Starting out I thought Jon Voight might have been miscast as psychotic prison inmate 'Manny' Manheim, but he sure changed my opinion along the way. He turns in a mind numbing, visceral performance here, especially as the story progresses, and his physical assault on 'partner' Buck Logan (Eric Roberts) when the young escapee failed to reach the lead engine car was beyond brutal. I know a lot of folks don't care much for Roberts as an actor, and I've seen him myself in a number of clunky situations, but he really pulls out the stops here as a tortured character who only wants to live up to his prison hero's expectations. I surprised myself by looking up his screen credits, learning that he's got over five hundred accredited roles, and over fifty projects in various stages of production as I write this!
In many respects, this is a standard prison movie starting out, with it's sordid characters and over zealous warden (John P. Ryan). I thought the break out by Manny and Buck was accomplished just a bit too handily, even if they did have to crawl their way through the prison's sewer system. Manny preps Buck for the outside world by stating - "That's the smell of freedom, brother!" But then the pace escalates, as the pair's getaway train is hobbled by the heart attack of it's conductor, and it takes off on a seemingly impossible journey to oblivion.
What I found odd about the picture was it's curious filming style whenever it honed in on the the four speeding rail engines from a distance. It almost looked like much older stock footage was involved, and occasionally you had a dirty streak of film shadowing along beneath the moving train. It gives the picture a grainy, gritty look, perhaps in keeping with it's focus on the two principals. In a way, it gave the train the feel of a character in it's own right. As far as the ending goes, one must consider the existential tone in which Voight's character decides to end his life on his own terms. He maintained throughout the story that he would never be imprisoned again, and in his own way, determined that his sense of freedom would find expression in the only way left open for him.
In many respects, this is a standard prison movie starting out, with it's sordid characters and over zealous warden (John P. Ryan). I thought the break out by Manny and Buck was accomplished just a bit too handily, even if they did have to crawl their way through the prison's sewer system. Manny preps Buck for the outside world by stating - "That's the smell of freedom, brother!" But then the pace escalates, as the pair's getaway train is hobbled by the heart attack of it's conductor, and it takes off on a seemingly impossible journey to oblivion.
What I found odd about the picture was it's curious filming style whenever it honed in on the the four speeding rail engines from a distance. It almost looked like much older stock footage was involved, and occasionally you had a dirty streak of film shadowing along beneath the moving train. It gives the picture a grainy, gritty look, perhaps in keeping with it's focus on the two principals. In a way, it gave the train the feel of a character in it's own right. As far as the ending goes, one must consider the existential tone in which Voight's character decides to end his life on his own terms. He maintained throughout the story that he would never be imprisoned again, and in his own way, determined that his sense of freedom would find expression in the only way left open for him.