Rating: 
Summary: Drug Smuggle in Turkey, welcome to your time of Hell
Review: Riveting from the word go. The acting is superb, the direction is excellent and Moroder's score is exhilarating. Based on the true life story of Billy Hayes (who later became an actor), it begins as he (played by Davis) and girlfriend Susan (Miracle) are about to leave for home after a trip to Turkey. On the alert for drug smugglers, officials at the airport catch Hayes with blocks of hashish taped to his body. In a brilliantly tense scene he is herded at gunpoint to a room where he is stripped and interrogated, then taken to a fierce Turkish prison. Here comfort means a night where someone isn't brutually raped or beaten. Hayes meets many of the other inmates, including a few Westerners in there for the same drug raps: American Jimmy (Quaid). Englishman Max (Hurt) and Scandinavian Erich (Weisser), a gay man with whom Hayes has a brief sexual liason. Billy's father (Kellin) attempts to get his son out of jail, but the Turkish legal system is bent on making him an example to other potential smugglers. In a sensational courtroom scene Hayes berates his captors with an obscene lambasting of the judges, most of whom don't speak English and have no idea what he's saying. He is sentenced to more years than he thought he'd get and, once remanded to the jail, makes plans to take the "midnight express," i.e. escape.All the performances are top-notch. Quaid's portrayal of the slightly deranged American is outstanding; Hurt, as the addicted Englishman , is a study in understatement; Weisser is totally believable; and smith must rank a close second to Hume Cronyn's Captain Munsey in BRUTE FORCE for sheer evil in a prison official. But the standout is Davis, who is given the task of displaying just about every emotion known to man. MIDNIGHT EXPRESS is occasionally a bit too stylish for it's own good , something that may have been an indulgence on the part of Director Parker. He is nonetheless, a talent to be reckoned with, and both he and editor Hambboth won British Film Academy Awards for their work.
Rating: 
Summary: "You still don't believe you're a bad machine?"
Review: Midnight Express (1978) is one of those few films I heard a great deal about, but haven't had the opportunity to see...until recently. Based on a book written by a man who committed a crime in another land, went to trial, was convicted and imprisoned, eventually escaped, and wrote a book about his experiences, a lot of controversy seems to be generated over the whether or not various events in the film actually happened. Given Hollywood's penchant for changing elements in stories so that they may best come across the screen, I decided, even though the film was based on a true story, to take that with a grain of salt and just watch the film as a film.
Directed by Alan Parker (he was nominated for an academy award for this film), screenplay by the seemingly always controversial Oliver Stone (he won for best adaptation of a screenplay from another medium), the film stars Brad Davis (Chariot's of Fire) as Billy Hayes, the man who escaped and wrote the book the movie was based on...also appearing are John Hurt (he won best supporting actor for his role), Randy Quaid (Cousin Eddie from the Vacation movies) and Paul Smith (Bluto, from Robin Williams' Popeye movie).
The film begins with Billy Hayes strapping packets of heroin to his body, prior to his leaving the country of Turkey. Tsk, tsk Billy...possession is one thing, but smuggling? So very naughty...anyway, due to increased terrorist attacks, all passengers traveling by airplane are searched thoroughly, and Billy gets caught. No big surprise there...if he hadn't, this would have been a pretty short film. Imagine getting arrested in a foreign country, one where you don't speak the language. Pretty scary, I would think. Anyway, things actually don't appear that bad for Billy, but we know different. Eventually Billy receives 4 years on a possession charge (the prosecutor was looking for a smuggling charge, which carries a life sentence in Turkey). Conditions are poor, to say the least, in the prison, as Billy suffers many of the things you'd expect one to suffer being in prison. Attempts by his family, his lawyer, and American government officials are for naught as Billy serves his time. Shortly before his time in prison is up, Billy learns that a higher court has ruled that the possession charge he was originally convicted on has been reviewed by a higher court, and they have now decided to charge him with smuggling, increasing his term to 30 years, or, basically a life sentence, given the quality of life in the prison. At this point Billy explodes in the court as the ruling is handed down, and he reacts badly, understandably so, calling the court and its' members a `bunch of pigs' (probably not the words I would have used, as they certainly won't endear you to your captors, but whatever). Now a matter of life or death in Billy's mind, he decides he has no choice but to escape. And try he does...eventually he does, returns home, and decides to write a book about his experience, one that becomes a movie one day, adapted for the screen by Oliver Stone...isn't this where we began?
