Ray Liotta's Forgotten '90s Thriller On Prime Video Will Scratch Your Dystopian Sci-Fi Itch

John Carpenter's "Escape from New York" is the undisputed king of futuristic movies about soldiers fighting bad guys on a prison island, but it isn't the only great one of the bunch. In 1994, the late Hollywood legend Ray Liotta starred in the Martin Campbell-directed "No Escape," an unsung action treat that is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

Based on Richard Herley's "The Penal Colony," Campbell's film takes place in the year 2022, where corporations rule over the justice and penal systems. This leads to the creation of an off-the-grid island called Absolom, where criminals are sent to fend for themselves. Enter Liotta's John Robbins, a Snake Plissken-esque lone-wolf warrior who gets imprisoned in the remote hellscape as punishment for killing his commanding officer. (Mild spoiler: He had perfectly valid reasons for doing so.) Upon arrival, our hero finds himself caught in the middle of two communities — one of which is governed by flesh-hungry, totalitarian cannibals. John just wants to escape, but as the film's title makes clear, that is easier said than done. Cue the chaos — lots of glorious, brutal, bloody chaos.

The real world didn't have many prison islands inhabited by cannibals in 2022, so "No Escape" doesn't score points for accurately predicting how our society would deal with criminals in the 21st century. However, genre fans will love it, as the film is a stylish concoction of some of the best action movies ever made.

The premise of "No Escape" screams "Escape from New York" knock-off, but it's also a play on "The Most Dangerous Game," the trend-setting 1932 movie about humans being hunted for sport on a remote island. There are also elements of George Miller's "Mad Max" saga thrown in, as the cannibalistic goons are reminiscent of the lawless inhabitants of the Wasteland.

"No Escape" makes no bones about being a mindless action flick that is derivative of other movies, but that isn't a criticism — it's actually why it's awesome. However, the flick is elevated by having a great director at the helm (Campbell directed "GoldenEye" right after this, so he must have done something right) and a top-notch cast that also includes Lance Henriksen, Ernie Hudson, and Michael Lerner. "No Escape" is a schlocky exploitation film with mainstream talent behind and in front of the camera, so expect some high caliber performances and solid production values.

More interestingly, "No Escape" gave Ray Liotta a chance to show off his chops as an action star. The late actor was mostly known for starring in crime dramas like "Goodfellas," "Narc," "Cop Land," and "Killing Them Softly" (which are often hailed as Liotta's best movies), so he didn't get to portray lone-wolf action heroes very often. A shame, really, as "No Escape" proves that he could excel in these types of roles as well.