THE ESCAPIST

Image result for The Escapist 2008

GB
2008
1hr 35mins
Dir: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: Liam Cunningham and Joseph Fiennes

A prisoner serving a life sentence plans an escape in order to visit his seriously ill estranged daughter

This highly acclaimed prison thriller features quite a lot of filming below ground, as the prisoners escape into a subterranean London, breaking out into the tunnels of the London Underground. Much filming took place at the closed Jubilee Line station at Charing Cross, with particular emphasis placed on the ventilation shafts and cross passages, though there were some scenes at track level. In one of these scenes the escapees are seen at the scissors crossover prior to the platforms, but the tube train in this sequence appears to be a CGI creation. ‘Union Street’ station was the old Holborn station within the closed Kingsway tram tunnel.

This is the disused Holborn Tram station in the abandoned Kingsway tram tunnel. It plays the part of the fictional ‘Union Street’ station and although this shot is real, much of the scenes that followed used a combination of matted shots and computer imagery (reelstreets).
The escaped convicts on the scissors crossover on the approach to Charing Cross station on the Jubilee Line (reelstreets).
The disused former northbound platform 3 at Charing Cross station. The closed Jubilee Line terminus is fast becoming a regular in modern-day feature film, taking over the mantle, in part, from Aldwych (reelstreets).
Brian Cox and Joseph Fiennes at the eastern end of the southbound platform 4 at Charing Cross, the last two survivors of the five who escaped (reelstreets).
Brian Cox makes his way out of the station. These are the escalators up to the Northern Line (reelstreets).