No Escape Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

No Escape Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 11, 2022

In the (hopefully) unintentional irony department, this 1994 film takes place in 2022 and begins with this informative piece of text:

In the year 2022, the international prison system is operated by private corporations. Criminals from all over the world are exploited at a profit. Prisons have become big business.

Even a cursory internet search using terms like "privately run for profit prisons" will turn up enough results to convince many skeptics that this probably semi-whimsical "prediction" has at least some tether to reality, but for anyone wanting a "ripped from the headlines" drama based on this little nook and/or cranny of capitalism, it might be best to continue on past No Escape. Instead, this intermittently involving film seems to want to be Mad Max, though kind of interestingly parts of its production design and even its narrative (at least with regard to a central gonzo villain) seem to presage Waterworld, which would not appear until the following year of 1995. The story has another inherent irony, in that the film was shot in Australia, which famously began its colonial existence as a penal island, and that exact situation is at the core of the tale, albeit not right off the bat.

There are three rather interesting new audio interviews included on this disc as supplements, and the one with co-writer Joel Gross may be the most illuminating for those who watch No Escape and might appreciate the finesse of many elements of the production while also wondering about gaping holes in the actual screenplay. The film is based on a novel called The Penal Colony by Richard Herley, but from the comments made by both Gross and director Martin Campbell, it sounds like more than simply the location (originally off the coast of England, evidently) was changed in the adaptive process. Gross himself overtly mentions how surprised he was to screen the film after his first draft had been delivered, only to discover huge swaths of narrative and dialogue were not his (which he wisely states is the norm rather than the exception in filmmaking).

The result is a premise that frankly could have used a bit more context and explanation, which really probably could have been handled fairly easily. Instead, the opening offers a soldier named John Robbins (Ray Liotta) killing his commander for misdeeds in Benghazi (talk about prognosticatory "ripped from the headlines" material), who is then remanded to a high tech facility called Leviticus. Only, here's just the first place where this film offers a production design that seems to at least hint at Leviticus being on some desert planet left over from an unseen version of Dune, and in fact the whole production aesthetic of this opening section seems to overtly present a futuristic science fiction ambience.

That quickly reverts to the sort of atavistic feral societies seen in some of those films linked to above once Robbins is exiled from the high tech facility to a nearby penal island after attacking the harridan Warden (Michael Lerner). The island is inhabited by two groups, the Outsiders, who are led by an out of control madman named Marek (Stuart Wilson), and a democratically based group called the Insiders, who themselves have a spiritual leader named Father (Lance Henriksen).

The whole "separate" island prison is really never adequately explained, which may undercut the film's whole setup, and in fact it's never quite clear how exactly these groups ended up there. The suggestion is that they, like Robbins, are so "out of control" that they were banished from the high tech prison, which in a way would seem to be a reward, not a punishment, since at least on the island they're free to roam about and enjoy a bit of fresh air and sunshine. The screenplay repeatedly struggles to offer some semblance of logic as Robbins kind of half heartedly starts working with the Insiders, if only because they're they only ones taking on the Outsiders, though of course Robbins' ultimate goal is to obtain freedom and get off of the island altogether.

No Escape Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

No Escape is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Unearthed Films and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. This is a perhaps surprisingly strong transfer given the relative obscurity of this title. While some of the lowest light sections can look rough, notably some of the establishing shots of the "desert prison", the bulk of the film, especially all of the outdoor material on the island, pops with considerable authority. The wide framings of the various encampments typically have excellent depth of field and some appealing detail levels despite offering distant perspectives. Close-ups offer very good to excellent fine detail levels on everything from gruesome wounds to the textured fabrics several characters wear. There is recurrent if minor age related wear and tear, often in the form of small flecks or speckling. Grain resolves naturally for the most part, with no problems whatsoever in the brightly lit sequences.

No Escape Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

No Escape features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 options. The surround track offers a nicely spacious accounting of Graeme Revell's sumptuous score, and there is good engagement of the side and rear channels in some of the jungle material in particular, where the antics of the Outsiders offer some fun scuttling noises in the side and rear channels as Robbins seeks to escape their clutches. There are some bursts of LFE along the way courtesy of explosions. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English and French subtitles are available.

No Escape Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Welcome to the Future: The Sci Fi Worlds of Gale Anne Hurd (HD; 17:08) is the first of three audio interviews conducted by Daniel Griffith, this one featuring producer Gale Anne Hurd, who has obviously had a really remarkable career, and who talks about everything from her childhood television favorites to Roger Corman to James Cameron.


• Survival of the Fittest: Directing No Escape (HD; 13:35) is an audio interview with director Martin Campbell.


• Penal Colony: Writing No Escape (HD; 9:46) is an audio interview with co-writer Joel Gross.


• Alternate Intro (HD; 2:10) offers the Escape from Absolom title, but is otherwise the same as the feature opening.


• Making of Escape from Absolom (HD*; 28:02) is a fun archival featurette.


• Vintage Featurette (SD; 6:20) is a brief EPK.


• Promotional Gallery (HD; 7:56)

*720

Additionally, packaging features a slipcover.

Note: I experienced some kind of odd authoring anomalies with this disc. The disc moved on to the Hurd interview automatically after the film played, but then after various supplements would play, the disc would kind of randomly then move on to another supplement automatically, and once even back to the film.

No Escape Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Martin Campbell knows how to stage big action scenes, and No Escape is probably most viscerally exciting when the Outsiders are on the rampage. The production design of the film is also very well handled, if it's going to be undeniably reminiscent of any number of other science fiction tinged outings. The performances are generally involving, even if a late reveal of a "sub villain" is more than predictable. It's some haphazard writing that probably keeps No Escape from completely connecting, but for fans of the cast, the good news is that technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very appealing, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.