Midnight Express (1978)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Alan Parker

Writers:

Billy Hayes (book) and
William Hoffer (book) ...

Release Date:

6 October 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A story of triumph.

Plot:

Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Drugs | Lawyer | Smuggling | Court

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Brad Davis	...	Billy Hayes
Irene Miracle	...	Susan
Bo Hopkins	...	Tex
Paolo Bonacelli	...	Rifki
Paul L. Smith	...	Hamidou (as Paul Smith)
Randy Quaid	...	Jimmy Booth
Norbert Weisser	...	Erich
John Hurt	...	Max
Mike Kellin	...	Mr. Hayes
Franco Diogene	...	Yesil
Michael Ensign	...	Stanley Daniels
Gigi Ballista	...	Chief Judge
Kevork Malikyan	...	Prosecutor
Peter Jeffrey	...	Ahmet
Joe Zammit Cordina

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Maltese | French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:M18 (cut) | Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | Netherlands:16 | Brazil:18 | Germany:16 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Portugal:M/16 | New Zealand:R16 | Finland:K-16 (uncut) (1999) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1996) | Australia:MA (Cable TV rating) | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:18A | Chile:18 | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1978) | France:-16 | Norway:18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1986) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Fort St.Elmo, Valletta, Malta

Company:

Casablanca Filmworks

Trivia:

Turkish government officials greatly resented the portrayal of their country in the movie, and made this known to the media in general after the film's release.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The Turkish spoken by ostensible Turks portrayed in the film is uniformly broken. The actors are obviously not Turkish; sometimes the language is so broken it is difficult for native speakers to understand.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Susan makes her way through a line at an airline checkpoint]
Susan: Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me... Excuse me.
[she reaches Billy in line]
Susan: Nervous?
Billy Hayes: No.
Susan: Geez, I hate flying.
Billy Hayes: It's something I ate. I think I've been poisoned.
Susan: Or you're just excited about getting home.
Billy Hayes: No, I think it's the baklavas.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Richard Benjamin/Rickie Lee Jones (#4.16)" (1979)

Soundtrack:

Istanbul Blues

An Alan Parker film : One of the most controversial films about life in a prison

It is generally believed that "Midnight Express" is one of those rare films which must have had a long life of maximum television reruns in USA thanks to its disputatious content.Those who have seen it will have no qualms in affirming that even after 30 years of its release, Midnight Express continues to offend Turkish people as it had portrayed their nation as a barbaric third world country which has scant respect for human rights.All the fuss is created due to the shocking yet sympathetic portrayal of an American citizen William Hayes who is put in a Turkish prison after his arrest on drug peddling charges.It is true that director Alan Parker and script writer Oliver Stone have done a good job by showing that some prisons can turn out to be absolute hell.What did not work in their favor is the fact that most of scenes related to prison life and William Haye's treatment by Turkish authorities have been grossly exaggerated. To state that British director Alan Parker's film Midnight Express is a highly controversial work of art would be akin to twisting history.It is a film entirely based on perceptions.One must watch "Le Trou" by Jacques Becker if somebody is looking for a commendable film based on prison life.