I saw this film after it was re released a few times. I dropped out of high school. I made a huge mistake. I was getting my GED and planning to start community college right away. After I got me GED I saw this film on Long Island during the summer before I started community college. It scared the living S*** out of me. I did not ever want to end up in jail in any country. I never saw a film like this in my life. I was so happy I went to college after seeing this film. I read the book too. It kept me very motivated to get good grades and my life changed. If Alan and Oliver did not make it my grades would have been eh... This is true. Kept thinking about how he was treated and how he had 53 days left and then he got life. I did want a life like that. So I graduated good grades and became a cameraman. Later I made an Anti Drug Documentary called Union Square. Midnight Express has such an impact on me. Stinks thay Billy went to jail for smuggling but he was stupid to do that . Happy he wrote a book about it and got out by escaping and getting that boat to get to Greece. Very happy it all worked out for him. The movie really had an huge impact on me. Woke me up real fast. If Billie ever wants to reach out and talk with me I would be honored - Stephen
Thank you. Closure and impact for me. I was living in Indonesia in 1978. 1981 friends of mine in jail in Jakarta for possession of hash. I saw the dire condition of jail visiting them. I saw this movie, even learned the theme on piano. Midnight Express made a global impact then because at that time, from mj most moved to hash...the Soundtrack was fresh- start of electronic music, won Oscars- and we get to see the rawness of Oliver Stone. Now, I find that you smuggled 3x before- wow....just wow......the music eternal...thank you for this interview. I've always wondered about Billy Hayes and here it is. Damn 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
The old judge (played by Gigi Ballista) whose "hands were tied by Ankara" was a good Turk in the movie. So was Negdir (played by Ahmed El Shenawi), the big guy serving tea (Soon he back to Istanbul street... no friend, no money, plenty enemy!). Damn few, but there were a few others as I recall
Are you nostalgic Billy? you can live your Midnight Express again!!! If you think Turkey is a normal country like any other civilized country then you can just go there and publicly express your love to Fetulah Gulen and, by the way, say hi! to the 190 journalists imprisoned in Turkey!!!
you must be one those follower of fetullah... as his followers paying the price the crimes they committed against Republic of Turkey, the traitor, thief erdogan and his family will pay it also one day. you are either one of them or you are greek or armenian. what a pitty for you that the lies have a habit that in time it all becomes clear amd everyone finds out the truth. but people like you still try to live behind those lies....poor thing
aas he ever told something about his friendship with the actor , very talened and underrated and handsome Brad Davis who played himself? they became very friends ( and also sharesd some drugs,,, nights), it would be interesting to listeni his momories about him.
See this great doc tonight through 7/27 at the Music Hall Theatre 9036 Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills - and then see Billy Hayes live and in person - with his 70 minute live show - a hit around the world - from Australia to Lebanon -3 PERFORMANCES ONLY in LA - RIDING THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS WITH BILLY HAYES at the Odyssey Theatre - July 28 and 29 at 8pm and July 30th at 3pm - go to www.ridingthemidnightexpresswithbillyhayes.com for all details and also info re Billy's books - and soon to be released AUDIO VERSION of the international best seller MIDNIGHT EXPRESS!!
Billy's a legend!! Just like George jung!!! I'd love to meet billy an turn him on to my good weed..just sit an talk!! How cool would that be!! Godbless you billy!!!
you should ask Billy about another George who like saved his life by not telling his name to the guards when he was caught trying to escape. Billy did not mention this George in his book.
But actually, the movie says nothing about wether it was the first or fourth time Billy exported hash from Turkey ... it simply tells us the story of what happened on the last time ...
I have spent many years living and working abroad. SOUTHEAST ASIA , CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND BEIRUT WERE MY AREAS. midnight express scared me straight years before i ever went overseas but it also made me think very bad of turkey and turkish people , like who in their right mind would want to go to turkey. To think that movie cost turkey a 95% dip in tourism is unbelievable. I have seen the horrors if addiction and devastation it can do to a family. Personally i think drug cartels , smugglers and dealers are FUCKING EVIL SCUM and recieve exactly what they deserve. What these drug cartels have done to innocent people is FUCKING GENOCIDAL , the suffering of poor innocent people from Mexico to Columbia makes me sick to my stomach. I would have no problem conducting air strikes and para military operations against them. I remember the torcher and murder or DEA AGENT KI KI CAMARENA and how is wife and children suffered from their loss. When i actually found out that Billy Hayes had made numerous trips to turkey and was not the dumb kid that made the one time mistake , my opinion changed of him and i viewed him as SCUM BAG drug smuggler. What that movie did to turkey and the Turkish people was disgrace. All those years i actually felt bad for him until the nat geo locked abroad series came out and they showed the real Billy Hayes episode. I will give him credit for showing some character and trying to make for his wrong doings but i dont think he should be viewed as some sort of celebrity. A LOT OF DEATH , MISERY AND HARDSHIP HAVE COME TO INNOCENT PEOPLE BECAUSE OF FUCKING DRUGS. R.I.P TO THE INNOCENT VICTIMS GOD BLESS THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES.
