Midnight Express

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Midnight Express

R,

1978,

2h 1m,

Drama/

Biography/

Crime

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Watchlist

Watchlist

90%

31 Reviews

Tomatometer

89%

25,000+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

90%

Tomatometer

31 Reviews

89%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Billy Hayes is a young American caught by Turkish police while attempting to smuggle hash out of Istanbul. He's tried and sent to prison for four years, where he endures all manner of privation and abuse. As he finishes up his time, he's shocked to learn that the Turkish High Court has added another 30 years to his sentence. He is now thoroughly demoralized, and his life in prison grows increasingly unbearable until he concludes that escape is his only option.

Critics Consensus

Raw and unrelenting, Midnight Express is riveting in its realistic depiction of incarceration -- mining pathos from the simple act of enduring hardship.

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Pauline Kael

The New Yorker

Sep 18, 2023

Midnight Express is single-minded in its brutal manipulation of the audience: this is a clear-cut case of the use of film technique split off from any artistic impulse.

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Jay Scott

Globe and Mail

Aug 11, 2022

Just another prison break movie... but I liked it.

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Ed Potton

The Times (UK)

Jun 22, 2018

4/5

It's a film that probably wouldn't be made today, but it taps into a potent fear: losing your liberty far from home.

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Jul 6, 2025

3.5/4

An emotionally gripping drama.

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Aug 9, 2023

6/10

Its strict adherence to facts isn’t necessarily as potent as the cinematic cautionary tale that it generates, though the depicted events will surely inspire further research into Hayes’ genuine plight.

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Alistair Lawrence

Common Sense Media

Mar 3, 2021

2/5

Brutal, dated prison drama has drugs, language, stereotypes.

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Feb 1, 2019

The best thrilling movie ever made! With the best movie score ever composed!

Finn S

Jan 16, 2019

Hard hitting and hard to see but magnificently acted.

Hermione G

Nov 10, 2018

Notorious for vilifying Turks, Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning adaptation of Billy Hayes' account of his acutely harrowing arrestment in a Turkish prison borders on mendacious sensationalism and ethnic bashing.

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Leia S

Oct 6, 2018

Based on a real-life story, this clear-cut prison escape drama has a handful of questionable Turkish prison life activities, a couple of instances containing inept dialogue, and is sporadically incoherent but is still capable of holding our attention with Brad Davis' committed performance and an unpredictable plot that is thoroughly engrossing until the end.

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Luke P

Jan 9, 2018

Saw it years ago, and now recently, excellent true prison story of prison brutality with an incredible ending!

Ron S

Nov 29, 2017

A guy is a caught smuggling drugs and sentenced to a Turkish prison.

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Alan Parker

Director

Brad Davis

Billy Hayes

Randy Quaid

Jimmy Booth

John Hurt

Max

Bo Hopkins

Tex

Paul L. Smith

Hamidou

Performance

79%

78%

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Synopsis

Billy Hayes is a young American caught by Turkish police while attempting to smuggle hash out of Istanbul. He's tried and sent to prison for four years, where he endures all manner of privation and abuse. As he finishes up his time, he's shocked to learn that the Turkish High Court has added another 30 years to his sentence. He is now thoroughly demoralized, and his life in prison grows increasingly unbearable until he concludes that escape is his only option.

Director: Alan Parker
Producer: Alan Marshall, David Puttnam
Screenwriter: William Hayes, William Hoffer, Oliver Stone
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Biography, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 1, 1978, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 16, 2012
Runtime: 2h 1m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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