Midnight Express 1978 123movies

Watch: Midnight Express 1978 123movies, Full Movie Online – On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is caught attempting to smuggle two kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who sold him the hashish. Billy’s troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou (Paul L. Smith) ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (Randy Quaid) (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich (Norbert Weisser), and one of the senior prisoners having already served seven years, an Englishman named Max (Sir John Hurt), the latter two also in for hashish-related charges. One prisoner not befriended is Rifki (Paolo Bonacelli), who wields power in the prison as the unofficial eyes and ears for the guards. As Billy, his family and his girlfriend Susan (Irene Miracle) attempt through legal and diplomatic channels for Billy’s release, Max tells him that the only way out is to “catch the midnight express” (escape), which is what Jimmy is continually trying to do. When Billy’s situation changes, he becomes more desperate in every sense of the word. It seems as if Billy has only two options: to let the prison ultimately figuratively then literally kill him, or to somehow regain control of his life through whatever means available..
Plot: Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the “Midnight Express”.
Smart Tags: #gay_kiss #watching_someone_masturbate #social_masturbation #1970s #prison_drama #prison #torture #escape #lawyer #court #airport #anti_turkism #female_nudity #prison_life #male_nudity #speech #drug_smuggling #life_imprisonment #revenge #chase #cat

Find Alternative – Midnight Express 1978, Streaming Links:

123movies | FMmovies | Putlocker | GoMovies | SolarMovie | Soap2day

Ratings:

	7.5/10 Votes: 80,785
	93% | RottenTomatoes
	59/100 | MetaCritic
	N/A Votes: 1392 Popularity: 14.524 | TMDB

Reviews:

I’m Billy Hayes, well at least I used to be.
Midnight Express is directed by Alan Parker and adapted to screenplay by Oliver Stone. It is loosely based on Billy Hayes’ book of the same name. It tells of American Hayes’ (Brad Davis) arrest and subsequent conviction for trying to smuggle hashish out of Istanbul, Turkey, for which he was sent to a hellish Turkish prison to serve his time. It also stars Randy Quaid, John Hurt, Paul L. Smith and Irene Miracle. Music is scored by Giorgio Moroder and cinematography is by Michael Seresin.

Although controversy followed it due to its portrayals of the Turkish people, Midnight Express is today still a raw and uncompromising experience. In fact if we strip away Moroder’s Oscar winning electro bubbling score, the film holds up as a fresh and pertinent piece of film making. Parker doesn’t cut corners or attempt any sort of Hollywood gloss, he keeps it grimy, oppressive and harsh in its telling, whilst the hand-held camera work keeps things jittery, harmonising with Billy Hayes and his fellow cons’ state of mind. The narrative unfurls from Billy’s POV, and it’s mostly in a downwards direction, with that it’s hard to call the picture essential entertainment, we are after all observant to mental and physical abuse, with the disintegration of the human spirit front and centre. Billy’s alienation is deftly crafted by Parker, where the non use of subtitles for the Turkish characters helps us to feel as isolated as Billy was. However, there’s the odd glimmer of hope and humanity, courtesy of Billy’s interactions within the few friendships he forms, and of course there’s the overriding urge to see him escape his hell.

Stone won the Academy Award for his screenplay, and even though it has been frowned upon for some of the perceived bile unleashed on the Turks, it mostly excels on a human’s under duress basis. The interactions between prisoners is often solemn and edgy, due to the characters being from different walks of life, while much of Hayes’ outpourings of emotion have conviction by way of the words; even if one particular “speech” is ill advised and over the top. Cast are excellent, where Davis calls on the sadness in his real life upbringing to give a performance of real intensity, while Hurt and Quaid are beaten down by drug fuelled resignation and tempestuousness respectively. It has flaws, and the over dramatising of certain events tends to deviate from a real story that hardly needed extra oomph, but always Midnight Express remains a harrowing and potent piece of cinema. 8/10

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 2 hr 1 min (121 min)
Budget 2300000
Revenue 35000000
Status Released
Rated R
Genre Biography, Crime, Drama
Director Alan Parker
Writer Oliver Stone, Billy Hayes, William Hoffer
Actors Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins
Country United Kingdom, United States
Awards Won 2 Oscars. 17 wins & 14 nominations total
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono
Aspect Ratio 1.37 : 1 (negative ratio), 1.85 : 1 (intended ratio)
Camera N/A
Laboratory Blowup, UK (uncredited) (stills laboratory), Rank Film Laboratories, Denham, UK (processing)
Film Length 3,320 m (Sweden)
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm