Monday, February 3, 2014

DVD Review - Escape Plan

Escape Plan
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Studio: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Retail: $29.95
ASIN: B00H1RMWYW
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rating: R

Review:

Before Expendables 3 hits theaters this summer, action-fans can sink their teeth in tomorrows Blu-ray and DVD release of last year's prison-action film, Escape Plan, starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Special features on the DVD include Audio Commentary with Director Mikael Hafstorm and Co-Writer Miles Chapman and "Executing the Plan: The Making of Escape Plan" Featurette.

Sylvester Stallone stars as ex-prosecutor, Ray Breslin, who co-owns a major security firm, in which his team helps him get inside prisons, which, as an inmate, he surveys all of the security cameras, the prison guard's routines and maps out a route to escape. Doing this is the only way his company can help the prisons keep the inmates from escaping.

Sylvester Stallone ("Ray Breslin") stars in Summit Entertainment's, a LIONSGATE company, ESCAPE PLAN. Photo: Steve Dietl

Ray, along with his business partner Lester Clark (played by Vincent D'Onofrio) are offered a multimillion dollar contract by a CIA operative to the test the security of a top-secret prison. The assignment sounds too good to be true and Ray soon finds out that he has been tricked by someone close to him.

Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Emil Rottmayer") stars in Summit Entertainment's, a LIONSGATE company, ESCAPE PLAN. Photo: Alan Markfield

He is ambushed and wakes up in a glass cell; without any access to windows, Ray can't tell where the prison is located. After being released into the general prison population, he bumps into another inmate, Emil Rottmayer (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), who wants to help him escape from the secret prison, but breaking out isn't going to be easy with the Warden Willard Hobbes (played by Jim Caviezel) and his guards watching the prisoners every move.

From left to right: Sylvester Stallone ("Ray Breslin," left) and Arnold Schwarzenegger ("Emil Rottmayer," right) star in Summit Entertainment's, a LIONSGATE company, ESCAPE PLAN. Photo: Alan Markfield

Though Stallone's and Schwarzenegger's box-office grosses aren't as high as they were back in the '80s, both actors have had a lukewarm box-office draw last year with Stallone's Bullet To The Head and Grudge Match and Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand, but their collaborations in Escape Plan ended up as a box-office success, grossing over $135-million dollars worldwide. Escape Plan drops the humor from The Last Stand and falls more in line with Stallone's 1989 vehicle Lock Up, except (Spoiler Warning) this time he finds himself on a floating prison with no way to escape, unless you can get help from the outside. It is less campy than I thought it would be, actually the movie features a more serious tone. It is more of a Stallone vehicle with Schwarzenegger as his co-star, though, both actors (both are nearing 70-years-old) are in top of their game in this action-drama. Jim Caviezel gives a great performance as the main villain and it is nice to see that actor Vincent D'Onofrio can find a decent role after Law & Order: CI ended. Overall, Escape Plan is an intelligent action film that is made for the action fans of the '80s and '90s. I thought the movie was a fun watch, though it is a little slow to start, and it is one of the better recent outings from these two action-icons.


*Disclaimer - I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.


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