Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14769 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-02-16
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 87 minutes

Synopsis
Dennis returns home to find that his pregnant wife has been murdered... The culprit is caught and sent to prison. Dennis hatches an elaborate plan to get revenge by turning in a criminal. He is punished for his crimes by being placed in prison. He attempts to break out on a number of occasions until he is finally placed in the same on as his wife's murderer...

Customer Reviews

Good little under the radar thriller
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.

Awsome Film!
I had never heard of this film, but do like Jonny Lee Miller so purchased it and was not disappointed. It is a brilliant film, really on the edge of your seat stuff.

An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind
What if you lost what you loved most, and legal justice wasn't enough revenge?

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.

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.

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...

"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.

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.

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.

"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.