What the hell?

I get it, this is probably an anti-death penalty movie but even if we assumed all the convicts were innocent and had been wrongly-convicted, it's really hard to have any sympathy for them after they killed all those guards.

All of them, except the crazy one who remained locked in his cell, chose to participate in the attempted prison break. In so doing, they were just as responsible for the death of the guards as was Mears who shot them. The laws may have been different at the time but simple common sense would attribute at least some of the blame and responsibility to the other participants.

They may not have killed the guards but by not trying to stop Mears they basically condoned his actions. They heard him threaten the guards' lives when talking to the warden and then he proceeded to shoot one guard after another and another inmate. They outnumbered Mears and had plenty of time to stop him.

The 'innocent' prisoner should not have gotten a pardon; especially not one that exonerated him of all blame. I've already mentioned his involvement in the prison break but he was also responsible for the death of his partner. He may not have meant to shoot him but he's the one who introduced the gun that did. The thieves did not appear to have weapons and would have probably left after they got the loot. At a minimum he was responsible for negligent manslaughter.

They ended the movie as if all was well; a happy ending. That's not how I saw it at all. He was a dope whose poor judgment caused other people their lives. That makes him guilty of something.


Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]