Alcatraz: Surviving the Rock (2010)

Director: ???

Writer: Shirley Tatum, Dan Bree

Composer: ???

Starring: David McAlister, Alan Bruce, Matt Farrell, James Ferguson, Michael Gallagher, James Geranios, James Going, Michael Goode, Ted Machado, Galen Murphy-Hofman, James Rufini, Michael Saldate, Barry Walton


Plot:  A brief history of the prison years of Alcatraz Island.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yeah.

I think I've seen this twice already.  A few years ago I was visiting San Francisco and I visited Alcatraz.  It's an AMAZING place.  You know, it's a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.  Ahahahahahaha.  But seriously, it's a fantastic National Park with top notch exhibits, self guided tours (the audio presentation is outstanding), wonderful park rangers and then there's the site itself.  OK, back to the show.  Made for the National Geographic Channel, this 45 minute documentary gives an excellent overview of what life was like there.  99% of the film deals with the years it was in operation as a prison.  They cover the notable escape attempts and uprisings and the most famous inmates.  What's neat is there are interviews with inmates and guards alive at the time they made this.  That was one of the biggest treats for me.  If there's one prison that most people can name, it's Alcatraz and this documentary should be at the top of your list of films that tackle the subject.