Jeff Shannon's review is nonsense. He accuses "Midnight Express" of being manipulative. What does he think film making is? Films--and art in general--are nothing more than manipulation in order to achieve a desired effect, whether to scare us, make us cry, or make us laugh. It's all about manipulation. I read Billy Hayes original book accounting his true life experiences in Turkey; overall, the film holds true to the autobiography, although it shies away from Hayes's own self-professed positive homosexual experiences while in prison. I suppose audiences in 1978 wouldn't be able to handle that. In the film, Hayes is shown as rejecting any kind of homosexual advance, although he does so kindly. Regardless, the film is powerful and has visually stunning cinematography, something that is lacking in today's films. This is one of those films you show friends who have never seen it or heard of it. Almost all will come away awestruck. It is a remarkable film achievement. It's one of the top films of the 1970s--and in the decade of "The Deer Hunter," "Jaws," "Star Wars," "The Exorcist," and "The Godfather," just to name a few, that's saying a lot!