It’s a slow time for movie releases. The top Box Office Hit is Fast and Furious, a sequel to The Fast And The Furious. I guess this movie is just too fast and furious to bother with the word “the.” As well as it’s doing in the theaters, it obviously won’t be too long before they release another sequel, maybe Fasurious? While it disturbs me to see this movie being held in such high esteem across the U.S., it actually provides me with some optimism. People must still have money to burn, and until they cannot afford to pay for Vin Diesel’s acting, I don’t think it’s fair to call what we’re in “a depression.”So, in an attempt to find a good movie, not made for children, I hit the indie circuit and saw  The Escapist , a U.K. movie set for theatrical release today. Starring Brian Cox and directed by Rupert Wyatt, The Escapist  is a prison-break movie that’s pretty much by-the-numbers. There’s the planning stage, the escape stage, and the sub-plot(s) that threatens to ruin everything. The Escapistadds a little twist here and there which makes it a bit different from your average Escape Movie, but when all is said and done, the 1 hour and 42 minute movie feels slow. My recommendation, if you want to see the movie now, is to rent it on IFC On Demand, rather than make the trip to the theater. That, or just wait for it to appear on the IFC channel for free-ish.

It’s too bad, because it’s been a while since there has been a good Escape Movie. Those movies all have key ingredients: A character or characters that you can empathize with, someone you actually want to escape from their imprisonment! A plan that seems nearly impossible, and yet believable. The use of everyday items that have been ingeniusly improvised and fashioned into tools for escape. And last, but not least, a wrench that is thrown into the well-laid plans that requires quick thinking or some sort of miracle to overcome. Also, an unlikeable oppressing captor and a major sacrifice during the escape, such as the loss of a beloved character, never hurts an Escape Movie. 

Escape Movies are rather rare. More often we see their cousins, the Chase Movies (The Defiant Ones, Runaway Train, etc.) and the Imprisonment Movies (Stir Crazy, Chicago, etc.) which may have an escape in the movie, but do not focus on that escape as the main plot. So, without further ado, here is my list of the Best Escape Movies:

10. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

One of the greatest movies of all time. The only reason it isn’t ranked better on the list is because it skirts the line between an Escape Movie and an Imprisonment Movie.

9. Amistad

Another great movie, but again, you must stretch the limits of the meaning “escape,” since it deals with prisoners trying to escape imprisonment through “legal” means.

8. Chicken Run

If you are a fan of Escape Movies, you’ll enjoy this animated movie which spoofs other Escape Movies.

7. The Great Escape

It’s right there in the name!

6. Victory

Sly Stallone and Pele together! Not to be missed. Also one of the greatest Soccer Movies of all time.

5. Escape From New York

Another John Carpenter Sci-Fi classic, this one starring Kurt Russel as Snake Plissken. Take a look and see what they thought NYC would be like in 1997 when they made the movie in 1980!

4. The Shawshank Redemption

The much beloved film starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman is based on a Stephen King short-story which he wrote inder the pen name Richard Bachman. Bachman also wrote The Green Mile and Running Man.

3. Escape From Alcatraz

Clint Eastwood in the true story of the only succesful escape from the infamous Alcatraz Prison. Clint Eastwood is THE MAN!

2. Cool Hand Luke

“What we have heaaar, is a failya to communicate!” For those that don’t know, Paul Newman made more than just salad dressing. He also made some of the very best movies this world has ever seen. R.I.P.

1. Papillon

Steve McQueen (The Great Escape) liked car chases and Escape Movies. Here he teams up with Dustin Hoffman to make the GREATEST Escape Movie EVER!

 Cinema This Week appears every Friday at Noonish.

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