Midnight Express Reviews

I already saw this movie but since it was ages ago, I was really eager to check it out again. To be honest, I always had some rather mixed feelings about the damned thing but I have to admit that I always loved the introduction though. Indeed, you get to see the main character in his hotel room, preparing for his trip, sticking some huge chunk of hashish around his body and, all this time, you could hear his heart pounding so loudly. It was a simple idea but so effective and I think I had never seen anything so intense before. Then, the guy goes to the airport, through the customs with his heart still pounding louder and louder and the pressure was just huge. I thought it was just spellbinding and nerve-wrecking. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the rest of the movie didn't work so well though. Indeed, at first, it was designed as a cautionary tale about the risks of smuggling drugs from some foreign country but, instead, it turned out to be one of these movies during which Arabic people are constantly shouting and are all basically Evil. Sure, it was still a well made and quite entertaining thriller but it was quite obvious that the whole thing was just way over-the-top and obviously fairly offensive towards the Turkish people. In fact, Billy Hayes, the guy who wrote the book it was based on and who supposedly went through all this, himself admitted that what was presented in the movie was a very exaggerated version of what happened to him in prison in Istanbul. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws and even though I think it is rather overrated, it is still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

top film great reflection of the drug laws and harshness of a Turkish Prison. Based on a true story. I dunno all for recreational drugs eh..