The major disappointment is Papillon, which drags on for two-and-a-half hours, as only a $12 million production can, to show us that even the talents of Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen can be buried under endless restatement of the obvious and that the best of adventure stories can be attenuated into boredom. — Judith Crist

You know something has gone wrong when you want the hero to escape simply so that the movie can be over. — Roger Ebert