Midnight Express

While this film is entertaining to watch and has its level of suspense at various points it is not a truly `true story' much of it according to the real Billy Hayes never happened and his eventual escape is very different from what is depicted in this motion picture. It also tends to demonize the nation of Turkey and presents a distorted view of its people. Is it possible to have sympathy for the main character? He was fully aware of what he was doing and knew the consequences should he be caught so sympathy is on an individual basis. You may have sympathy or may not.

A number of years ago a public service commercial narrated by actor Hal Holbrook frequently ran on Television, which told of Americans being held in foreign prisons. He spoke of one American held in a Turkish prison. Was it Billy Hayes? The commercial ends with the line `When you're busted for drugs over there you're in for the hassle of your life' That's the message this film was intended to send out irregardless if the events in it were true or fictionalized for dramatic purposes. As always purchase or rent a copy to see the uncut unedited version.

It's interesting to note the comments on this movie.

I saw it on TV last night, not for the first time, and I noticed how the Turks in the film are all one-dimensional bad people, and physically ugly to boot. I also read that many of the scenes are completely fictional. I am not one of those people who think that a "true" story must be completely true; I think that the purpose of movies is to entertain, and this one certainly does that, if in a harrowing way. But, given the politics of our time, if the author of the screenplay wanted to create a demon people for dramatic effect, perhaps it would have been better to have set the story in a fictional or unidentified country.

The other observation I would make is, we are not much better than they are. We regularly sentence people to ungodly amounts of prison time for drug offenses, both on a state and federal level. Our prisons are no picnic, either, with many of the same sorts of things that were portrayed in the movie happening right here at home.

So, go check "the man in the mirror" before you condemn anyone else.

Midnight Express is really impressing and depressing movie. It's really must be seen, it shows the importance of human rights to whom don't care about it. I wish writer of script hadn't used realnames like Turkey. Because, as a person who lives in Turkey, I'm sure that there's no such a torture methods and implemantation in Turkey. There are just writer's imaginations. Other than that, ppl should see this film.

First of all im turkish and i have seen this movie for several times. I LIKE it and i simply know what other people think about this movie. If they are turkish, they simply hate the movie and tell that its giving the turkish nation a bad name. If they are not turkish then they start to think about bad things about turks. And thats normal. BUT!!!! The main problem of the movies is not that its not showing true things. The main problem of the movie is that it tells the things that happaned to the main characters happened cause he is AMERICAN. I think thats the wrong thing about this movie. If bad things happen to americans in turkish jails then bad things happen to turkish people in jails too. I dont think that they would harras someone MORE just cause he is AMERICAN. Im turkish and i know that turkish people dont hate americans, like most of the other muslim countries. Also, this movie is 20 years old. I think many things changed in Turkey in this past 20 years. Come to Turkey, then you can Judge as much as you can. truth or fiction. I! LIKE! THIS! MOVIE!

This movie is pretty good, but speaking as an American who has lived in Turkey, this movie is a dramatization of a true story. While Turkey certainly has its problems with corruption, this movie is hardly something one should use to form an opinion on Turkey.