No Escape, released in some countries as Escape from Absolom and Absolom 2022, is a 1994 American science fiction action film directed by Martin Campbell. It stars Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Dillon, Michael Lerner and Ernie Hudson. It was based on the 1987 novel The Penal Colony by Richard Herley. The film began in production development on May 17, 1993 and lasted until August of that year. It was filmed in Australia, primarily in New South Wales.
Robbins is sentenced to prison for the assassination of his general officer, a prison you leave only when you die. Since nobody ever leaves the prison, nobody knows what the prison is like. The prison manager realizes this and buys himself an island playground called "Absolom," where the worst prisoners are free to create an isolated barbaric society, and where the strongest men rule...a living hell. Robbins is sent to Absolom after he almost kills the prison manager.
⚠️ SPOILER ALERT ⚠️
A Brutal Island Prison and a Mad Max Vibe
Today we have the film "No Escape", where Ray Liotta plays the leading role. Before watching, Freddie immediately told me that the film was wonderful (since he watched it as a child) and I tuned in to a great pastime. I can say that even though I'm not a fan of prison or action films, I liked "No Escape". The film turned out to be an interesting combination of very beautiful nature and real prison hopelessness, flavored with a good plot and bright acting. The movie's estimated 20 million budget did its job: the film is rich in spectacular mass battles, explosions, and magnificent scenery. I really liked the costumes of the characters; it is clear that the costume designer approached the matter with love; the helmets of each of the captive insiders are a work of art!
How is it possible that I couldn't remember that I had already watched this movie a million times before? I had "Escape from Absolom" (the release name in my country) recorded on a VHS. This is back from that time when I still had heroes to look up to. Max Rockatansky was my number one hero, but I remember also being inspired by Ray Liotta's bad assness in this movie. In behavior, Captain Robbins (Ray Liotta) is a very similar character to Max. I always saw that as a rip off and I'm pretty certain that this movie had Mad Max as a reference in the making. But I still enjoyed the movie very much back then. It has lots of great action scenes and enough bloody violence to make unsupervised kids very happy.
About the costumes, unlike you, I can remember clearly that, just like today, as the first time I saw the movie, I thought they sucked. They have a very b-movie look to me. I also don't understand the meaning of the "star wars" uniform guards at the beginning of the film, they just look silly.
About the costumes, unlike you, I can remember clearly that, just like today, as the first time I saw the movie, I thought they sucked. They have a very b-movie look to me. I also don't understand the meaning of the "star wars" uniform guards at the beginning of the film, they just look silly.
Characters, Nostalgia and Sleepy Rewatches
As I already mentioned, all the main characters have bright and interesting personalities, they are eye-catching. All the actors played their roles perfectly. Ray Liotta as Capt. J.T. Robbins is very charismatic, he perfectly conveyed through his character the main idea of the film that you need to remain human in any situation, no matter what.
As soon as I started watching this I could remember everything about the movie. I even said "Now, that's fun!" at the same time as Marek in the scene from the GIF below. So, replaying this movie wasn't all that fun. I knew everything that was going to happen and that made me a bit sleepy. I couldn't make it to the last scene with the helicopter and was already snoring on the couch. The movie will get some points for the nostalgia, but it pains me to say that I don't think that this is a movie worth rewatching as an adult.
I believe Marek (Stuart Wilson) is the most interesting character in the movie because of his sadistic sense of humor. He would fit the Mad Max universe perfectly. I also liked to see Ernie Hudson playing Hawkins, more nostalgia points right there. He was curiously in this movie because he wanted to be as far away as possible from the US since the tragic incident in the recordings of his last movie "The Crow". My absolute favorite movie from this era. The Crow and Mad Max, yep, those were my two main heroes. I love pain and suffering, it seems.
I believe Marek (Stuart Wilson) is the most interesting character in the movie because of his sadistic sense of humor. He would fit the Mad Max universe perfectly. I also liked to see Ernie Hudson playing Hawkins, more nostalgia points right there. He was curiously in this movie because he wanted to be as far away as possible from the US since the tragic incident in the recordings of his last movie "The Crow". My absolute favorite movie from this era. The Crow and Mad Max, yep, those were my two main heroes. I love pain and suffering, it seems.
Final Verdict: Worth It for Action Fans
Now we are in 2022, the year the movie takes place. Freddy, do you think such a prison-island already exists somewhere on our planet? Summing up, my verdict - watch the movie and find out if it's really possible to leave this island of Absolom, which is saturated with blood and cruelty.
I think that there are islands worse than Absolom. Remember Little Saint James Island? I think some really nasty stuff was happening there. Anyway, if you have never watched this movie before, I think it is really worth a watch if you like action, adventure and a little intrigue. Just don't mind the stupid-looking 90's future technology. I can't get past those huge computer TV screens from 2022. ๐
Freddy's Score
62/100
Krasnaya's Score
65/100
FINAL SCORE
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