Customer Ratings & Reviews

liked this movie, not as good as escape from alcatraz but it pays adequate homage to the clint eastwood flick and entertains throughout

This is ostensibly the story of the famous 1946 escape attempt from Alcatraz. It appears someone had heard about it and then made a movie without researching the topic thoroughly. There are many inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the fils. First of all there were 6 inmates involved, not 5. Clarence (Caries) was a Native American, not white. The missing key (109) was flushed down the toilet by the guard Miller and it caught in the trap. The guards above (not shown in the movie) in the gun gallery used rifles, not pistols. There were several attempts by the guard force to retake the cell block firing from the gun gallery into the cellblock area long before the decision to call the Marines in. The pistols used were obviously starter pistols for the most part as evidenced by the huge gap between the cylinder and the barrel. One of the pistols was an Enfield revolver which was used by the British forces, not American. The inmates would have been armed with one pistol and two rifles from the Gun Gallery. When the Marines were called in, the uniforms were modern, not from 1946. "General Stillwell" was wearing a modern multicam uniform while the two soldiers were wearing Army style BDU's. The prisoners took refuge in the plumbing chase between the cell houses and the Marines lowered the grenades down through ropes into the cell block as evidenced by the explosive marks still on the cellblock today. Caries never shot any of the guards but when they were shot by Cretzer he went back to his cell and remained there until captured. The film did not show really that the names of the inmates involved was written in blood on the cell wall so they could be prosecuted later. This is a really good story and interesting bit of history but this film does not do it justice. There are much better films available that tell a much more accurate story. Don't waste your money on this one.