At 3 hours and 15 minutes, this is very tedious to watch in its entirety straight through because the first part and the second heart are basically unrelated escape attempts. It deals with both the1946 riots and the 1962 escape, and while the past comes up for Michael Beck's character, he looks almost exactly the same in the last part as he does in the first which is a major flaw.
The first part is definitely better, nearly excellent and very intense because the riot happens almost immediately, and it's fascinating to watch Beck's character of Clarence Barnes get pulled in, especially through the sly aggressive character played by Telly Savalas. As the second part begins, we made Art Carney as the Birdman, and his part is basically an unnecessary cameo.
By watching it in two parts, you're more liable to pay attention then watching it straight through, especially because then, you begin to see the flaws. There are a lot of attempts at stunt casting with some of the performers nothing more than brief cameos, from Alex Karras as the warden in the first part to Jeffrey Tambor as the prison librarian in the second part. It's also faster to read the real synopsis of both escapes oh, because you can get through those in 20 minutes and learn as much as you do in the lengthy time it takes to get through the film. This is still intense and well done, and in spite of the flaws, there are details included that shows a lot of the minor elements of both escapes and humanized the prisoners.
The first part is definitely better, nearly excellent and very intense because the riot happens almost immediately, and it's fascinating to watch Beck's character of Clarence Barnes get pulled in, especially through the sly aggressive character played by Telly Savalas. As the second part begins, we made Art Carney as the Birdman, and his part is basically an unnecessary cameo.
By watching it in two parts, you're more liable to pay attention then watching it straight through, especially because then, you begin to see the flaws. There are a lot of attempts at stunt casting with some of the performers nothing more than brief cameos, from Alex Karras as the warden in the first part to Jeffrey Tambor as the prison librarian in the second part. It's also faster to read the real synopsis of both escapes oh, because you can get through those in 20 minutes and learn as much as you do in the lengthy time it takes to get through the film. This is still intense and well done, and in spite of the flaws, there are details included that shows a lot of the minor elements of both escapes and humanized the prisoners.