DVD Movie Guide @ dvdmg.com
.
Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main
SONY

MOVIE INFO

Director:
Alan Parker
Cast:
Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli, Paul L. Smith, Randy Quaid, Norbert Weisser, John Hurt
Writing Credits:
Billy Hayes (book) (as William Hayes), William Hoffer (book), Oliver Stone

Tagline:
A true story of triumph.

Synopsis:
With the Turkish government trying to crack down on drugs, terrorism and crime, Billy Hayes has the misfortune of being caught at the border with a hashish stash. At first sentenced to four years and two months for drug possession, his prison term grows to 30 years when the prosecution’s appeal finds him guilty of smuggling. Pleas from his parents, litigation from his lawyer and actions from the U.S. Embassy amount to nothing. Things get worse when Hayes is sent to a detention center for the mentally unstable after he bites off a warden’s tongue to prevent him from divulging his escape plans. Forced to struggle with daily violence, despair and abuse, he finally reaches his breaking point and is willing to do anything to escape. Knowing that he is on his own, Hayes has one risk left to take: riding his own Midnight Express.

Box Office:
Budget
$2.3 million.
Domestic Gross
$35 million.

MPAA:
Rated R

DVD DETAILS
Presentation:
Widescreen 1.85:1/16X9
Audio:
English Dolby Digital 5.1
English Monaural
French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 121 min.
Price: $19.94
Release Date: 2/5/2008

Supplements:
• Audio Commentary with Director Alan Parker
• “The Producers” Featurette
• “The Production” Featurette
• “The Finished Film” Featurette
• Trailer
• Previews
• Booklet


PURCHASE @ AMAZON.COM

EQUIPMENT
Panasonic 50" TH-50PZ77U 1080p Plasma Monitor; Harman/Kardon DPR 2005 7.1 Channel Receiver; Toshiba A-30 HD-DVD/1080p Upconverting DVD Player using HDMI outputs; Michael Green Revolution Cinema 6i Speakers (all five); Kenwood 1050SW 150-watt Subwoofer.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]


Midnight Express: 30th Anniversary Edition (1978)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (March 4, 2008)

Just as Jaws scared people away from the beach back in 1975, I’ll bet that 1978’s Midnight Express affected foreign travel to certain countries. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of Billy Hayes (Brad Davis), an American college student on a trip to Turkey with his girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle). When he attempts to smuggle hashish out of the country, the authorities there apprehend him.

And that ain’t good. Billy gets stuck in a corrupt system that wants to make an example of an American “drug pusher”, and though he initially cooperates, he makes things worse when he tries to escape. Billy ends up in a ratty prison where the guards beat him for the slightest transgressions. The movie follows his ordeal as he tries to cope with his situation and make it out of jail.

I suppose there are worse things than being stuck inside a Turkish prison, but none of them come to mind right now. One aspect of Express I like comes from the unflinching nature in which it depicts it subject. I don’t think the flick revels in its unpleasant side, but it doesn’t spare us the gory details. It allows us to sense what it would be like to get stuck in such a horrific situation and doesn’t sugarcoat matters.

Some very good performances help make this work. Davis never again could live up to his sensational star-making turn here. He really invests Billy with all the appropriate feelings as he resists the inevitable urge to overplay matters. A part like this would be an over-actor’s dream since the circumstances lend themselves toward broad, hammy emotions. Davis reins in that side of things, and that makes the explosive moments more impressive. He does a particularly nice job as he conveys Billy’s feelings of powerlessness; after his arrest, the character does everything the right way but still gets screwed.

If forced to look for a weak point here, I’d spotlight Giorgio Moroder’s score. I guess many folks think it works – to my shock, the music won the Oscar – but I think the sparkly synthesizer material undercuts the movie’s impact. A film with such stark subject matter would fare better with minimal score – or none at all, honestly. Moroder’s semi-disco meanderings distract from the flick’s darkness.

Nonetheless, Midnight Express manifests more than enough power to overcome these musical faults. Dark and unrelenting, the movie conveys what it would be like to stuck in a hopeless situation far from home. It’s a rough ride but a rewarding one.


