Alcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.
Frank Morris (Clint Eastwood), a hardened con with a history of prison breaks, is sent to serve the rest of his life sentence at Alcatraz -- America's most infamously brutal and inescapable maximum security prison. Morris quickly realizes the prison's dehumanizing effects and clashes with its cruel warden (Patrick McGoohan). Fed up with life at Alcatraz, Morris and two convict brothers (Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau) meticulously plan the unthinkable: an escape from the island.
"Relentless in establishing a mood and pace of unrelieved tension." - Variety
"The way Siegel develops this story is a triumph of narrative. There's so much that's so good in the film -- in the performances, the characters, the minutely observed details of prison life, the timing of events leading up to the escape -- that we realize how rare such craftsmanship really is." - Roger Ebert
"There is more evident skill and knowledge of movie making in any one frame of it than there are in most other American films around at the moment." - The New York Times (1979)