great Escape or even Cool Hand Luke, then you will love this one. Period.
One of the best movies I've seen this year
The cover for this movie really made this movie look bad, like other reviewers said. There isn't really any bad acting here and the movie goes by very fast. Mythbusters did an episode on the escape and like they proved, Frank had a chance to succeed by going to Angel Island. You know how the movie is going to end otherwise why make a movie from it, but you see Clint Eastwood in a really good role which was played very well by him and the supporting cast. It's not a feel good movie. It also doesn't really show the really bad things you hear about Alcatraz. It doesn't need to. What we want to see is how they all escaped and you can see the planning and intelligence of Frank through Clint's portrayal of him. To compare it to a modern movie, it's in the same lines of Shawshank Redemption and reminds me of it a bit. Except that Shawshank pales in comparison to this film. It's my first iTunes rental which was only done because of the 99 cent rental week. Would I watch it again? Sure. Even though it was made in the late 70's, it's a movie that can still hold up today if made to look a little more dark and show more of a feel for how the inmates must have had to live...... aside from that, I definitely recommend this one.
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