"The first time I saw you, I hated your guts. I think I even hated you before I met you. I hated you on TV. I hated you in Vietnam. You want to know what's destroying this country? It's not booze. It's not drugs. It's TV. It's media. It's people like you. It's vampires. I hate the way you make your living sticking microphones in people's faces. You lie every night at 6:00. I hate the way you kill real feelings. I hate everything that you stand for. Most of all, I hate rich kids and I hate this place. So why do I want to fuck you so bad?"

"John Lone as Joey Tai"

"Eddie Jones as William McKenna"

"Pao Han Lin as Fred Hung"

"Raymond J. Barry as Louis Bukowski"

"Daniel Davin as Francis Kearney"

"Victor Wong as Harry Yung"

"Ariane Koizumi as Tracy Tzu"

"Dollars are like small fish, difficult to catch, but not to be thrown back except as bait for something bigger."

"Caroline Kava as Connie White"

"K. Dock Yip as Milton Bin"

"I'm no Italian. I'm a Polack. And I can't be bought."

"Mickey Rourke as Stanley White"

"Leonard Termo as Angelo Rizzo"

"Peter Jeffrey - Ahmet"

"Franco Diogene - Yesil"

"Michael Yannatos - Court translator"

"John Hurt - Max"

"Walk into the incredible true experience of Billy Hayes, and bring all the courage you can!"

"Irene Miracle - Susan"

"Paul L. Smith - Hamidou"

"Paolo Bonacelli - Rifki"

"Randy Quaid - Jimmy Booth"

"Norbert Weisser - Erich"

"Yashaw Adem - the Airport police chief"

"Mike Kellin - Mr. Hayes"

"Michael Ensign - Stanley Daniels"

"Gigi Ballista - the Judge"

"Kevork Malikyan - the Prosecutor"

"[Tex has a large revolver pointed at Billy whom he just recaptured trying to escape] You seem like a nice enough kid to me, Billy, but you try it and I'll blow your fuckin' brains out."

"Ahmet: Where are you going? Why don't you walk the wheel with us? What is the matter my American friend? What has upset you? Oh! I know. The bad machine doesn't know that he's a bad machine. You still don't believe it. You still don't believe you're a bad machine? To know yourself is to know God, my friend. The factory knows, that's why they put you here. You'll see... You'll find out... In time, you'll know."

"What is a crime? What is punishment? It seems to vary from time to time and place to place. What's legal today is suddenly illegal tomorrow because society says it's so, and what's illegal yesterday is suddenly legal because everybody's doin' it, and you can't put everybody in jail. I'm not saying this is right or wrong. I'm just saying that's the way it is. But I've spent 3 1/2 years of my life in your prison, and I think I've paid for my error, and if it's your decision today to sentence me to more years, then I... [he becomes overcome with anger]"

"Brad Davis - Billy Hayes"

"[voiceover] To the Turks, everything is "shurla burla", which means "like this, like that". You never know what will happen. All foreigners are "ayip", they're considered dirty. So is homosexuality, it's a big crime here, but most of them do it every chance they get. There are about thousand things that are "ayip", for instance, you can stab or shoot somebody below the waist but not above because that's intent to kill. So everyone runs around stabbing everyone else in the ass. That's what they call Turkish revenge. I know it must all sound crazy to you, but this place is crazy."

"Dear Susan: Poor Jimmy was caught and beaten so badly he got a severe hernia, and lost a testicle. He's been in the sanitarium for months. In comparison, my problems seem very small."

"[to the Turkish court] I just wish for once that you could be in my shoes, Mr. Prosecutor, and then you would know something that you don't know: mercy! That the concept of a society is based on the quality of that mercy; its sense of fair play; its sense of justice! But I guess that's like asking a bear to shit in the toilet. [In the red border clamshell VHS, He says: But I guess that's like asking a bear to use a potty trainer.]"

"Bo Hopkins - "Tex""

"A story of triumph."

"[to the Turkish court] For a nation of pigs, it sure is funny you don't eat'em! Jesus Christ forgave the bastards, but I can't! I hate! I hate you! I hate your nation! And I hate your people! And I fuck your sons and daughters because they're pigs! [Red border clamshell VHS: And I hate your sons and daughters because they're pigs!] You're a pig! You're all pigs."

"Everybody gave up on Billy Hayes—except Billy."

"[after putting a teddy bear inside his dress to look like a pregnant woman] This is going to be one really surprised obstetrician..."

"[when Dan asks if she had sex with another man] Firstly, you don't know what you're talking about. Secondly, I hate the sound of your voice. Thirdly, why don't you just fuck off?"

"Noni Hazlehurst - Elaine Wyatt"

"He was handsome, and a very good criminal."

"Tony Martin (comedian) - Jim Wyatt"

"Heath Ledger - Dan"

"Abbie Cornish - Candy Wyatt"

"Geoffrey Rush - Casper"