Nah, it's not better in any way.
Midnight Express is a decent film but it kind of fall apart towards the end.
There was no good reason for him to suddenly lose his mind the way he did.
People have gone through much worse and still reminded sane.
This was a highly exaggerated version of the truth.
The writing wasn't very good nor was the acting.
The Shawshank Redemption was the better film because the story telling was heaps better, the acting, directing all better.
Just because ME is less mainstream doesn't make it better.
It's just not as well made as TSR, fact.

Midnight Express is better. The creepiness and the drama of wanting to get out of Turkey was really intense.
Shawshank was just a standard Hollywood movie for me.

Not in this universe. Not in any.

Agreed. Different movies though.

Midnight Express was better. It's one of the most underrated films, when Shawshank Redemption is kinda overrated.

Not comparable (at all). I enjoyed both but knew the real story of Billy before seeing "ME" so I understood the major differences.
Like comparing "Rio Bravo to The Wild Bunch."

I am not sure which is better. But Midnight Express was scarier.

You can't really compare them. Aside from them both taking place in prison, they are two very different movies.

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I like Shawshank a lot but prefer Midnight Express.
He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

I love them both but Midnight Express is my favourite. I have seen it 9 times compared to 2 for Shawshank.
Spare a talent for an old ex-leper?
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Official Bleeder
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I love The Shawshank Redemption, especially the bond between Robbins and Freeman and some of the other characters in it are likeable, but I honestly prefer Midnight Express. I've seen this one a bit more and it does it for me.
Far more harrowing, bleaker and grittier. Also, Hayes was indeed guilty of his crime, as mentioned before, but how could you NOT feel sorry for him when he's given a LIFE sentence for what he did? I wonder how many years a murderer would have got.
Brad Davis was simply awesome in ME and he should have won an Oscar. You could feel empathy towards John Hurt's wasted character, too.
Midnight Express is probably my favourite film of all time and it's certainly a lot darker and more unpredictable than Shawshank.

I really like both movies, but if I have to choose, I like Shawshank Redemption better.

Ya can't really compare the two, for one Billy Hayes was guilty of his crime unlike Andy Dufresne. Midnight Express was a true story, Shawshank Redemption was fiction. But for arguement sake if I had to pick one, it would be Midnight Express simply because it was more realistic & more brutal of a film & it was based on a true story, that's just my opinion.

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How many Turkish prisons have you been in then ?
It(Midnight Express) has been universally pilloried for being a total sham in its portrayal of the Turks and it's prisons. Read up on it.
I still think the film is fantastic, but to say Shawshank is the Hollywood fake is absurd when Midnight Express has already been outed as the fake.
Shawshank is so much better than ME in every way.

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I think Midnight Express is light years better.
When I watch Shawshank, I feel as thought I am watching a Hollywood casted, directed, set up filmhowever, when Midnight Express is on I might as well be in a Turkish prison as it feels so amazingly natural and real.
Just my opinion, but Shawshank (while still pretty good) reeks of Hollywood B.S., while Midnight Express feels like the genuine article.
Cheers,
BIZARRO

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Are you kidding??? Return to Paradise was a horrible movie compared to Midnight or Shawshank.

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Return to Paradise is better than both of these