No Escape

by Anthony O'Connor

Year:  1994

Director:  Martin Campbell

Rated:  M

Release:  Out Now

Distributor: Umbrella

Worth: Discs: 2; The Film: 3.5/5; The Extras: 3.5/5; Overall: 7/10
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Cast:
Ray Liotta, Lance Henriksen, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Dillon, Kevin J. O'Connor, Ian McNeice, Ernie Hudson, Michael Lerner

Intro:
… a pleasing genre throwback with deft direction, a superb cast and enough crazy cannibals with filed teeth to offer a highly enjoyable, lazy afternoon’s viewing.

The Film:

It’s always interesting to look at sci-fi movies from back in the day to see how accurately, or otherwise, they predicted the future. For instance, John Carpenter’s Escape from New York (1981) envisioned that in 1997 The Big Apple would be a walled-off prison full of lunatics, which is only partially correct. Soylent Green (1973) reckoned that by 2022 we’d be overpopulated and munging on treats made from human beings, also only half true. Today’s feature attraction, No Escape (1994), is another yarn that takes place in 2022, although with a very different vibe to that endlessly quotable Charlton Heston classic.

No Escape (also known by the much more evocative title Escape from Absolom) tells the tale of disgraced ex-Marine JT Robbins (Ray Liotta), who has been given a life sentence for shooting his commanding officer in the bonce after some dark shenanigans took place in Benghazi (which seems at least a little topical). The problem is, Robbins is very good at escaping maximum security institutions, so he’s eventually sent to Absolom, an island where the inmates are abandoned and left to their own devices. It’s a harsh place, where rough, violent communities of Outsiders and Insiders are locked in an eternal struggle for resources and domination and the only escape is death. Robbins knows he has to get off this benighted rock (that looks a lot like Northern Queensland, just quietly) and perhaps let the world know that the nefarious Warden (Michael Lerner) is letting his charges go all Lord of the Flies.

There are a number of things that No Escape has going for it. For a start, there’s the cast, which includes an intense Liotta, a gently paternal Lance Henriksen as Father, a very young Kevin Dillon as Casey, an always reliable effort from Ernie Hudson as Hawkins and a superb heel turn from Stuart Wilson as the villainous but charming sociopath, Walter Marek. You’ve also got smaller roles from quality character actors like Ian McNeice and Kevin J. O’Connor. The film itself looks gorgeous, particularly in this new 4K print, and Absolom really does work as a deadly island paradise. Martin Campbell (The Mask of Zorro, Casino Royale) directs with an eye for epic action and gets the most out of the film’s solid set pieces. The problems with No Escape, however, are twofold. First, the script, while hitting all the right beats, lacks a distinct identity. This is clearest in the characters, who just aren’t all that engaging (Marek and Stephano aside), and Robbins, in particular, lacks a narrative hook to make him a truly compelling protagonist. Like, yeah, he’s a loose cannon who doesn’t play by the rules, but what else you got?

The second problem is one of timing, because in 1994 this kind of flick was pretty rare, but in 2026 … It’s all over the bloody place! The Walking Dead, The Last of Us and about 600 other movies or TV shows have explored the concept of modern savages to varying degrees of success over the years and it leaves No Escape feeling a bit old hat at times.

Still and all, there’s a good time to be had here. Fast-paced, well acted, well shot and brimming with style, No Escape may not feel as fresh as it did in 1994, but it absolutely works as a compelling matinee movie. And while its predictions of the future ended up being a bit off the mark, its brutal jungle world full of cannibals and death traps is nonetheless a fascinating and terrifying place to visit: a lot like far Far North Queensland itself, really.

The Extras:

Much like the film itself, the extras here are solid, albeit not earth-shattering. There’s an audio commentary with Die Hard on a Blank podcasters Liam Billingham and Philip Gawthorne, which is fun.

There are also featurettes that include Survival of the Fittest: Directing No Escape with Martin Campbell, a charming 2022 interview with the director, Penal Colony: Writing No Escape, a 2022 interview with co-writer Joel Gross, a brand spanking new Recollections from The Penal Colony: 2025 Interview with Prosthetics Designer Jason Baird (who is an Aussie and seems like a top bloke).

There’s also an alternate intro which doesn’t seem so much alternate as “less”? Best in show goes to Welcome to the Future: The Sci Fi Worlds of Gale Anne Hurd, a 2022 interview with the super producer who has been behind many of the sci-fi films you hold dear like The Terminator, Aliens and sleazy trash masterpiece Humanoids from the Deep! You’ll also find a bunch of legacy features and trailers and whatnot.

The whole package comes bundled in a very attractive rigid case designed by Ben Turner and contains a 48-page book of behind-the-scenes material and essays by Brand Streussnig and Jedidiah Ayres, plus a new interview with Gale Anne Hurd. You’ll also be able to run your greasy mitts over an A3 poster and 8 flash-looking artcards.

However, the main draw here is the gorgeous new 4K print and the fact that you can finally watch this film in a scenario as good looking as its original, all-too-brief cinema run.

The Verdict:

No Escape is an engaging, underrated sci-fi action flick that deserves more love than it got back in the ‘90s.

It’s not an all-timer, mind you. It’s less Mad Max, more Stroppy Ray, but for all that, No Escape is a pleasing genre throwback with deft direction, a superb cast and enough crazy cannibals with filed teeth to offer a highly enjoyable, lazy afternoon’s viewing.