Midnight Express

Rating:
Summary: its more like a 4.8
Review: this movie is great,its amust see, but it has some mistakes. i'm not tirkish but people who have been ther tell that not everyone are pigs and that they are not so racist. so allan parker shouldnt talk so bad about the turkish because they are not all bad people. apart from that this is a wonderfull movie

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, captivating, and all-around brilliant movie!
Review: This movie is based on a TRUE STORY, and is definately one of the greatest prison movies you will ever see, and others think the same way I do (Golden Globe awarded this movie BEST PICTURE, along with other awards the year of its release. Oscar also nominated it for numerous awards and it even won a couple.) ...

Rating:
Summary: Human Rights or Propaganda?
Review: You should see this movie before you come to Turkey. Then maybe you'll think that it's gonna be an adventure to take a vacation here but I am afraid you'll get disappointed. First of all Istanbul is not an ugly city as they try to show in that movie. Secondly neither the law courts and the prisons are like that in Turkey. I don't claim that this movie is based on a whole lie but there's a great exagration we see. Turkey was very different 20 years a go but it has never been a hell as it seems in the movie.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't like it
Review: Even though it is a good movie it misleads the people by making false judgments about turkish people. Most of the parts of the Midnight Express weren't shot in Turkey and people as actors and actresses were Greek and Armenian whom are known to hate Turkish people.That's why I didn't like this movie much, because it's about political propaganda which is supported by Armenian and Greek lobbies. Even though it is claimed that this movie is based on a true story, it is not reflecting the real truth.

Rating:
Summary: Story true but with lots of subjective exaggration
Review: This movie had been forbidden in Turkey many years therefore whenever I heard the influences of Midnight Express I wasn't able to say anything. I didn't even know what was it about. 7 years before somehow, a private channel has showed the movie and I remember that the channel broke a rating record that night. The day after everyone was saying the same thing " This is bull$h!t!" Well but I am afraid we were a bit late to protest this Anyway, the image of Turkey has changed in 20 years time but people still afraid of us just because of a movie????

Rating:
Summary: Human rights
Review: This is a great movie for people all around the world, those who fight for the human rights.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and captivating
Review: I first saw this film on TV when I was about 10 years old (!) and instead of totally freaking me out, it captivated me. I saw it again a few months ago and I was convinced that this IS the best prison film ever, with amazing performances all around, and probably the best revenge scene ever made (see what happens to that sod Rifki!) Truly Alan Parker's best film.

Rating:
Summary: One of Brad Davis' best
Review: Brad Davis was an upcoming star. This should have been oscar material for him. Too bad he isn't alive now, he was a great actor and I would have liked to see more of him in other films.

Rating:
Summary: Alan Parker's masterpiece
Review: This is an absorbing and arresting film. Since the first minute of the opening sequence , the dramatic mood will live in our heart .
The inner tension in the airport is perfectly made , the fear , the insane atmosphere in the turkish jails , the language obstacle , the hopeless , the dramatic sense when the Turkish Court gives the veredict in the middle of a bitter political conflict are a true landmark in its style.
John Hurt (Max) plays an unforgettable role as the addict friend of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) and his performance is only overcome for The elephant man two years after this film.
Magnificent script and extraordinary performances.
A winner.

Rating:
Summary: A True Story?
Review: When you see this movie, it makes you wonder how come ALL Turkish characters in the movie are ugly dumb sadistical perverts (and also pigs, in the main character's "Address to a Nation", in a courtroom scene). Even in the 1950s anti-communist era movies you come by sensible russian spies or pretty russian girls, along with nasty Igors or Ivans. This racist element was perhaps florished in Oliver Stone's mind, to provoke the public interest and sympathy on a drug smuggler by trashing a relatively unknown nation, betting late 70s drug relaxed public would love it (I sometimes wonder how the public would react to this movie if it was released in Reagan's War on Drugs era). I give some credit to Alan Parker for the way he exploited all this to provoke public sentiment. However I do not understand how Oliver Stone got an Oscar for twisting a story to make it sell, in expense of a nation's defamation (then again who cares about that in Hollywood), and turning it into a weak plot and an even weaker ending. If you wanna read the True Story (as true as it can get I guess) go read Billy Hayes' book. If you want to watch the movie just keep these words by Joseph Goebbels (Hitler's Propoganda Minister) in mind: "The bigger the lie , the more they believe it"