Word: sadisme
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...diner, and is treated with equal contempt. Messages are pounded into us without letup--the Vietnam generation turning its violence back on America, the helplessness of women (who do nothing but tremble and bawl, and like Cheryl repeat 90 times, "I'm scared"), the arrogance of power, the sadism built into our society. We are supposed to sit there mesmerized and say, "Gee, I never thought of that," as if we haven't been thinking all these things for a long time. It is no longer enough merely to throw such ideas into the air; it is necessary...
...movie involves a decomposing cat. Nothing new for this butcher. In Crichton's Westworld, the most satisfying fantasies are also the bloodiest--robots blown to bits; one remembers brains being sliced up, organs flung about, dead bodies on dissection tables in Coma; now, Crichton gets his kicks injecting sadism into kiddie-movies. Bleah...
...also done his share of Bonds, has a gift for moving this sort of nonsense right along, and the special effects, when everyone finally gets around to blowing up all the concrete in sight, are persuasive enough. There are occasional moments of violent excess (a decapitation, the sadism visited on Bach) that uncomfortably remind us of the harsh realities...
...movie, therefore, is not just an innocent and harmless depiction of Billy Hayes' transformation "into an Everyman-type hero coping with the erosion of his identity in a nether world of sadism, greed, and madness." As abstract as Mr. Contrer as makes it sound, this world is one where "sadism, greed, and madness" are clearly portrayed as the intrinsic characteristics of a country and its people. "Midnight Express" may be a compelling story of personal struggle, but this comes at the expense of dehumanizing an entire nation...
...struggle to endure and ultimately prevail which are at once unspeakable in their brutality and incomprehensible in their mindlessness. In the hands of Parker and screenwriter Oliver Stone, Billy Hayes is transformed into an Everyman-type hero coping with the erosion of his identity in a nether world of sadism, greed and madness. No emotion goes unexplored, no pain is spared, and in the end, no victory is denied. Therein lies the genius of Midnight Express, a Film so devastating in its momentary power yet so delicate in its final beauty...