Bangkok Hilton (1989)
The story of Kat Stanton (Kidman), an Australian woman searching for her father who, whilst travelling back from London to Australia via Thailand, makes friends with Arkie Ragan (Ehlers), a photographer. Kat is tricked into carrying some luggage through Thai customs for Arkie, only for the police to find drugs in his bag. Kat is sentenced to spend time in the horrific "Bangkok Hilton" prison, where she makes friends with fellow inmate Mandy Engels (Smithers), who has been sentenced to death. Whilst she endures the terrible conditions inside, Kat's lawyer Richard Carlisle (Weaving) and ex-patriot Hal Stanton (Elliott) battle with the authorities to have her freed.
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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
The acting in this movie is really good.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
I can't believe how good this miniseries was in light of the fact that Nicole Kidman has been in some stinkers of movies since then. This is her best acting ever. One mistake I did notice though is when Kat goes through the garbage chute and is in the tunnels below the hospital, she kicks off her shoes and kicks them aside as they are impeding her progress. When she meets up with Hal in the tunnel, the shoes are back on her feet. Did anyone else notice? Wonderful story, very well acted. I thought Nicole's character was very well written and she showed an amazing strength of character considering her upbringing by her very cold mother and grandmother. Arkie's character reminds me of certain men I have observed in life who use their good looks and charisma to lure women into doing their bidding and have absolutely no feeling for these women and no remorse for the terrible suffering they cause. This miniseries will stay in your mind long after you have watched it.
An excellent mini series - very realistic and quite chilling as well. Most other reviewers have covered the plot very well, so no need for me to comment further in that regard.I did spot one curious (very small) error in the series and was wondering if anybody else had noticed this. There is a scene in episode 1 where Hal is driving to Guardbridge to visit Catherine - just after his true identity has been discovered, and the repercussions are serious for him. When he pulls up at the house in the white HR Holden, look carefully and you will see that the interior of the car is red. He goes into the house, speaks to the housekeeper and then leaves. Yet when he gets back into the white HR Holden, its interior colour has magically changed to Blue. You'd think that if they were going to use two cars, they'd get them with the same interior colour!!!
I think this is probably the most underrated performance by Nicole Kidman. I saw this in 1989, and have looked for it on video or DVD in the states since then. Its really too bad this series is not run on American TV or recast on BBC America. I really would love to have a copy.
It's all flawless. I have watched it many many times, and it never gets old. Always tense, exciting and worrying. The sense of heated desperation always hits me watching this. The only problem with this show, is that nobody has heard of it. It's not possible to talk about a show that nobody has seen. cause you don't wanna give spoilers :(