{"id":25513,"date":"2022-10-15T02:52:46","date_gmt":"2022-10-15T09:52:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=25513"},"modified":"2022-10-15T02:52:46","modified_gmt":"2022-10-15T09:52:46","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-no-escape-1994","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=25513","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: NO ESCAPE (1994)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This Blu-ray will be available in North America on\nOctober 18th<\/sup> from Unearthed Classics and MVD Visual.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Back in the 1990s, a couple of executives from Sony Pictures left the company and decided to form their own outfit. They named themselves Savoy Pictures and focused on producing mid-budgeted films. Despite making and releasing some impressive projects like Serial Mom<\/em> and A Simple Plan<\/em>, most underperformed and they soon went under. One of the films that didn\u2019t attract a big audience was No Escape<\/em> (1994) aka Escape from Absolom<\/em> for those who live in international markets. It\u2019s too bad that it didn\u2019t find a following (the generic title may have been a factor), because the end result was an above-average and genuinely entertaining action thriller with an impressive cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This movie has languished in obscurity for some time, but is\nfinally making its Blu-ray debut in North American courtesy of Unearthed\nClassics and MVD Visual. And, as hoped for, it\u2019s an excellent transfer that far\noutshines any previous release on DVD or VHS. In addition to the excellent\npicture, there are some fun extras that detail how the unusual film got made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story is set in the future, specifically the year\n2022.  It seems that the world isn\u2019t a pleasant place and corporations now\nrun penitentiaries for profit, brutalizing the incarcerated. After Capt. J.T.\nRobbins (Ray Liotta) shoots his commanding officer for forcing him to wipe out\ncivilians under false pretenses, the protagonist is locked away in one of the\nworld\u2019s harshest prisons. He meets the Warden (Michael Lerner), who unwisely\nsets out to try and make an example of him for other prisoners. After being\nembarrassed, he shuttles Robbins off to a remote island in the middle of the\nocean. This is where the worst of the worst are stranded and left to fend among\nthemselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robbins immediately encounters a cannibalistic gang called\nThe Outsiders, led by Marek (Stuart Wilson). After that run-in, he finds a\nkinder group who have tried to start their own community. These people are led\nby The Father (Lance Henricksen) and include Hawkins (Ernie Hudson), Casey\n(Kevin Dillon) and Stephano (Kevin J. O\u2019Connor). Robbins wants to be left alone\nto find his way off the island, but finds himself being asked to help protect\nthe village from The Outsiders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are a few dodgy visual effects early on, but once\nRobbins finds his way to the prison island, the film turns into a figurative\nand literal blast. Liotta is a dynamic lead as a tortured and cut-off hero\nsuffering from PTSD, while all of the supporting cast members make distinctive\nimpressions. Most prisoners in the community have done something they regret\nand the screenplay attempts to detail the various backstories and motivations\nfor attempting to better themselves. There is far more character development\nhere than in many other pictures of its ilk. And despite its dark subject\nmatter, humor is often interlaced into the violence. Like all of the best\naction pictures, antagonist Marek is incredibly charismatic, offering plenty of\nmemorable quips as he does downright horrible things to those around\nhim.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director Martin Campbell handles the action with a lot of\npizazz and the fight\/battle scenes use almost entirely practical effects. There\nare some big explosions during the elaborate battles and equally impressive\nstunts. This reviewer\u2019s favorites include a fall off a cliff and a climactic\nplunge into a marsh with some sharp implements. The locations, set and costumes\nare quite striking as well. The movie was shot in Australia and the elaborate\nwooden marsh village is marvelous to behold. In today\u2019s filmmaking era it would\nall be created in a computer, so these real wooden structures (some are several\nstories tall) make a strong visual impact.