Fuga de Pretória

Its a dramathriller from true life, the apharteid era of south africa, anc and white political supporters, going to prison for equal rights. while there theyre fed up with the prison system and tries to make a way to escape. how and when its done i shall not spoil.

but if your in for a session of silverscreen watching, accompanied with a lot of stretching, hyperventilating, stress and a whole lot of sweat then youre in for it in this flick. the acting are good, the filmographic efforts combined with excellent light and soundwork, together with a serious set of score make it all even better.

why not 10, well i think the makers portrays the prisoners environment a bit smoother and humane than it was in the true life, and i think the introduction to the maincast is a bit slow and weak. so its not a perfect film, even though the grumpy old man had a good time.a recommend.

Had I seen the IMDB rating I might not have watched it but am pleased I did. This production kept me engaged throughout bringing dramatic tension even to bubblegum on the ens of a stick! Particularly if you knew the consequences awaiting the protagonists if they failed. Perhaps the appalling situation could have been more graphically set up but as a prison break movie it works well but not if you want the graphic violence that so many filmmakers resort to for tension. Ignore the negatives & watch it

Not two weeks after "Guns Akimbo" Daniel Radcliffe rewards us with yet another great performance, this time in a tightly made, old-school B-like jailbreak thriller set against a historically true background. Francis Annan's "Escape from Pretoria", while flawed in some areas, gives legitimate thrills and keeps you excited all throughout, as you follow the trio of men on the quest of freedom.

"Escape from Pretoria" is based on the prison escape of two political captives from Pretoria Central Prison in South Africa in 1979. The movie starts with an introduction of the political events taking place in South Africa during that time, more precisely the Apartheid. Soon after Tim Jenkin (Daniel Radcliffe) and Stephen Lee (Daniel Webber) get arrested and sent to prison for 8 or more years, there they meet politically related Denis Goldberg (Ian Hart) and their third accomplice Leonard Fontaine (Mark Leonard Winter). Most of the time we spent inside the prison, following the routine and efforts of our three main heroes - the story focuses a lot on creating suspense and in doing so has it has created many good and very enjoyable sequences. It's all about the thrill of finding the means to reach freedom. "Escape from Pretoria" is a neat and successful exercise in a familiar formula, utilized since way back when, Clint Eastwood's "Escape from Alcatraz" has the same qualities. Includes also great attention to detail. The pacing's nice and even, with some great pick-ups here and there. With the focus being on atmosphere, excitement and genre mechanics, the script is lacking in the area of depth, more precisely the characters, there's not a lot of set-up or backstory for them. However, the performances make up for that. Visually, the movie excels as well, using various cool camera tricks and touching up the suspense with technical means, the cinematic language is on point all throughout.

"Escape from Pretoria" is a great procedural thriller, a successful execution of genre mechanics, a carefully planned movie about planning. If it lacks depth, it definitely possesses a good entertainment value, further fulfilled with great acting work. Good prison-set movies don't come out all that often. My rating: 7/10.

Why people are giving low rate to all the latest films that Daniel Radcliffe have been shot. I like this movie, its not boring at all. The plot is very interesting, the soundtrack chosen very good. actors played their role perfectly. I don't know what else people want from the movie !!!

It was the 1970s and apartheid was still being strictly enforced in S. Africa. A small band of anti-apartheid white men were working to change that and one way was to plant "bombs" on the streets that would shoot hundreds of leaflets into the air because it was illegal to openly campaign for the cause. The bombs didn't hurt anyone, still two of them were arrested and sent to a highly secure prison in Pretoria, one for 8 years the other for 12 years.

Daniel Radcliffe plays one of them, Tim Jenkin who was sentenced to 12 years and who wrote the book upon which this movie is based. Jenkin himself makes a short cameo appearance in the movie and discusses all this in an "extra" on the DVD.

So the title tells us the outcome, over about a 13 month period, the movie about how they did it is even more interesting than I had expected. The way each cell is are locked there is an inside door with bars and sandwiched to it is a solid steel door that opens to the hallway. Plus there are another dozen or so locked doors between the cell and freedom. Plus not all of them take the same key. Highly secure, realistically no way for a prisoner to escape ... or so they thought. Think keys made of wood.

I watched this at home on DVD from my public library, my wife started but it got too slow for her and she abandoned it. I find it a very good movie of a historically significant story, Radcliffe is very believable in the role as Jenkin.