With the extraordinary voice of Morgan Freeman, the series Great Escapes... presents eight cases in its first season. From Alcatraz, Dannemora, El Chapo Guzman and the Pittsburgh Six, the series recreates in detail the setting, scope and development of the leaks, but also part of their consequences. Based on Unreal Engine technology, the construction of each case was achieved with the existing audiovisual material plus witness testimonies.
The award-winning and beloved actor went through prison experiences in both fiction and reality. For the first, he starred in The Shawshank Redemption, where Freeman's character helps the film's protagonist escape. In real life, the actor had a brief stay in jail during his time in the Air Force in a clear misunderstanding. He now presents the documentary series that reconstructs the most remembered cases of escapes.
The plus of this series, unlike the many other documentaries that deal with these cases, is that Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman presents recreations made through the software called Unreal Engine that relies on historical images to give it even greater realism, maps of escape routes and chases about the famous leaks of Alcatraz, Dannemora, Pittsburgh State Penitentiary and others. The graphics engine, in addition to being used in the most important titles in the video game industry, was also recently used in the reconstruction of Star Wars characters in both their series, films and other titles in the film industry.
This new technology puts the viewer inside prisons by reconstructing them using CGI, generating photorealistic images and immersive experiences. From this advance, cells, ventilation ducts, tunnels and prison walls can be reconstructed to put the spectator in the prison so that they can see the escape from the point of view of the people who were digging or planning their exit from prisons.
“In Great Escapes you have an idea of how dedicated, brave and resourceful people can be in desperate situations. Once you start watching, you get involved. The mystery is whether they will, whether they can really do this. Because it's almost an impossible attempt,” said Morgan Freeman, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1994 for one of his most memorable roles, that of intern Ellis Redding in the classic Dreams of Freedom. He also added: “I will give you step by step the details of what you did from moment to moment almost, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year. Getting out of a maximum security prison is probably one of the boldest attempts humans can afford. This is probably one of the most fascinating things in human nature that we lock up in prisons.”
The first episode of this series that History will air in Latin America will address the case of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Mexican drug lord who managed to escape from two maximum-security prisons. The first escape from El Chapo was in 2001. The second will take the case of Alcatraz and recalls a 1962 escape attempt from what was considered the most technologically secure prison in the United States. The third follows Dannemora Prison, where two men with life imprisonment used the engineering intelligence and psychological manipulation of several prison employees to escape from prison.
Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman premieres the first episode on Saturday, April 9 in Argentina and Sunday 10 in Colombia, while in Mexico every Monday on Canal History and History Play.
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