No Escape

Robbins is sent to prison for the assassination of his general officer, a prison you only get out of when you die…

• Director:Martin Campbell
• Genre:Action / Drama / Sci-Fi
• Runtime:118 minutes

Cast

Ray Liotta : Capt. J.T. Robbins
Lance Henriksen : The Father
Stuart Wilson :. Walter Marek
Kevin Dillon : Casey
Kevin J. O’Connor : Stephano

In the 21st century (film taking place in 2022), the penal system is now run by corporations, with prisoners seen as corporate assets.

Ex-soldier John Robbins is imprisoned for life for the murder of his superior officer, who had deliberately ordered Robbins to lead a helicopter assault on a civilian village during a war which was going very badly for the USA, which was supposedly a source of “bio-weapons fire”. In the assault, (which was later covered up and for which Robbins was awarded a medal) 342 women and children were “vaporized”. This causes Robbins to have flashbacks of them screaming and dying over a backdrop of flames.

Robbins had escaped from two “level 5″ maximum security prisons so he has now been imprisoned in a “level 6″ facility run by the (unnamed) Warden. After the Warden reviews his file and meets him face to face, Robbins is thrown in a cell, where a fellow prisoner offers him food, and hastily tells him about “Absolom” [sic], a place which is more feared than the facility. The cellmate is discovered for hoarding food and sharing it with Robbins and the Warden demands that Robbins carries out the punishment – ‘lashes’ with a high-voltage prod. This is clearly an attempt to break Robbins but he refuses to take the prod. The Warden threatens to kill the cellmate so Robbins takes the prod, quickly seizes the Warden demonstrating his martial prowess. Having made his point, he releases the Warden and is ruthlessly beaten by the guards and then gets taken to Absolom.

After being dropped off by gunship, Robbins is captured by the ‘Outsiders’, who are led by a sociopath called Marek. The island had been previously been a private retreat as there are ramshackle structures including a dilapidated house and a swimming pool which is where the Outsiders have made their base. Marek informs Robbins that the average life expectancy of a prisoner is six months but he had been there for seven years and then insists he fight one of his men for his amusement. Robbins impresses them by killing the opponent and Marek offers Robbins a position within his gang, in response to which Robbins knocks Marek into a pool and steals a rocket launcher that Marek carries. He flees from the Outsiders and is pursued through the jungle, avoiding crude mantraps. However he ends up trapped at the edge of a high cliff and is shot in the neck by a blowgun dart. He falls into the river at the cliff’s base, washes up on some rocks and retrieved by another group, the ‘Insiders. Read more

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