Product Details

• Actors: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe
• Directors: Franklin J. Schaffner
• Writers: Dalton Trumbo, Henri Charrière, Lorenzo Semple Jr.
• Producers: Franklin J. Schaffner, Emanuel L. Wolf, Robert Dorfmann, Robert O. Kaplan
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Special Edition, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: September 16, 1997
• Run Time: 151 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0790732017
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,883 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Franklin J. Schaffner (Patton) directs this true story of Henri Charriere (better known as "Papillon" or "the butterfly"), a prisoner so determined to escape the notorious Devil's Island, he attempted it multiple times until he reached old age. Steve McQueen plays Charriere, and Dustin Hoffman is very good as the hero's anxious, defenseless friend. Based on Charriere's own memoir and uncompromisingly adapted by screenwriters Dalton Trumbo (Johnny Got His Gun) and Lorenzo Semple Jr. (Three Days of the Condor), the film is tough going (it is set, after all, on Devil's Island) but not gratuitously violent. There are sequences that stay with one for a long time, such as Papillon's brief stay at a leper colony and the long periods of starvation and solitary confinement he endures after each attempted flight. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of McQueen's finest, August 22, 2003

By 

T O'Brien (Chicago, Il United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Papillon (DVD)

Papillon is a great movie based on fact that contains many scenes that will stick with you for a long time. Henri Charierre is a safecracker framed for the murder of a pimp and sent to French Guiana, the prison system in South and Central America. Along the way, Papillon meets counterfeiter Louis Dega played to perfection by Dustin Hoffman. The two men struggle to survive amidst the horrible conditions in the prisons. However, the only thing that keeps Papillon alive is the thought of escape and freedom. This is a very bleak movie, at times you might not even recognize McQueen with all the makeup, but the ending does offer hope. The scenes of Papi's solitary confinement and the hallucinations he has while there are very effective and not easily forgotten. Also, the film decides to show prison life as it is. This is not a whitewashed version of it, but instead a fairly graphic depiction of the horrors of the French prison system. Nonetheless, this is still an excellent movie that will keep you interested throughout.

Papillon is up there with The Sand Pebbles as Steve McQueen's finest performances. His role as Henri "Papillon" Charierre is fully believable as he attempts over and over again to escape to freedom. Dustin Hoffman is just as good as Louis Dega, the prisoner who hires McQueen to protect him. The two become friends as they try to adjust to their new lives. The friendship between the two men is very good and some of the better parts of the movie involve their relationship. Don Gordon plays Julot, a veteran prisoner who tries to help them adjust. Robert Deman and Woodrow Parfrey are also very good as Maturette and Clusiot, two fellow prisoners who attempt escape with Papillon. I have to add about Jerry Goldsmith's very good score that perfectly fits the film. The DVD offers a widescreen presentation that looks great, a documentary made during filming that contains interviews with cast, crew, and even Henri Charierre, and also the theatrical trailer. This is a very dark movie, but it is still a great character study that never really slows down. McQueen fans will love this classic!

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fredom, August 25, 2001

By 

Juan (Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Papillon (DVD)

I am from Cuba and I read this book (it was illegal for the goverment) someone let me read it and spire on me to figth for my fredoom. For a period of TWO years I tried to leave Cuba, 10 times took me to get to Miami USA, reading this book gime the corage to take a raft and risk my live in the water...... Now, I live in Puerto Rico, I still read this book and ones every other year I see the movie over and over It is great and I recomend it for every body that love fredoom or dream to be free one day even if you have to die to get IT !

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MCQUEEN AT HIS FINEST!, May 17, 2000

By 

KELLY PERKINS (Tyler, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Papillon (DVD)

This movie is the best example of Steve McQueen's acting skills, bar none. Everyone who thought he was a one note player should look close and hard at this magnificent film. The chemistry between McQueen and Dustin Hoffman is a real tear-jearker. This should have been McQueen's Oscar, but he was not one to kiss anybody's butt for the statue. For me, this is a true tale of the survival spirit, really better than the GREAT ESACPE as far as serious pathos is concerned. Let's not forget Dustin Hoffman's character Dega. This was a composite of several people in the book. The final scene on the cliff should go down as a classic moment in cinema. Steve, we miss you!