Scripted by James Poe (Around the World in 80 Days, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), the setting is a sweltering Arizona desert State Prison where Cully Briston (Brown) is doing time. As the Warden (Eyman) is heading out on vacation, he gets into a heated argument with a guard, Grossman (the terminally underrated (Gerald S. O’Loughlin) over his racist comments. Angry over the warden’s apparent lack of respect for him, Grossman takes it upon himself to remove Cully from his cell and put him in isolation. However, before they can get there, Grossman is attacked by a group of inmates.
Taking advantage of the warden’s absence, a group of inmates have decided to stage a riot. Led by charismatic Red “Big Red” Fraker (Gene Hackman), 35 of the prisons worst criminals, housed in the isolation block have taken over the unit, intent on making it over the wall to freedom. Guards are taken hostage as bargaining chips, but Cully, who was only sentenced to five years and has a parole hearing coming up, wants no part of the whole thing.
When Fraker learns that all the supplies that he and his crew had stashed away were found and removed, he decides to try and use the media the riot has attracted; hoping to convince them that this isn’t a breakout, but rather an organized protest. Meanwhile, Cully does what he can to save Grossman who’s in bad shape. However, when the Warden comes back, Cully realizes that he is in no mood to listen and will come down hard on everyone in the block. He reluctantly decides to attempt an escape with Red and his men.
Red, Cully and fellow inmate Bugsy (Mike Kellin) open an abandoned escape tunnel under the prison auditorium. Cully has must protect the hostages and office workers from some of the more violent inmates, particularly unpredictable Surefoot (Ben Carruthers). A while later, as the warden prepares to take back the prison compound by force, Red tells his closest collaborators that only they will be making a bid for freedom.
Widely known for his well made B-movies, William Castle had produced Rosemary’s Baby the year before. While Riot wasn’t as “important” a film,” Castle did have a bigger budget to work with and it’s authentic location distinguishes it from exploitation films. However, it can it be argued that the sole purpose of Riot was to push the limits of the sub-genre and the “R” rating. At one point in the film, Jim Brown’s character is even taken on a tour of “Queen’s Row,” where homosexual inmates openly party in drag. The violence is brutal and the new rating system had just been adopted less than a year earlier.
Directed by Buzz Kulik, Riot can’t be considered a great film—it’s not particularly suspenseful—but it does feature a fine performance by Jim Brown, and an early role from Gene Hackman. It is also an interesting piece in film history, because it was one of the first films working with the restrictions of the Production Code.
Presented in the 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Olive Films has provided a fairly solid 1080p transfer. A gritty movie, film grain is a constant and fits the tone rather well. Color reproduction looks lifelike throughout, skintones look realistic and there’s no evidence of DNR or edge enhancement. Detail is fine, but never great. However, it does exceed what any DVD release can do.
The basic DTS-HD 1.0 Mono track sounds pretty good. Things are nicely balanced with no evidence of hisses or other distortion issues. The score and dialogue both come through clean and clear and there is some depth apparent during scenes inside the prison.
No subtitles are included.
There are no special features.
