Lights Out Movie Reviews
Copyright (c) 1994, Bruce Diamond
All rights reserved


        Ŀ
          NO ESCAPE:  Martin Campbell, director.  Michael Gaylin   
          and Joel Gross, screenplay.  Based on the novel THE      
          PENAL COLONY by Richard Herley.  Starring Ray Liotta,    
          Lance Henriksen, Michael Lerner, Stuart Wilson, Kevin    
          Dillon, and Ernie Hudson.  Savoy Pictures.  Rated R.     
        

          Put aside your negative reaction to the generic title and
     take your shock socks to a wild ride in the year 2022.  Private
     corporations are running the prison system (shades of FORTRESS,
     1993) and the worst of the worst get dropped on Absalom, a prison
     island that's ringed by radar, patrol boats, and choppers.  NO
     ESCAPE, starring Ray Liotta and produced by Gayle Anne Hurd
     (James Cameron's former producer and partner on ALIENS, T2, and
     THE ABYSS), combines the best elements of PAPILLON, LORD OF THE
     FLIES, and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK to serve up a satisfying futuris-
     tic action thriller.

          The prisoners on Absalom have divided themselves into two
     camps:  the Insiders, a relatively peaceful medieval community
     headed by The Father (Lance Henriksen), and the Outsiders, a
     loose group of ultraviolent gangs led by the dangerously charis-
     matic Walter Merack (Stuart Wilson).  Caught in the middle is
     Captain J.T. Robbins (Liotta), a military prisoner who has a
     "pathological aversion to authority," as described by the sleazy
     businessman warden (Michael Lerner).  Thankfully, the pseudo-
     science of this future world is kept to a minimum -- a double-
     speak DNA explanation of Robbins' aversion to authority is
     provided in the opening minutes -- and the screenplay gets right
     to the action.  Robbins is dropped on the island and the Out-
     siders find him first.  If he can dispatch the gang's bully boy,
     Marek tells him, then he'll be offered a position on the "staff."
     Robbins not only makes short work of the big guy (in a scene
     that's reminiscent of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), but he manages to
     grab Marek's weapon and escape their camp.

          When he reaches the Insiders, his resourcefulness impresses
     The Father enough to offer him a position in the village, despite
     the suspicions of his security chief (Ernie Hudson).  Robbins has
     only one thing on his mind, though.  Escape.  He thinks himself
     alone in his quest, but the Insiders show him different.  If only
     they can hold off the Outsiders long enough to put their plan
     into action . . .

          NO ESCAPE is a good popcorn movie, with action scenes worthy
     of anything in this genre.  Ray Liotta makes for a believable
     action hero, in the Kurt Russell/Peter Weller/Bruce Willis lean-
     and-mean style (as opposed to the plethora of muscleheads that
     inhabit this genre).  Stuart Wilson makes a delicious villain,
     with enough dark humor that's on point (rather than anachronistic
     one liners) to keep his edge in the foreground.  His jests never
     obscure the fact that he's one dangerous hombre, someone you
     never turn your back on.  I'm rather disappointed that he isn't
     used more in the film; his potential for scenery chewing, if kept
     in rein, could create a high demand for Wilson as an action
     villain.  The Insiders village is a remarkably believable
     construction, incorporating blacksmiths, weavers, traders, and
     other craftsmen in a totally self-sufficient community.  It is
     well-conceived and executed, a detail that's normally overlooked
     in a film of this type.  Lance Henriksen is interestingly cast
     against type as the spiritual and political leader of this group
     of prisoners, but he makes for a convincing father figure.  I
     think the only problem I have with the film concerns what happens
     to the prisoners when they escape.  The island prison itself is
     illegal; when and if they can bring word of it to the mainland,
     that sounds the deathknell for the Warden's business, but what
     happens to the prisoners?  Most of them are there for rather
     heinous crimes (Robbins killed his commanding officer over a
     policy disagreement that ended up roasting over 300 innocent
     women and children) and despite the cruel and unusual punishment
     the island represents, they still have to serve their sentences.
     And they won't be as free in any prison as they were on the
     island, so why escape?  It's a plot hole that kept niggling at me
     all throughout the movie, and for days afterward.  It's not
     enough to keep me from recommending NO ESCAPE, but it is a sign
     of what passes for scriptwriting in today's films.

     RATING:  $$$

