Product Details

• Actors: Steven Mackintosh, Brian Cox, Liam Cunningham, Joseph Fiennes, Damian Lewis
• Directors: Robert Wyatt, Rupert Wyatt
• Format: Color, DVD, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: January 26, 2010
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002TZS5N8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,959 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "The Escapist" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

ESCAPIST - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gritty and Stylish Film Worthy of Attention, November 8, 2009

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Escapist (DVD)

THE ESCAPIST, written by Daniel Hardy and Rupert Wyatt who also is the amazingly fine director, takes place almost entirely in a London prison. The main character is Frank (Brian Cox, in a brilliant turn) is a lifer who receives a note that his daughter is a junkie in dire straits and becomes obsessed with escaping prison to make amends with her. He gathers a strange, disparate group of fellow inmates to complete tasks in his carefully planned but exceptionally dangerous escape: Brodie (Liam Cunningham) has the brains, Viv Batista (Seu Jorge) has the drugs, Leny Drake (Joseph Fiennes) has the hands and cunning. In order to keep his escape plans secret he must overcomes the wiles of the prison inmate leader Rizza (Damian Lewis) whose sicko brother Tony (Steven Mackintosh) causes problems, including the physical abuse of a very young newcomer inmate Lacey (Dominic Cooper) whose loathing for Tony's endless advances drives him to the point of causing a major glitch in Frank's plan. But the escape plan proceeds and the film is a back and forth play between the planning and the actual process of the escape. Little is said in words in this film: most of the action comes for the faces and eye to eye encounters that drive the relentless attempt to escape to conclusion. And the ending will surprise every viewer, so cleverly has this story been prepared and told.

The acting is exceptional and the tenor of the film is greatly enhanced by the suspenseful cinematography by Philipp Blaubach. Benjamin Wallfisch provides some haunting, almost a cappella songs that heighten the intensity of the drama by commenting on it, and in other portions his musical score is the sort that maximizes the emotional aspect of the film rather than drawing attention to the music itself. This is far more than just another prison break film. This is a polished psychological thriller that deserves wide attention. Now, where is the DVD on Amazon.com? Surely it will appear soon. Grady Harp

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prison Drama With a Twist, January 28, 2010

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The Movie Man "tenebre89" (Maywood, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Escapist (DVD)

"The Escapist" is a thriller about Frank Perry (Brian Cox), a tough lifer determined to bust out of a London penitentiary to see his terminally ill daughter before she dies. First, however, he'll have to assemble a hardcore crew, battle the brutal prison kingpin, and pull off a daring, suspenseful escape. Director Rupert Wyatt cuts back and forth between the escape in progress and the days leading up to it.
Prison films are not new, but "The Escapist" manages to make a familiar plot fresh thanks to well-written characterizations and a terrific performance by Brian Cox. The success or failure of a prison escape flick depends on whether we care about the characters, and Cox, along with Joseph Fiennes, Liam Cunningham, Dominic Cooper, Steven Mackintosh, and Damian Lewis, provide solid portrayals. The twist here is that the escape plot is motivated by a man longing to see his dying child one last time. Also, the film contains a climactic secret that is unexpected and actually works. There are no bonus extras in this bare-bones Widescreen release.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully realized jailbreak flick, January 13, 2010

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K. Swanson (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Escapist (DVD)

4.2 stars

Rupert Wyatt scored big on this, his first feature film. He nails it as both writer and director; the characters are interesting and believable, the movie looks grimly gorgeous, and his time-shifting script pays off in the end in unexpected ways. He pulls fine performances from the entire cast, with Brian Cox leading the way. The music is also first-rate, always in tune with the director's intentions and often quite moving in its own right. It is in fact a very smart film in most every way; even the title takes on great resonance as the tale plays out.

I'm surprised there aren't more reviews of this here; it's a fine film, and maybe the best prison break movie since Shawshank. Give it time and I'm guessing The Escapist will become a true cult favorite, taking its deserved place just below such genre masterpieces as Papillon, Shawshank, and the Alcatraz films.