Now first of all, I have to say, for the life of me, I just couldn't develop any sympathy for the main character. Let's face it...he was a criminal, got caught, and sent to prison. Here's a tip for the youngsters out there...if you are planning to commit a crime, especially in a foreign country, it's probably a good idea to research the consequences, specifically how much jail time is involved if you get caught (for instance smuggling drugs in Turkey will get you a life sentence). The film seemed to spend a lot of time focusing on the brutal and sadistic conditions within the prison, and trying to give the audience justification for Billy's need to escape (that was the way I saw it), but again, he committed a crime, and got caught, so I still found it extremely difficult to feel sad for Billy. Just because he was an American, he shouldn't be bound by whatever laws exist in the particular country he's in? I don't think so...I did think Brad Davis did a great job caught up in forces he didn't understand. I thought John Hurt was good as Max, a perpetually drugged out Englishman in prison with Billy, but I didn't feel he was Academy Award good. I did think Randy Quaid was really good as another prisoner named Jimmy Booth, a constantly angry man whose entire existence seemed to be based on devising a means to escape from prison (his crime was stealing two candlesticks from mosque, a very serious, and stupid, crime, apparently). So how much of the story was real and how much of it was exaggerated? I suppose only Billy knows, but I think there is a clear message here, and it's not that people shouldn't visit Turkey. No, I the message I got was don't commit crimes in Turkey, or any other country, for that matter. Having to go to prison sucks, and I am sure the quality of life within these prisons varies greatly, but regardless, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Pure and simple. Ultimately, as far as prison films go, this is a gripping, sometimes harsh to view yarn, but not the best one I've ever seen. One of the best, in my opinion, is Papillon (1973), starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman, which, oddly enough, is also based on a true story.
Provided on this DVD is both the wide screen and full screen formats. I've only watched the wide screen format, and while the picture is good, I felt it could have been better, maybe cleaned up a little, giving us a better tone throughout. Special features include a theatrical trailer and a short featurette with the real Billy Hayes (nice perm, dude) on location of the movie shoot.
Cookieman108
Rating:
Summary: Awesome film!!!
Review: Jeff Shannon's review is nonsense. He accuses "Midnight Express" of being manipulative. What does he think film making is? Films--and art in general--are nothing more than manipulation in order to achieve a desired effect, whether to scare us, make us cry, or make us laugh. It's all about manipulation. I read Billy Hayes original book accounting his true life experiences in Turkey; overall, the film holds true to the autobiography, although it shies away from Hayes's own self-professed positive homosexual experiences while in prison. I suppose audiences in 1978 wouldn't be able to handle that. In the film, Hayes is shown as rejecting any kind of homosexual advance, although he does so kindly. Regardless, the film is powerful and has visually stunning cinematography, something that is lacking in today's films. This is one of those films you show friends who have never seen it or heard of it. Almost all will come away awestruck. It is a remarkable film achievement. It's one of the top films of the 1970s--and in the decade of "The Deer Hunter," "Jaws," "Star Wars," "The Exorcist," and "The Godfather," just to name a few, that's saying a lot!
