Papillon/Midnight Express/Missing DVD (2005) Jack Lemmon, Costa-Gavras (DIR)

Title: Papillon/Midnight Express/Missing Leading Actor: Jack Lemmon Region: Region 2 Duration: 383 mins Format: DVD / Box Set Type: DVD No. of Discs: 3 disc(s) Studio / Publisher: Universal Pictures/UCA UK Release Date: 03 Oct 2005 Edition: Box Set

Triple-bill of harrowing dramas based on true stories. In 'Papillon' (1973), based on Henri 'Papillon' Charriere's account of life in the infamous and reputedly inescapable Devil's Island prison, Steve McQueen stars as the eponymous prisoner. Refusing to surrender to the cruelty of the prison regime, Papillon protects the bespectacled Louis Dega (Dustin Hoffman) from an abusive guard, makes a bid for freedom, and ends up spending a long spell in solitary confinement. When he is finally released back into the main prison, he again refuses to surrender and, along with Dega, makes another escape attempt. In 'Midnight Express' (1978), American student Billy Hayes (Brad Davis) is caught smuggling hashish and faces years in a Turkish prison. While his family at home attempt to have him freed, he undergoes the hellish experience of jail, helped only by fellow convicts Max (John Hurt) and Jimmy (Randy Quaid). Eventually he manages to make his escape on the 'midnight express', the prison slang for a jail-break. Finally, in 'Missing' (1982), American political activist Charles Horman (John Shea) suddenly disappears while protesting a violent military coup in South America. His wife Beth (Sissy Spacek) and his father Ed Horman (Jack Lemmon) go in search of their husband and son, but with officials trying to block their every move, Ed soon realises that the family has been betrayed by their own government.