Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I have been trying to emulate for some time Alexander Solzhenitsyn and his documentary "Gulag Archipelago". But firstly let me say few words about "Gulag" (1985), based on the reviews from IMDb. The film was obviously shot in Norway and I as a referent from former Socialist Eastern Europe had grasp of it only recently. This movie was even more censored than "Caligula" with the same actor (British star Malcolm McDowell) which was pure pornography. Unlike Erotic Cinema and being it's little sister, Underground Cinema and Political Art are fake. Not many Directors and Actors dare reveal the whole truth and only the truth.This movie is an attempt to be as much convincing as "Midnight Express" (1978) - which is about an Englishman trying to escape from Turkish Prison System. While America and it's West Europe partners have been favoring Turkey's membership in NATO for very long time, it is nowadays that the system backfire. See, there is a new Soviet Union that now encompass Russia, Turkey and their satellites. Consider what would happen if those New Soviets (never mind whether Communist or Islamist) get hold of modern warfare technology blueprints. Enough is enough.Secondly, about that man Solzhenitsyn and his secret dossier with both KGB and FBI. Obviously, he was another loud mouth and both double and triple agent. Consider his troubled life both in the Soviet Union and as exile in Vermont, USA. He looks like a semi-deranged hermit and never appears in public unless specifically prearranged. His "questions-and-answers" interviews are structured beforehand and even after several corrected proofs are difficult to read. Solzhenitsyn never learned proper English and always used translators. Thus, a book titled "Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956" appeared for the Western public in the period 1973-1978. Personally, I don't know how many people both from Russia and abroad contributed for this book. The number of upliftings is considerable and catharsis is enormous. But tribute goes to Alexander Solzhenitsyn!Get more insights for modern barbed wire and forced labor from the bestsellers of Hedrick Smith - "Russians" (1976) and "New Russians" (1991). They are indispensable. Enjoy it!

Did you notice that the guards, or some of them, were paratroopers? They had the sky blue shoulder boards and berets. That's not right. People in the Gulag, or whatever it's called now, would be guarded by the Ministry of the Interior troops. They are called Vnutrennie Voiska, or Interior Army. Their shoulder boards are a dark red. They also don't wear berets. Paratroopers, in that time, would probably all have been in Afghanistan. For me, otherwise, this was enjoyable, in that I was a teenager during the 1980s Cold War, and as with any teenager, I wanted to kick butt. Plus, I've always liked Malcolm McDowell, and I liked him in this.

Those who say that this film is a cliche are not facing reality. I remember when some people were calling terrorists a silly cliche until 2 flew into the trade towers. Tyrants do and have always existed which may be a bit much for some sheltered mall crazy Americans to accept.In fact there has been much about Soviet activities that has remained not really revealed and most films about it have vanished. Even Second World War involvement by the Soviets both positive and negative is rarely mentioned. This film shows an interesting view of the rarely mentioned soviet system of prisons called Gulags in which millions had vanished with almost no photos or films of.

This film includes a star runner who goes to Russia and is soon captured and held against his will. He's eventually sent out to the historical Gulag camp where he convinces two other inmates to attempt an escape. One of the guys ends up becomming a 'sandwich', that is, food for the other two during the cross country escape. There's a steamy shower scene about half way through the film where Nance Paul bares all.