***SPOILERS*** It what turned out to be a major screw up by the not so bright convict leader Red Fraker, Gene Hackman, his well planned break- out of the Arizona State Prison collapsed almost as soon as it began. Relying on a bunch of incompetents as well as boozed up and sex starved convicts Faker's plan went up in smoke with the prison locked down and hundreds of armed police as well as national guardsmen preventing anyone from moving beyond the lock-up area. It's up to Cully Briston, Big Jim Brown,who had nothing at all to do with this insane plan to get Faker as well as his mindless prison followers chestnuts, and nuts they all are, out of the fire before things get really out of control.

With just six months to go for his parole hearing Briston is anything but happy in getting involved with this failed prison brake but has no choice but to go along with it. With the convicts taking control of the joint they go completely batty drinking smoking pot and parading around as drag queens making any attempt to escape, by those who still have a sense of survival, almost impossible. Seeing that he's now facing life, in being involved in the prison brake that he had no part of, Briston decides to brake out by him and a number of still sane, and not drunk and on drugs, convicts digging a tunnel under the prison walls to make their escape. The only problem in all this is that one of the convicts that's involved in the brake out Surefoot, Ben Carruthers, is a completely psycho individual who in fact doesn't hide his feeling towards Briston, so why did he pick him in the break out plan, and will slid a shiv in his back as soon as he has it turned!

***SPOILERS**** The film is a lot like the Attica State Prison riot as well as massacre, with some 50 prisoners and guards killed,that took place two years-in 1971-after the film "Riot" was released. In the film despite Surefoot's intentions to screw everything up both Briston as well as Fraker stick with him to the point when he messes up their escape by trying to stick it, with a shiv, to Briston when he's on the guard tower and was on the verge of escaping. It in fact was Fraker who prevented Surefoot from knifing Briston who gets the worst of it in getting his throat slit with the deranged Surefoot then getting offed by Briston. In the end with all the planning only Briston escapes but is never seen or heard from again and very probably died from exposure or snake bites in the inhospitable Arizona desert.