A solid but flawed film with the great Sylvester Stallone as a peaceful con with only six months to go , as he's is mistreated, harassed and tortured by a vicious prison warden who seeks for a merciless vengeance from an unexplained past conflict . As Stallone's suddenly and cruelly transferred to a maximum security prison whose warden -Donald Sutherland, effectively cast against type and spits out hackneyed hateful with more conviction than it deserves- he made a fool of in more ways than one . Sly is pushed to the edge by a systematic campaign of harassment and beatings . How much can a man take...before he gives back? . Stallone...behind bars? Not for long. How many times can a man be pushed to the wall...before he goes over it? Get ready for a guided tour...of Hell on Earth. Welcome to Gateway...where every minute is hard time.
Decent prison thriller with thrills , chills , action , fights and suspenseful denouement .The plot is plain and simple , as a prisoner is only six months away from freedom , but being suddenly transferred to a maximum security hell-hole presided over by a sadistic warden obsessed with revenge who wants to take his future away . However , the story has gaps , flaws , but here really cares the tension , emotion and suspense . The mechanics of making a strong , hard-hitting and effectively exciting prison story , with all its stereotypes and cliches remain intact , and they're what matter here . A professional entertainment and an entirely vehicle for a star . Sly is perfect in his usual style as the two-fisted inmate , the model prisoner with six months to serve , he does all that you could ask , and you can even understand some his dialogue . While Sutherland sporting a a fearsome haircut gives a nice acting as warden chief who exacts vengeance in retribution for a previous conflict . Donald is really effective as in quieter characters as a psycho. They're well accompanied by a familiar cast from a gallery of multi-ethnic archetypes , such as : John Amos , Sonny Landham , Tom Sizemore , Frank McRae , William Allen Young , Larry Romano, Danny Trejo and Darlanne Fluegel as his girlfriend.
This well-made prison movie was decently directed with considerable kinetic power by John Flynn , though it contains some shortfalls and failures . Director John Flynn was a fine craftsman who gave magnificent performances to Tommy Lee Jones (Rolling Thunder), Jan Michael Vincent , James Woods (Bestseller), Robert Duvall (The Outfit) and here gave immense credibility to Sylvester Stallone as a tough inmate . Rating : Good, 6.5/10 , the result is a strong outing of the prison thriller sub-genre . Forget your worries , sit back and let those brain cells not by the day .
Decent prison thriller with thrills , chills , action , fights and suspenseful denouement .The plot is plain and simple , as a prisoner is only six months away from freedom , but being suddenly transferred to a maximum security hell-hole presided over by a sadistic warden obsessed with revenge who wants to take his future away . However , the story has gaps , flaws , but here really cares the tension , emotion and suspense . The mechanics of making a strong , hard-hitting and effectively exciting prison story , with all its stereotypes and cliches remain intact , and they're what matter here . A professional entertainment and an entirely vehicle for a star . Sly is perfect in his usual style as the two-fisted inmate , the model prisoner with six months to serve , he does all that you could ask , and you can even understand some his dialogue . While Sutherland sporting a a fearsome haircut gives a nice acting as warden chief who exacts vengeance in retribution for a previous conflict . Donald is really effective as in quieter characters as a psycho. They're well accompanied by a familiar cast from a gallery of multi-ethnic archetypes , such as : John Amos , Sonny Landham , Tom Sizemore , Frank McRae , William Allen Young , Larry Romano, Danny Trejo and Darlanne Fluegel as his girlfriend.
This well-made prison movie was decently directed with considerable kinetic power by John Flynn , though it contains some shortfalls and failures . Director John Flynn was a fine craftsman who gave magnificent performances to Tommy Lee Jones (Rolling Thunder), Jan Michael Vincent , James Woods (Bestseller), Robert Duvall (The Outfit) and here gave immense credibility to Sylvester Stallone as a tough inmate . Rating : Good, 6.5/10 , the result is a strong outing of the prison thriller sub-genre . Forget your worries , sit back and let those brain cells not by the day .