Creed II
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Homecoming
Log in with Facebook
OR
By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango.
Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password.
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (24) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (4) | DVD (5)
McQueen works hard and al most manages to triumph over his star presence, while Hoffman submerges himself eccentrically and amusingly in his coward's role.
Director Franklin J. Schaffner has succeeded in making a two-and-a-half-hour film that seems like six.
The script is very good within its limitations, but there is insufficient identification with the main characters.
A rousing drama of endurance, opportunism and friendship under fire.
With Schaffner unable to find the necessary perspective to prevent the film from becoming unevenly episodic, it ends up looking as if it were tacked together by at least three different directors.
A big, brave, stouthearted, sometimes romantic, sometimes silly melodrama with the kind of visual sweep you don't often find in movies anymore.
The narrative is epic and life-spanning...The locations are stunning...and the surreal touches...add to the sense of a highly original art-movie spectacular.
Classic prison-escape movie has intense peril, violence.
But Dustin Hoffman produces a splendid depiction of cunning corruption that acts as a perfect balance to McQueen's superstar charisma.
Schaffner, who expertly captured the gritty story of Patton, does not flinch from showing every conceivable horror of the French penal system.
Papillon was not a complicated man but his experiences changed him almost beyond recognition, and McQueen does a good job of portraying the survivor, broken in body, but not in spirit.
This consummate prison-break epic features Steve McQueen's greatest transformation of character creation over the course of his estimable film career.
Steve McQueen answers his performance in The Great Escape, that of a cool iconoclast loner bucking the system, with this portrayal of another prison escape, this by a much different man. But this is not really a work about escape so much as it is an insight to friendship developed under circumstances and conditions that deny the same. Written by Dalton Trumbo McQueen and Hoffman are both simply excellent as guys who "friend up" when such brings extreme penalty, and they are the reason to see this. That the score, cinematography and direction are just as good don't hurt any.
Super Reviewer
With an excellent performance by Steve McQueen and a stunning cinematography that employs a large depth of field to explore the setting and thus the gravity of the situation, this compelling prison film works so very well despite losing some of its credibility in the third act.
Based on a true story, but taking a number of liberties, this is Franklin J. Schaffner's sprawling portrait of Henri Charriere- a wrongly imprisoned criminal who made his mark on the world for being one of the few people to ever escape from the infamous French penal colony of Devil's Island. The film follows Charriere, often referred to as Papillon (French for "butterfly"- based on a prominent tattoo of his), as he deals with incarceration. He is an admitted safe cracker, but his life sentence on Devil's Island is for the murdering of a pimp, something he claims he didn't actually do, and was set up. Life in the prison is downright grueling, but he struggles through it quite admirably. In his struggle to survive, escape (and escape for good), he is joined by Louis Dega, a counterfeiter whose connections could greatly help Papillon in his quest. Here's the thing about this movie. It's long. 150 minutes. I've seen a number of films of this length, and a number of them that ran even longer. But, this proved to be one of the more difficult films of this length to get through. It's quite slow, is extremely drawn out, and makes you feel like you've done extensive time in the prison as well. It's a good movie, don't get me wrong. But it really doesn't need to be this long, are at least not this slow and stretched out. For that reason, I'm cutting the rating down afair amount. The rest of the film is just fine, though the ending kinda peters out. But the writing is decent, the cinematography is terrific, the score from Jerry Goldsmith is quite good, and we get two excellent performances from Steve McQueen as Papillon and Dustin Hoffman as Dega. I also loved how the film pulls no punches when it comes to showing the horrors of prison life. I know that PG rated films from the 70s were edgier than they are now, but this is easily one of the hardest PG films ever. I doubt it'd get that rating today. Maybe a strong PG-13. The film has clear messages, and delivers them decently, if just in a plodding way. All in all, I did enjoy this film, but make sure you're in the right frame of mind, and are up for a really lumbering film.
What greater escape from boredom, than watching two of the finest actors in Hollywood history, making their own grand escape from the shackles of imprisonment. There's just something about these kind of epic prison dramas that always manages to capture every ounce of my attention. Speaking of great escapes, this is also the first film I've ever seen starring Steve McQueen. Now I could finally see for myself what I've been hearing and reading about for years - and he is indeed an extraordinary actor. As for the technical achievements of the film, there's more praise to be given here than I have the time to administer. But to highlight some of the essentials, it really made an impression on me with its marvellously written script. Every piece of dialogue has been given a lot of thought and consideration, and right from its very first scene it really absorbed me into the story. Visually, there's much to revel in as well. Although the situations the characters find themselves in are often harsh and extremely gruesome, many of the locations they travel to are incredibly mesmerizing to the eyes. Aficionados of the prison genre - and great dramatic work in general - owe it to themselves to see this lush and heart-gripping classic. A fantastic, triumphant and beautifully crafted motion picture, supremely directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Not to forget Fred J. Koenekamp, whose outstanding cinematography is one of the film's most pleasant components. Truly a must-see! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mikes-Movie-Reviews/281824101875153?ref=hl
View All Quotes
View All