Ah, the glorious early nineties! Back when big stars were still appearing in incredibly violent action movies and when over-anxious kids like myself had to secretly sneak into cinemas because you weren't allowed to see these movies under the age of 16. "Escape from Absolom" is a childhood favorite of mine, so my views and opinions may be a bit biased, but still I think they don't make action flicks like this one anymore nowadays. The script may perhaps contain a few gigantic holes and completely illogic twists, but at least it's continuously fast-paced, politically incorrect and spectacular. The year's 2022 and prisons have turned into private companies without government interference. Absolom is the name of a prison colony island where the sadistic warden (Michael Lerner) plays off the Outsiders against the Insiders. The former are an unorganized bunch of savages wearing masks and hunting with primitive weapons, led by the relentless but charismatic Walter Marek. The Insiders, however, attempted to found a peaceful community where they grow crops and seek for moral redemption. The newly arrived and military trained prisoner Robbins would make a great asset for the Insiders, since he's the only one to have ever escaped from the Outsiders, but he's stubborn and anti-social and solely intends to get off the island alone. The concept of "Escape from Absolom" is very reminiscent to copious other (futuristic) prison movies, like "Fortress", "Papillon", "Blood Camp Thatcher", "Escape from NY"
, but this one definitely benefices from good production values, staggering filming locations, a devoted cast and the professional direction of Martin Campbell. The battle sequences as well as the violent ordeals Robbins meets in the Outsiders' camp are robust and grisly, including a lot of decapitations and swashbuckling. The high tempo and adrenalin-level is only occasionally overshadowed by overly sentimental biographies and redundant flashbacks. Obviously in a prison colony, everybody has a story to tell about why he ended up there and the film tells too many of them. Ray Liotta's character is an interesting anti-hero, since he remains unreliable and somewhat aloof. The most fascinating character is undoubtedly Walter Merak. He's an insane and power-obsessed dictator with menacing facial expressions and a deranged sense of humor. Merak also narrates R-rated versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and eliminates the members of his own "parliament" to gain even more power. It's a stupendous performance from Stuart Wilson; an actor whose other works I'm not really familiar with. The always reliable Lance Henriksen, Ernie Hudson, Kevin J. O'Connor and Ian McNeice deliver awesome roles in the supportive cast. Granted, the movie is far from flawless and the sudden ending is a bit stupid and implausible, but "Escape from Absolom" nevertheless remains one of the highlights of early 90's Sci-Fi/action cinema.
