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The Escapist [2002]
The Escapist [2002]
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Director: Gillies Mackinnon
Actors: Jonny Lee Miller, Andy Serkis, Gary Lewis (iii), Jodhi May, Paloma Baeza
Studio: Universal Pictures UK
Category: DVD

List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £2.55
You Save: £10.44 (80%)
Buy New/Used from £2.55

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars(7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 31289

Format: Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Media: DVD
Running Time: 87 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6

EAN: 5050582190779
ASIN: B0001ACGGA

Release Date: February 16, 2004
Theatrical Release Date: 2002
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days

Similar Items:

  • Mindhunters [2005]
  • Suspect Zero [2004]
  • Chill Factor [2000]
  • The Prestige [2006]
  • The Bank Job [2008]

Customer Reviews:   Read 2 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars Top Brit Stuff   July 15, 2008
This is a thoroughly good purchase. When there is nothing on TV, (a frequent occurence these days), watch this. It's sheer entertainment with none of hollywood's gloss and unecessary grandiose music. The acting is superb by all the cast. Excellent, excellent film.


4 out of 5 stars Keeps you on your toes right the way through...........   February 15, 2008
This was one of those little gems that you look at in the shop, pick it up, think to yourself "shall I - shan't I" see who's in it ,read the back of the DVD and take the chance. Then when you watch it you find you've bought a 100% brilliant film.Jonny Lee Millers life gets turned upside down when his pregnant wife gets shot by life criminal Andy Serkis when he and his mates burglarise Millers home.Bent on revenge Miller goes to hell and back to reach Serkis who is in the UK's top security off-shore prison.When he gets to him....it's really worth buying the DVD to find out.Excellent acting from these 2 plus excellent support.


3 out of 5 stars Ingenious revenge thriller   December 12, 2007
  2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The Escapist is one of those films that has little going for it at first sight: a constantly underachieving director and a bland leading man in yet another of that seemingly endless post-Lock, Stock stream of British crime movies. That it didn't even get a theatrical release but went straight to cable TV and DVD lowers expectations even further. Johnny Lee Miller, the blandest of the Trainspotting cast, initially looks like a bad choice for leading man, his hopeless delivery of the opening voice-over monologue boding particularly ill. The awkward stylistic devices in first ten minutes as his nice middle class guy loses his pregnant wife to Andy Serkis' escaped psychopath don't do the film many favors either, although it does help get the exposition quickly out of the way. From then on it turns into a particularly ingenious revenge thriller, with Miller's initial blandness working in his favor as he becomes increasingly convincingly unpleasant.br /br /Rather than go the Charles Bronson/Jodie Foster route and roam the streets with a gun in search of catharsis, Miller decides instead to go right to the heart of the problem and get sent to prison, where he soon finds himself on "The Magic Roundabout" as his constant escape attempts see his 7-day sentence grow into two years as he works his way up from minimum security to the vividly realized Hellish maximum security island prison where Serkis is serving a 20-year sentence. Naturally, things don't go according to plan...br /br /There's enough novelty in the premise and plot twists to drive the film, with Gillies McKinnon keeping things at a lean 100 minutes and drawing out an excellent supporting performance from Gary Lewis as the hardened con who befriends but never fully trust Miller. Andy Serkis is channelling Keith Allen in a particularly bad mood and doing it with elan, though Jodhi May really doesn't get much to do as his sister-in-law but act as his conscience and another potential victim in a couple of scenes. It's not a world-beater by any means, just a pleasingly efficient little thriller that deserved more attention than it got and is well worth a look if it crosses your path. Just bear with it past those awkward opening scenes.br /br /No extras on the DVD but a decent widescreen transfer.br /


4 out of 5 stars Good little under the radar thriller   September 18, 2007
  10 out of 10 found this review helpful

The Escapist did not get released, it escaped while no-one was looking. Sad because it's a really good and novel thriller. The beginning is less than great while it sets all its ducks in a row. Once that plot establishing stuff is all out of the way as Jonny Lee Miller fights his way from minimum security to maximum security prisons to get close enough the kill the creep who killed his loved one its takes off. Miller is a bit too soft to play the hardman but Andy Serkis is a grand villain, like Chopper Read in a bad mood. And hasn't Jodhi May filled out nicely now she's all grown up! Maybe more of a renter than a buyer but still a damn good thriller.


4 out of 5 stars An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind   June 19, 2007
  9 out of 9 found this review helpful

What if you lost what you loved most, and legal justice wasn't enough revenge? br /br /That's the question that spawns "The Escapist," a gritty, taut little thriller that gives a new spin to the revenge quest. No Hollywood-style love interests or high-octane chases -- just a trio of excellent actors, a solid premise, and musings on why revenge will never bring you satisfaction.br /br /Denis (Jonny Lee Miller) has it all -- a gorgeous house, a plane, a wife he adores, and a baby on the way. But one night Ricky Barnes (Andy Serkis) breaks in, and murders Denis' wife. The baby narrowly survives, and Barnes is sent to a maximum-security prison on a remote island -- but Denis is still consumed with a need for revenge against the man who destroyed four people's lives. br /br /So he fakes his suicide, puts a few dents in a cop car, and receives a brief sentence -- then escapes. With each escape he receives a stiffer sentence, is sent to a higher security facility, and is forced to create ever more daring escape plans. But as he approaches Ricky Barnes' prison, Denis finds himself trapped in Ricky's own plot to escape... br /br /"The Escapist" is a welcome change from your average Hollywood thriller -- a little indie movie, with no explosions or gun battles, lots of nasty little prisons, and a main cast of only three people. It has a stripped-down, raw feeling that gives a big contrast to the polished direction. br /br /Basically the movie tracks Denis' descent into hell, with the knowledge that no matter what happens, Denis won't have won because his wife will still be dead. Gillies MacKinnon takes us from idyllic seaside villas, grey seas and sanitary little jails to the savage side of civilization, where there's no hope and no escape. And MacKinnon knows how to surprise us with an ending that leaves you wondering what is next. br /br /Miller gives an overall good performance as a man with nothing to lose, and only revenge to gain -- he gets over-the-top in some of the scenes, but he's brilliant when Denis is ice cold. Jodhi May gives a lovely performance as his traumatized sister-in-law, and Serkis is simply chilling as a grinning, soulless murderer with a sadistic streak as big as Panama. I swear, he's creepier than Gollum in this movie. br /br /"The Escapist" is a revenge thriller stripped down to the bone, but it's far better than many such movies are -- especially since it never loses sight of the fact that revenge can't make you happy.

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