Selleck (playing a doctor before his stint on "Friends") and Mosley appear in this one seven years before the Magnum, P.I. TV series. (It is amazing how a person can play one character and be so right for so many different roles).
California has abolished the death penalty (before it was reinstated) and the golden state empties death row onto "Terminal Island". Here, the inmates run the show and the only "guard" is a Navy frigate that prevents escape. Basically, this is a standard prison movie without the bars, but since there are no rules, the inmates can do whatever they want from what they can improvise on the Island.
A social order has arisen where a dorky murderer along with his black enforcer(Mosley) force everyone to work while he has his way with the women (other males get their turn, as well).
A "revolutionary" band of renegades (lead by Don Marshall(II) from "Star Trek" and "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century") roam the island and basically steal what they can from the "establishment". They treat their people only slightly better.
A war erupts when some guards delivering a new prisoner are overwhelmed and their machine guns are stolen. All manner of improvised weapons are also used as well.
This movie is a very good allegory for the VietNam war and how determined ingenious under dogs can defeat a militarily superior power.
Also, as expected in seventies exploitation flicks, a lot of chicks go topless and nude--unfortunately not Selleck or Mosley.
