Netflix Review: Papillon

So after all this hubbub with Netflix I got to thinking about how much I depend on the DVDs they mail me. I don't have cable or anything so all I watch are movies. I was actually pretty stoked about the plan changes because I don't stream movies so my price went down. It does suck for those of you who do stream and watch DVDs that your price went up now though, sorry friends!

I've been on a massive kick of old movies recently. I thought it would be fun to review a movie once in a while that I really loved since they might not be something you have seen or even thought of renting or streaming.

Here are some of my favs from the last few weeks:
Rear Window - I love Hitchcock and this is the original with Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.
North by Northwest - Another Hitchcock with Cary Grant. Family Guy did a spoof of one of the final scenes at Mount Rushmore from this movie.
Gone with the Wind - This was the first time I watched it and I am shocked at what a pain in the ass Scarlett O'Hara is!
The Sting - I looove Paul Newman!!
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - I would ride on Paul Newman's bicycle handlebars anyday!! PLUS Robert Redford, a pretty good looking cast I must say.
The Thin Man, After the Thin Man and Another Thin Man - The husband and wife duo are pretty funny together in a way I never expected since these movies were made in the 1930's!

The most recent movie I watched which I really liked is Papillon.


It stars Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. It was filmed in the 70's but takes place during the 1930's and is based on the true story of Henri "Papillion" Charriere. Papillion is accused of murder and shipped to the Devil's Island penal colony in French Giuana to serve a life sentence where he meets Dustin Hoffman's character, Louis Dega. Papillion is determined to escape from the very beginning, especially because he maintains that he was wrongly accused of the murder. After being captured from his first escape attempt he is put into solitary confinement for 2 solid years and almost died from starvation and light deprevation. After gaining his strength back he makes another daring escape with Dega across the Atlantic in a sailboat to Venezuela. Dega is captured as soon as they get there but Papillon gets away and is able to live there for quite a while. He is eventually captured again, sent back to the penal colony and spends 5 more years in solitary confinement!!! By the end of the movie Papillon and Dega are imprisoned on another island which seems A LOT nicer than Devil's Island. They have their own little huts, gardens and pretty much do what they want. The reason being, the island is surrounded by the ocean and there are no beaches, only cliffs falling into the ocean so there is no chance for escape. Either the tide will kill them by smashing them into the cliffs or the sharks will.
I won't tell you the end because I really think you should watch it. I will tell you though that I was totally surprised at how it ended! This is kind of a long movie, 2 1/2 hours but definitely worth it. There are some good extras on the DVD as well. You get to see some of the filming of the movie as well as Papillon himself on set and his reaction to the recreation of the penal colony. The credits of the movie are cool too because it shows you what Devil's Island looks like now that it is no longer used, it's all over grown with vegetation and the buildings are all delapitated.

I hope you watch it and if you do, let me know what you thought of it!