Papillon Reviews
January 30, 2020
Charrière's book has been treated well...
January 27, 2020
The film offers such a spectrum of good and evil solutions to the general misery that it often transcends the genre of prison melodrama and becomes an existential statement.
September 14, 2018
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.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
August 28, 2018
Classic prison-escape movie has intense peril, violence.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
September 23, 2015
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.
September 23, 2015
But Dustin Hoffman produces a splendid depiction of cunning corruption that acts as a perfect balance to McQueen's superstar charisma.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
September 23, 2015
Schaffner, who expertly captured the gritty story of Patton, does not flinch from showing every conceivable horror of the French penal system.
Full Review
| Original Score: 4/5
September 23, 2015
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.
September 6, 2015
This consummate prison-break epic features Steve McQueen's greatest transformation of character creation over the course of his estimable film career.
Full Review
| Original Score: A+
May 14, 2011
The narrative unfolds slowly, but the two stars are compelling and cinematographer Fred Koenekamp's photography is striking.
Full Review
| Original Score: 7/10
August 3, 2007
A rousing drama of endurance, opportunism and friendship under fire.
February 10, 2007
Based on the memoirs of Henri Charriere, the only man to have successfully escaped from Devil's Island, this is a grim and brutal prison drama, made more likable due to the lead star performances.
Full Review
| Original Score: B
November 4, 2005
Original Score: 3/5
October 6, 2005
Original Score: 5/5
May 9, 2005
A big, brave, stouthearted, sometimes romantic, sometimes silly melodrama with the kind of visual sweep you don't often find in movies anymore.
December 15, 2004
Original Score: 3/5
March 25, 2004
Original Score: 3/5
November 15, 2003
Original Score: 4/5
March 19, 2003
Awesome jailbreak film with gritty performances.
Original Score: 5/5
December 4, 2002
Classic grungy prison drama with great performances throughout.
Original Score: 5/5