Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Fella_shibby I first saw this on a VHS in the early 90s. Revisited this recently on a DVD. The plot is very simple n straight forward but shot in a very innovative n thrilling manner. It shows one of the most realistic looks at prison life. The plot - The prison is a walled island facility ruled by a sadistic head guard (Hume Cronyn). The warden is weak and inefficient, and the prison doctor a drunk. Inmate (Burt Lancaster) is just back from solitary after being set up by one of Cronyns snitch. We all know what happens to a snitch in a prison... Later v r introduced to all the ladies thru a very innovative flashbacks n how Lancasters wife is reluctant to undergo an operation if he is not present beside her. Of course she ain't aware that he is in prison. As time is ticking n Cronyns dictatorship methods r growing -the mens activities are taken away, parole hearings are suspended and no visitors are allowed. Lancaster along with other inmates plans a breakout.... Lancasters fellow inmates also hav back stories (told in romantic flashbacks). John Hoyts (a very striking personality ) wild night with femme fatale was an entertaining one. It is a very hard-hitting film, very well directed n acted by all. Although Burt Lancaster is the star of the movie, the film is really about all the prisoners - Lancasters fellow inmates n the men that help them try to escape. A very good drama thriller, superbly acted, very well directed n edited. Kudos to the director Jules Dassin for making a hard-hitting n realistic prison drama/thriller.

grantss Interesting prison drama.Joe Collins (played by Burt Lancaster) is a prisoner in Westgate Penitentiary. The senior officer at the prison is Captain Munsey (Hume Cronyn), a power-mad, manipulative sadist. Collins is rebellious and constantly in trouble with the prison guards. He formulates a plan to escape but a confrontation with Captain Munsey is inevitable...An interesting look at prison life, and how people act when they have absolute power. The central plot was well thought out and made for a good story. However, the stories of how all the main prisoner-characters got there sometimes seemed unnecessary and felt like padding.Solid work by Burt Lancaster and Hume Cronyn in the lead roles. Good supporting performances too.

poe426 BRUTE FORCE begins with some beautiful rain-drenched establishing shots of Westgate prison. We hear "Calypso" (Sir Lancelot, a face- and voice- familiar to fans of Val Lewton's films) singing a rhyming introduction (which is infused with the kind of irony we find in his songs in I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE); he attends to the needs of the sadistic captain of the guards, Munsey (Hume Cronyn). Warns the prison doctor: the prison is "one big human bomb," just waiting to be triggered. Collins (Burt Lancaster), fresh out of solitary confinement, turns out to be that trigger. Collins times a visit to the doctor to coincide with the murder of the stool pigeon whose testimony landed him in solitary (and thereby provides himself a foolproof alibi). Collins later snarls, to Gallagher, who runs the prison newspaper (who points out that the stoolie killing will bring down the authorities on everybody in the prison): "I don't care about everybody else." "That's cemetery talk," replies Gallagher. "There's no such thing as a short stretch," Lancaster states flatly. He's determined to get back to his wheelchair-bound girl as soon as he can (as she's taken a turn for the worse). BRUTE FORCE is a beautifully crafted, uncompromising movie with an unforgettable ending. Highly recommended.

nomoons11 After watching this you will have seen only 1 of a handful of roles in movie history as evil as the prison guard played by Hume Cronyn. He's is just that nasty. There are no redeeming qualities about him.I haven't seen too many prison flicks where I rooted for the prisoners but this one you'll be on the edge of your seat hoping these guys get outta that place. Hume Cronyn plays a deputy prison warden and is just absolutely brutal to the prisoners. He does everything he can to make their lives miserable...in his sneaky little way. The warden is a fair guy but just cares about keeping his job and leaves everything up to his deputy warden. Big mistake.Burt Lancaster is one of a handful of prisoners who have had it and decide to hatch a plan to get out...at any cost. When you see it, you can't blame em. The ending of this film is just fantastic and ultra violent. Even for the year this was made.I can't recommend a prison flick higher than this one. It'll make you think twice about committing your first crime because if you do, you may get a guy like Hume Cronyn the rest of your life wakin' you up.