Rating:
Summary: A great and unforgettable film
Review: I love this movie I can't believe how many people think it was based I would love to see some of these reviewers spend a night in a Turkish prison back in the early 70's and then tell me about how nice their prisons are unless you been there and no what your talking. I know not all turks bad but their government I don't know if it's the same now as it was back then. Could the film have inacuricies of course what movie doesn't. I bet you people who gave bad reviews would give Osama Bin Laden a big sloppy kiss if you met him.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie (but just as a movie)
Review: Look guys. I definitely recommend this movie. It's one of the best ones I've ever seen. No kiddin though I'm from Turkey.Surprised?You should be because as a movie this one deserves 5 out of 5. Well flip side of the coin is of course about my country. Don't take the junkies at the movie serious.Watch this as you watch Shawshank Redemption.This isn't and wasn't Turkey.I didn't even understand what those Turks(?) in the movie was sayin' Ah yeah this was Armenians who tried to speak Turkish.Somethings may have happened 30 years ago in that prison but this is not different than what happened in Robert Redford's Brubaker.And what about the court scene in this one. "You Turks don't eat pig but you are all pigs, your food suck, let me .... all your people women bla bla bla" Nobody blamed American culture in prison movies. Nobody made any generalizations about any culture in any prison movie but this one. So, from a cultural standpoint this movie is nothing but a manipulation, provocation, scandal, illusion and a total lie.Mentioned earlier, watch this so-called true story as you watch Shawshank. You will simply love it. Do you know more than half of what was said it happened didn't really happen? Well, anyways, enjoy the ride!
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie but extremely exaggerated
Review: The movie was fairly accurate. The penalties for drug smuggling are severe and were realistically represented in this film.
However, I do have to object to the portrayal of abuses and tortures occuring in Turkish prisons. This film seemed to paint the Turks as sadistic and vicious in the running of their correctional facilities. In isolated cases, this may occur but in much lesser degrees than this movie displays.
I know this firsthand because I did a five year stint in Turkish prison. Admittedly, I am a little more backboned than the average American tourist who finds himself getting pinched while trafficing Hashish out of Turkey but I could easily have done the entire 5 years standing on my head.
I certainly don't want to be a Turkish inmate again but if circumstances held it in the cards that I was required to serve another 5 year stint, I wouldn't even flinch but suck it up like a man.
I'm not saying it's Disney world over there, kids. IT'S NOT! Don't follow my mistakes. But movies like this severely exaggerate the life inside a Turkish prison.
Turkish prison guards look at American drug smugglers much the same way as American prison guards look at "celebrity gangsters" here in the States. For an American drug smuggler, Turkish prison life would more accurately be portrayed by the scenes in Goodfellas rather than by the scenes in Midnight Express. In my case, since I am not Italian, rather than making pasta and garlic tomato sauce, they overlooked my contraband of pork chops and mashed potatos.
Rating: 
Summary: This is not Turkey.
Review: I've seen this movie many years ago, and I watched it last night again. I've still got the same feeling, THIS IS NOT TURKEY. There are hardly any Turkish actors in the movie. Most of the movie wasn't even shot in Turkey. The reviews here made me very upset, more than the movie itself. People have the tendency to judge a country and its entire people based on a movie, which was shot in 1978. Midnight Express is not just a movie. Turkey has been fighting with this image for the whole time.
It is a true story, all right. There are a lot of movies based on true stories in which the moral is all wrong. If you've seen this movie and you think this country is a terrible place, I'd say think again.
1. Criminals are not welcome in any country in the world. If you are a drug dealer, do it in your country.
2. Time is passing and things change. For countries like Turkey, things get better and better every single day. In this movie, you are looking at a 30-year-old misrepresented image of a country. A lot of things have changed in the last thirty years, the judgemental system and the police have changed all over. Turkey had a huge incentive to change, the EU. And hopefully it will be a member soon.
3. TURKEY IS A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY. Believe it or not, it is!!! Turkey's biggest revenue is tourism. If it was that scary, tens of millions of people wouldn't go to Turkey every year. Turkish people are known with their hospitality. They are not some kind of uncivilized monsters, like some critics here and the movie itself have implied.
See the movie if you want, it is a good movie. But don't take anything seriously. I will give one star because it is all wrong. Turkey and Turkish people are nothing like this.
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