Short-timer Cully Briston (Jim Brown) gets sent to the isolation block by a vindictive prison guard and finds that inmate Red Fraker (Gene Hackman) has taken over the block and imprisoned the guards. Against his will Cully finds himself dragged into Red’s scheme and arranges for a drunken, moonshine-driven riot as cover for a small band of inmates to make their escape through a disused service tunnel. The screenplay by James Poe (from the novel by Frank Elli) is full of implausibility’s such as the collegiate race relations and the tunnel that nobody knows about other than Red. Despite that Poe’s story is still smart and tense and doesn’t flinch away from issues such as punishment beatings and drag queens amongst the inmates after the prisoners take control. Director Buzz Kulik gives the narrative a gritty and realistic edge and keeps the story moving along with a snappy pace. Jim Brown is first class as the reluctant pawn who ends up taking charge of the escape, while Gene Hackman is subtle and nuanced as the intellectual leader who slowly loses control of what he’s started. Polish composer Krzysztof Komeda provides an interesting score as well as the music to the enjoyable Bill Medley ballad “100 Years” which crops up throughout and acts as a theme song for Jim Brown. “Riot” has any number of flaws, but this William Castle produced prison exploiter is still a tough, tense and highly watchable prison break drama. ( )