The DVD Grades: Picture B/ Audio C+/ Bonus B+

Midnight Express appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this single-sided, double-layered DVD; the image has been enhanced for 16X9 televisions. Though the transfer showed its age, it usually seemed quite positive.

Sharpness was fine most of the time. Occasional soft shots materialized, and the style of photography meant that even the best images weren’t razor-sharp. Nonetheless, the flick looked concise and well-defined within its constraints. No issues with jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I noticed no edge enhancement.

Source flaws were very minor. Grain was within acceptable levels, and only a few specks appeared along the way. Really, the movie was surprisingly clean given its age.

One shouldn’t expect a broad palette from a rough drama like Express, and the colors stayed within the anticipated range. Earthy tones dominated, with only a few brighter hues on rare occasions. I wouldn’t say the colors looked particularly good, but they were fine within the film’s style. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed fairly good delineation; low-light shots could be a little murky but not in a problematic manner. Overall, the image seemed pretty positive.

Remixed from the original monaural source – which also appeared on the DVD – the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Midnight Express was average. In terms of the expanded soundfield, there’s usually not much to it. Music spread across the front and rear but not with any great stereo imaging; the delineation of the score tended to be somewhat mushy. Effects showed moderate distinctiveness at times, as the ambience opened things up in a minor way. These elements never became particularly immersive, but they added a little life on occasion.

Audio quality seemed acceptable. Music was again the weakest link, as the synthesized score tended to be a bit thin. Some of those elements showed decent dimensionality, but others were somewhat lifeless. Effects appeared reasonably concise, at least, and speech was fine. The lines remained intelligible and fairly natural throughout the flick. This was an unmemorable soundtrack.

This “30th Anniversary Edition” of Express comes with a few extras. We open with an audio commentary from director Alan Parker. He provides a running, screen-specific chat in which he discusses script and story issues, locations and sets, the film’s use of language and some controversies, sound and music, camerawork and editing, cast and performances, the shooting schedule, and a mix of other production topics.

From start to finish, Parker provides an absolutely fascinating look at his film. He leaves virtually no subjects untouched, and he offers a frank appraisal of matters. For instance, Parker tells us how he and Oliver Stone failed to get along, and we get funny tales about Paul Smith’s excessive perspiration. This commentary covers the movie exceedingly well and thoroughly entertains along the way.

Three related featurettes follow. We find The Producers (25:50), The Production (24:28) and The Finished Film (23:47). Across these we get notes from Parker, producers Peter Guber, Alan Marshall and David Puttnam, the real-life Billy Hayes, screenwriter Oliver Stone, and actor John Hurt. These programs look at the project’s genesis and path to the screen as well as aspects of the script, casting and performances, how Parker came to it, locations and facets of the shoot, cinematography, editing and score, reactions to the film and controversies.

Given that Parker covers so much in his commentary, a fair amount of repetition becomes inevitable. Indeed, you’ll find a lot of the same notes, but the additional perspectives prove valuable. We get enough new takes on the various issues to make these featurettes useful.

A running Photo Gallery lasts 12 minutes, 40 seconds. It includes a few shots from the set but mostly presents images from the film. Frankly, it’s a dull collection.

The trailer for Express appears at the DVD’s start. We also get clips for Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Taxi Driver. The Previews domain contains these pieces as well as a promo for Damages Season One.

Finally, the package includes a 28-page booklet. It includes “a personal memoir” from Parker. He writes a good encapsulation of the production and continues to be informative and entertaining. Of course, he repeats some info from the commentary, but he gives us more than enough new material to satisfy.

30 years after its release, Midnight Express continues to impress. Harrowing and unpleasant, the film delivers a strong sense of verisimilitude and creates a good look at a miserable situation. The DVD offers better than expected picture, acceptable but dated audio, and a few nice extras; the audio commentary proves particularly enjoyable. A film this rough won’t be for everyone, but I definitely recommend it.

Viewer Film Ratings: 4.1666 Stars Number of Votes: 12
75:
24:
2 3:
02:
11:
View Averages for all rated titles.

.
Review Archive:  # | A-C | D-F | G-I | J-L | M-O | P-R | S-U | V-Z | Viewer Ratings | Main