The Making of Midnight Express (1977) Online

There's nothing much going on with this behind the scenes of "Midnight Express", a TV special presenting the real Billy Hayes sharing his experience of being locked in a Turkish prison after smuggling a small quantity of drugs. There's a few scenes from the movie, and they actually revealed a lot about it that, for the first time viewer of Alan Parker's classic, it can spoil the enjoyment.

High point is seeing Hayes visiting the prison set, a very emotional experience to him cause all of it looked very accurate to him, with the guard (in reality, Paul L. Smith as Hamidou, the brutal guard) strolling around looking very menacing. And there's also a brief interview with Hayes father and producer Peter Guber. Cast, director and crew are nowhere to be seen and it's pity they're not in it to provide their thoughts on the film and also on Hayes' real life story. But Hayes is here and he seems very supportive of the film, based on his best-seller, and doesn't talk anything about the changes made for the film (in the following years of "Midnight Express" release he was a little critical of the film). And for those interested, he doesn't look anything like Brad Davis, neither Richard Gere, the studio's original choice for the role.

Harmless and a good material to sell the picture but today it's quite unmemorable, too short and lacking in more insights. 6/10