The hashish trade is a damned far cry from heroin or crack and crystal meth ! Seriously people don't kill each other for a spliff or a bong, the producers are chilled farmers etc, it ain't Taliban having farmers growing poppies, and using filthy chemicals in clandestine labs to make brown heroin, or the likes of Cali cartel doing the same with coca farms, polluting the forest with waste product, spent chemicals etc. There's no toxic fallout from hashish mate, do some research before you condemn everyone to be as bad as addictive drug producers, importers, and dealer's.
I've read the book and I'm sorry but Billy is trying to hang to much blame on the movie of his book. But the book itself was far more critical of Turkeys prison system and the people in it.
@@garyelder4610 The following response: Billy’s report in his words: "Max went free with a partial amnesty two years before I escaped I heard that he was in Amsterdam and died there. Unfortunately junkies don't live alone. Rest in peace Max"
The reality of his experience would have been a better movie than the exaggerated original. The original was crap. I never bought into it when I saw it.
The movie and the book were superb the character I remember most in the movie is h a m i d o u the brutal sadistic head of the guards one of the most iconic portrayals of evil I've ever seen portrayed by actor Paul Smith rest in peace Paul Smith was also in the horror movie pieces made 1983 where he played a groundskeeper at a college that movie was can't be fun that's c a m p y fun a brutal sadistic movie about a chainsaw killer on campus
He'd be treated like royalty lol he's a billionaire not some peasant nobody like you plus it's 2020 now most prison systems around the world have changed a lot it's no longer the 1970s
I saw this film after it was re released a few times. I dropped out of high school. I made a huge mistake. I was getting my GED and planning to start community college right away. After I got me GED I saw this film on Long Island during the summer before I started community college. It scared the living S*** out of me. I did not ever want to end up in jail in any country. I never saw a film like this in my life. I was so happy I went to college after seeing this film. I read the book too. It kept me very motivated to get good grades and my life changed. If Alan and Oliver did not make it my grades would have been eh... This is true. Kept thinking about how he was treated and how he had 53 days left and then he got life. I did want a life like that. So I graduated good grades and became a cameraman. Later I made an Anti Drug Documentary called Union Square. Midnight Express has such an impact on me. Stinks thay Billy went to jail for smuggling but he was stupid to do that . Happy he wrote a book about it and got out by escaping and getting that boat to get to Greece. Very happy it all worked out for him. The movie really had an huge impact on me. Woke me up real fast. If Billie ever wants to reach out and talk with me I would be honored - Stephen
Thanks for posting, very informative
Thank you. Closure and impact for me. I was living in Indonesia in 1978. 1981 friends of mine in jail in Jakarta for possession of hash. I saw the dire condition of jail visiting them. I saw this movie, even learned the theme on piano. Midnight Express made a global impact then because at that time, from mj most moved to hash...the Soundtrack was fresh- start of electronic music, won Oscars- and we get to see the rawness of Oliver Stone.
Now, I find that you smuggled 3x before- wow....just wow......the music eternal...thank you for this interview. I've always wondered about Billy Hayes and here it is. Damn 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
Matilde Kimmerle d
The old judge (played by Gigi Ballista) whose "hands were tied by Ankara" was a good Turk in the movie. So was Negdir (played by Ahmed El Shenawi), the big guy serving tea (Soon he back to Istanbul street... no friend, no money, plenty enemy!). Damn few, but there were a few others as I recall
Are you nostalgic Billy? you can live your Midnight Express again!!! If you think Turkey is a normal country like any other civilized country then you can just go there and publicly express your love to Fetulah Gulen and, by the way, say hi! to the 190 journalists imprisoned in Turkey!!!
I completely agree with you.Turkey lacks of human rights.
you must be one those follower of fetullah... as his followers paying the price the crimes they committed against Republic of Turkey, the traitor, thief erdogan and his family will pay it also one day. you are either one of them or you are greek or armenian. what a pitty for you that the lies have a habit that in time it all becomes clear amd everyone finds out the truth. but people like you still try to live behind those lies....poor thing
Always wondered about billy Hayes after Midnight express, just back from a trip in Valletta where it was filmed today
awesome!
aas he ever told something about his friendship with the actor , very talened and underrated and handsome Brad Davis who played himself? they became very friends ( and also sharesd some drugs,,, nights), it would be interesting to listeni his momories about him.
