ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

Forget history, Alcatraz has earned itself a place in pop-culture. We've seen so many movies about it, we're read books about it... and David Copperfield has even escaped it. It was the notorious maximum security prison which boasted that no one has ever escaped, or at least survived an escape. Oh yeah, bar one exception when 3 men staged an incredible escape when they tirelessly carved through their ventilation holes and climbed their way to the roof before paddling out into the harbour on a raft, hand-made from regulation raincoats. The men were never captured, nor were they ever seen alive. They simply vanished! The FBI have maintained an open investigation over the years however there has never been confirmation one way or another. Either they drowned, or they didn't. And so this film starring Clint Eastwood tells their story. It's a fantastic film, built with genuine suspense and a calm patience. You can read up on the real life escape and see the photos for yourself... from the looks of it, this movie is close to accurate in all of it's detail. The only thing that doesn't sit right with me is the calm and docile atmosphere of the prison. Perhaps it really was that way but none of the inmates seem like criminals to me, least not deserving of the nations tightest maximum security facility. Nevertheless a great film.

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