What is the iRankMovies score for Escape from Alcatraz?

Name: Escape from Alcatraz
Director: Don Siegel
Genre: drama, thriller
Released: 1979
Duration: 1 h 53 min
Rating: 7.5

Escape from Alcatraz has an iRankMovies score of 81.1/100, based on a weighted combination of IMDb (×3.0), Rotten Tomatoes (×2.0), Metacritic (×1.5), and TMDb (×1.0).

Escape from Alcatraz (1979)

No one has ever escaped from Alcatraz… and no one ever will!

Release:1979

Runtime:1h 53m

Country:United States

Director:Don Siegel

Language:English

Genre

DramaThriller

See the best drama movies →

Keywords

Prison IslandBased On Novel Or BookEscapeSan Francisco CaliforniaAlcatraz PrisonPrison WardenBased On True Story

iRank81

Escape from Alcatraz rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.5/10· 161K votes

Rotten Tomatoes97%

Metacritic76%

TMDb7.5/10· 3K votes

With 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.5/10 on IMDb and 76/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About Escape from Alcatraz

San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

Cast of Escape from Alcatraz

Clint Eastwood
as Frank Morris
Patrick McGoohan
as Warden
Roberts Blossom
as Doc
Jack Thibeau
as Clarence Anglin
Fred Ward
as John Anglin
Paul Benjamin
as English
Larry Hankin
as Charley Butts
Bruce M. Fischer
as Wolf
Frank Ronzio
as Litmus
Fred Stuthman
as Johnson
D
David Cryer
as Wagner
Hank Brandt
as Associate Warden

Escape from Alcatraz facts

Budget: $8M
Box office: $43M

Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026Methodology Data sources

Audience opinions

What the audience liked

•Meticulous prison escape planning generates intellectual tension beyond action spectacle
•Understated performance showcases character dignity and determination throughout narrative arc
•True story adaptation respects reality while maintaining dramatic narrative coherence throughout

What the audience disliked

•Escape execution becomes repetitive requiring multiple similar preparation and planning sequences
•Emotional character development receives less emphasis than procedural escape logistics focus