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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No Escape<\/em> is a remarkably polished and effective\naction film that takes plenty of interesting twists and offers more relatable\ncharacters than one might initially expect. It should have been a much bigger\nhit than it was back in the day. One assumes that marketing issues (again, the\ntitle is terrible) and weary reviewers who had seen too many action films\nduring this period probably may have hurt the movie\u2019s chances at success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, it\u2019s nice to finally see a high-definition\nversion of the movie so that the Aussie locales and sets can really be enjoyed\nin the best way possible. And the extras are just as enlightening. They include\na making-of from the title of its original release, as well as a trailer, TV\nspots, stills and an opening with the alternate title for the film. This is all\nnicely presented, but it\u2019s the audio interviews included that really give some\ngreat details on how everything came together. We don\u2019t see the individuals\n(this was likely all recorded during COVID lockdown), but appropriate clips and\nimages are included throughout the discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The movie was adapted from a novel called Penal Colony by\nRichard Herley, and screenwriter Joel Gross discusses how he was hired to turn\nit into a filmable script. He goes into depth on the process (he reads the\nnovel in its entirety and then rereads making notes and starting to figure out\nhow to condense the material into a three-act structure). It\u2019s an interesting\ninterview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a segment with extraordinary producer Gale\nAnne Hurd, who recounts her beginnings working for Roger Corman and getting her\nstart specializing in making science-fiction, horror and fantasy films. She\ngoes over the numerous projects that she worked on brought to life, sharing\nbrief thoughts and movies like Battle Beyond the Stars, The Terminator,\nAliens, The Abyss<\/em> and Tremors<\/em> (she has also produced Terminator\n2: Judgment Day, Raising Cain, The Ghost and the Darkness, The Relic, Dante\u2019s\nPeak, Armageddon, Hulk, The Incredible Hulk<\/em> and many more). Hurd also\ndiscusses how she discovered and hired director Martin Campbell, who only had a\nfew credits to his name, and their collaboration. She also discusses how\ndangerous it was shooting in the wilds of Australia and the various poisonous\nlifeforms living around the set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a new talk with Campbell himself. After finding acclaim with the 1988 thriller Criminal Law<\/em>, the filmmaker had suffered a setback with this follow-up and ended up being hired by Hurd to direct the well-regarded 1991 fantasy cable film, Cast a Deadly Spell<\/em>. He reminisces about having reservations about No Escape<\/em>, wanting more humor in the script and eventually being convinced to accept the job by the producer. He also discusses shooting the movie in Australia, his experiences on set and what he enjoys about the finished product. Perhaps the funniest story involves the invention of the film’s climax. According to Campbell, he was told that there was no more money to shoot the scripted finale. The panicked director had to come up with a quick but impressive way to satisfy viewers and an offhand joke from the director of photography inspired him to create an effective and surprising final twist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Campbell also admits that he was initially disappointed that\nthe box office for the film was poor, but notes that it was his first action\nfilm and an important project that changed his life. One of the few who did see\nthe picture were the producers of the James Bond films. They loved it and\nimmediately hired him to direct GoldenEye<\/em> the following year. From that\npoint forward, his impressive credits have included The Mask of Zorro, The\nLegend of Zorro, Casino Royale, The Foreigner<\/em> and the recent (and\nunderrated) feature The Prot\u00e9g\u00e9<\/em>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No Escape<\/em> is a thoroughly entertaining and exciting\naction movie that helped launch the career of a filmmaker renowned for\nthrilling audiences. The Blu-ray itself is excellent. This is the best\npresentation that the film has ever received and the informative extras add\nplenty of fun factoids to the history of the film. Action film fans will\nappreciate this movie and are advised to pick up the disc. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Blu-ray will be available in North America on October 18th from Unearthed Classics and MVD Visual. Back in the 1990s, a couple of executives from Sony Pictures left the company and decided to form their own outfit. They named themselves Savoy Pictures and focused on producing mid-budgeted films. Despite making and releasing some impressive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":25525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[128,697,3067,3073,7053,7059,7314,8070,11618,12054,13306,13803,14442,14449,14937,14938,14939,14940,14942,16694,19234,22825,23537],"class_list":["post-25513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-128","tag-action","tag-blu-ray","tag-blu-ray-review","tag-ernie-hudson","tag-escape-from-absolom","tag-fantasy","tag-gale-anne-hurd","tag-kevin-dillon","tag-lance-henricksen","tag-martin-campbell","tag-michael-lerner","tag-mvd","tag-mvd-visual","tag-no-escape","tag-no-escape-blu-ray","tag-no-escape-blu-ray-review","tag-no-escape-film-review","tag-no-escape-review","tag-ray-liotta","tag-stuart-wilson","tag-thriller","tag-unearthed-classics"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25513\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}