SYNOPSIS:
Ex-Marine John Robbins (Ray Liotta) was convicted for murdering his commanding officer (after being order to kill innocent civilians in Benghazi) is dumped and left to die on a prison island (after escaping a couple of prisons and refusing the warden's command) inhabited by two camps of convicts- the Outsiders and the Insiders. He dreams of escape while the Insiders led by Father (Lance Henrikson) want the world to know about the island. The leader of the Outsiders, Marek, wants to destroy the Insiders on an island where the Law of the Jungle rules.

ANALYSIS:
NO ESCAPE is a minor sci-fi action movie from the 1990s. It finally makes its debut on blu-ray in North America after two decades of a horrible looking (out of print) non-anamorphic DVD. I vaguely remember watching it in a movie theater followed by renting it on VHS and seeing it on cable TV a few times. I haven't seen it for a few years until now. I did manage to buy the out-of-print DVD for one dollar from a local pawn shop, but I did turn it off after a few minutes due to the quality of the DVD. I was glad to see soon after that the blu-ray release was announced. Ray Liotta is OK in the lead, but I do feel that the cast around him sometimes outshines him. I wonder how Russell Crowe would have been in the lead as director Martin Campbell reveals in an interview on the disc that Russell was his preferred choice, but the finance people won't take a chance on him and it took casting Ray Liotta to get NO ESCAPE (aka ESCAPE FROM ABSOLOM)

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Three new interviews were conducted for this blu-ray in addition to providing some vintage featurettes, the theatrical trailer, and TV spots.

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE: THE SCI-FI WORLDS OF GALE ANNE HURD- Gale Ann Hurd talks a bit about her career and producing NO ESCAPE

SURVIVAL OF THE FTTEST: DIRECTING NO ESCAPE- director Martin Campbell talks about his early directing career, directing NO ESCAPE, and how this lead him to directing a James Bond film (GOLDENEYE and years later CASINO ROYALE).

PENAL COLONY: WRITING NO ESCAPE- an interview with the co-writer of the movie, Joel Gross

THE MAKING OF ESCAPE FROM ABSOLOM- 28 minute vintage making-of featurette featuring interviews with cast and crew in addition to behind-the-scenes footage and clips from the movie

There is also a vintage 6 minute and 20 seconds promotional featurette which is a cut down version of the longer making-of featurette

Rounding out the extras are the original theatrical trailer, four TV spots; and an eight minute promotional gallery of promo photos, behind-the-scenes photos, posters, and home video key art (VHS, Laser Disc, DVD)

Previews for other releases from UNEARTHED FILMS- DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, NIGHTWISH, THE UNNAMABLE, and THE OLD MAN movie

FINAL ANALYSIS: It is great to finally see NO ESCAPE on blu-ray in North America. I might have opted for the 4K UHD that Germany is releasing if I knew about it before ordering this disc. The disc has a good selection of extras and fans of the movie will be able to own it after it has been out of print for a while.

This blu-ray review is (c)11-21-2022 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com