See this great doc tonight through 7/27 at the Music Hall Theatre 9036 Wilshire Blvd in Beverly Hills - and then see Billy Hayes live and in person - with his 70 minute live show - a hit around the world - from Australia to Lebanon -3 PERFORMANCES ONLY in LA - RIDING THE MIDNIGHT EXPRESS WITH BILLY HAYES at the Odyssey Theatre - July 28 and 29 at 8pm and July 30th at 3pm - go to www.ridingthemidnightexpresswithbillyhayes.com for all details and also info re Billy's books - and soon to be released AUDIO VERSION of the international best seller MIDNIGHT EXPRESS!!
Billy's a legend!! Just like George jung!!! I'd love to meet billy an turn him on to my good weed..just sit an talk!! How cool would that be!! Godbless you billy!!!
you should ask Billy about another George who like saved his life by not telling his name to the guards when he was caught trying to escape. Billy did not mention this George in his book.
But actually, the movie says nothing about wether it was the first or fourth time Billy exported hash from Turkey ... it simply tells us the story of what happened on the last time ...
I have spent many years living and working abroad. SOUTHEAST ASIA , CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA AND BEIRUT WERE MY AREAS. midnight express scared me straight years before i ever went overseas but it also made me think very bad of turkey and turkish people , like who in their right mind would want to go to turkey. To think that movie cost turkey a 95% dip in tourism is unbelievable. I have seen the horrors if addiction and devastation it can do to a family. Personally i think drug cartels , smugglers and dealers are FUCKING EVIL SCUM and recieve exactly what they deserve. What these drug cartels have done to innocent people is FUCKING GENOCIDAL , the suffering of poor innocent people from Mexico to Columbia makes me sick to my stomach. I would have no problem conducting air strikes and para military operations against them. I remember the torcher and murder or DEA AGENT KI KI CAMARENA and how is wife and children suffered from their loss. When i actually found out that Billy Hayes had made numerous trips to turkey and was not the dumb kid that made the one time mistake , my opinion changed of him and i viewed him as SCUM BAG drug smuggler. What that movie did to turkey and the Turkish people was disgrace. All those years i actually felt bad for him until the nat geo locked abroad series came out and they showed the real Billy Hayes episode. I will give him credit for showing some character and trying to make for his wrong doings but i dont think he should be viewed as some sort of celebrity. A LOT OF DEATH , MISERY AND HARDSHIP HAVE COME TO INNOCENT PEOPLE BECAUSE OF FUCKING DRUGS.
R.I.P TO THE INNOCENT VICTIMS GOD BLESS THEM AND THEIR FAMILIES.
The hashish trade is a damned far cry from heroin or crack and crystal meth ! Seriously people don't kill each other for a spliff or a bong, the producers are chilled farmers etc, it ain't Taliban having farmers growing poppies, and using filthy chemicals in clandestine labs to make brown heroin, or the likes of Cali cartel doing the same with coca farms, polluting the forest with waste product, spent chemicals etc.
There's no toxic fallout from hashish mate, do some research before you condemn everyone to be as bad as addictive drug producers, importers, and dealer's.
I've read the book and I'm sorry but Billy is trying to hang to much blame on the movie of his book. But the book itself was far more critical of Turkeys prison system and the people in it.
Yes! It looks like he changed his own mind.... He seems to be a little too politically correct ...
@@crucifytheego100 then he didn’t change his mind… he is just being politically correct
Which means covering the truth
I've seen several interviews and no one asks the question I'm dying to know. Did Max ever get out of prison?
There is another interview where he says Max made it out and is a junkie in Amsterdam. Hayes has not spoken to him.
@@garyelder4610 The following response: Billy’s report in his words:
"Max went free with a partial amnesty two years before I escaped I heard that he was in Amsterdam and died there. Unfortunately junkies don't live alone. Rest in peace Max"
his real name was Hans, he got caught with half a kilo on the border and got 30 years. And he got scorbut in jail. He went free in 74.
Thank you! @@hannesstuber222
hi - there are a few things that were different in reality. I met those guys, stayed there in the same cell from 74 to 76.
2015 interview
The reality of his experience would have been a better movie than the exaggerated original. The original was crap. I never bought into it when I saw it.
The movie and the book were superb the character I remember most in the movie is h a m i d o u the brutal sadistic head of the guards one of the most iconic portrayals of evil I've ever seen portrayed by actor Paul Smith rest in peace Paul Smith was also in the horror movie pieces made 1983 where he played a groundskeeper at a college that movie was can't be fun that's c a m p y fun a brutal sadistic movie about a chainsaw killer on campus
Blue eyes or what.
billy if i was u i would have sued the film makers for the lies because ur life was in danger for 20 years because of their lies.
would love trump to serve in Turkey.
MAGA 2020
Trump2020!
@@SoyEntusiasta stupido
He'd be treated like royalty lol he's a billionaire not some peasant nobody like you plus it's 2020 now most prison systems around the world have changed a lot it's no longer the 1970s