prison movies list
List activity
484K views
• 381 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
- 146 titles
- DirectorJacques BeckerStarsAndré BervilJean KeraudyMichel ConstantinDistrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme.Director Becker, who died just weeks after shooting on the film had wrapped, used mostly non-actors for the main roles in the film, including one man (Jean Keraudy) who was actually involved in the 1947 escape attempt, and who introduces the film
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsSteve McQueenDustin HoffmanVictor JoryA French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.Awards
In 1974, the film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Dramatic Score (Jerry Goldsmith) and a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor, Drama (Steve McQueen). - DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.Reception
Upon its initial release, Bosley Crowther wrote an NYT Critic's Pick review, saying "what elevates this brutal picture above the ruck of prison films and into the range of intelligent contemplation of the ironies of life is a sharp script by Donn Pearce and Frank R. Pierson, ruthlessly realistic and plausible staging and directing by a new man. Stuart Rosenberg, and splendid acting by Paul Newman and a totally unfaultable cast"; besides Newman, Crowther commended Kennedy's "powerfully obsessive" depiction of the "top-dog who handles things his way as effectively and finally as destructively as does the warden or the guards" and Jo Van Fleet, "who, in one scene, in which she comes to visit him propped up in the back of a truck, does as much to make us comprehend the background and the emotional hang-up of the loner as might have been done in the entire length of a good film." Variety magazine said the "versatile and competent cast maintains interest throughout rambling exposition to a downbeat climax."
The Toronto Star, in a 2007 home video review, said the film's anti-establishment message fit well with the mood of the 1960s.
All of the forty-four reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, including six top critics, gave the film a positive review, citing a 100% 'Fresh' rating.
[edit] Awards and honors
Cool Hand Luke won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George Kennedy), and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Newman), Best Music, Original Music Score and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
In 2003, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains rated Luke Jackson as the number 30 greatest hero in American Cinema, and four years later, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies rated Cool Hand Luke number 71. Cool Hand Luke was included in the United States National Film Registry in 2005. Luke has also been ranked number 53 in Empire magazine's "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters". - DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSteve McQueenJames GarnerRichard AttenboroughAllied officers in a German prisoner of war camp during World War II making a daring plan for a mass escape by hundreds of their men, hoping to draw German personnel and resources away from combat operations.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim RobbinsMorgan FreemanBob GuntonA banker convicted of uxoricide forms a friendship over a quarter century with a hardened convict, while maintaining his innocence and trying to remain hopeful through simple compassion.
- DirectorTerence YoungStarsCharles BronsonLino VenturaJill IrelandGangster Joe Valachi is a marked man in the same joint where mob boss Don Vito Genovese is imprisoned and he's forced to co-operate with the DA in exchange for protection.The film departed from the true story of Joseph Valachi, as recounted in the Peter Maas book, in a number of ways. Though using real names and depicting real events, the movie also contained numerous events that were fictionalized. Among them was the castration scene and the "I can only kill the living" Maranzano comment, which was widely ridiculed by critics.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBrad DavisIrene MiracleBo HopkinsBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
- DirectorMarc RoccoStarsChristian SlaterKevin BaconGary OldmanAn eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement.Historical reality
The film makes numerous changes to the actual story. The real Henri Young was not convicted of stealing $5 to save his sister from destitution. He had been a hardened bank robber who had taken a hostage on at least one occasion and had committed a murder in 1933. Young was also no stranger to the penal system. Before being incarcerated at Alcatraz in 1936, he had already served time in two State prisons in Montana and Washington. In 1935, he spent his first year in federal correctional facilities at McNeil Island, Washington, before being transferred to Alcatraz. - DirectorDon SiegelStarsClint EastwoodPatrick McGoohanRoberts BlossomAlcatraz is the most secure prison of its time. It is believed that no one can ever escape from it, until three daring men make a possibly successful attempt at escaping from one of the most infamous prisons in the world.one of the best movies about escape from prison
my rate 9/10 - DirectorJohn FlynnStarsSylvester StalloneDonald SutherlandJohn AmosWith only six months left of his sentence, inmate Frank Leone is transferred from a minimum security prison to a maximum security prison by a vindictive warden.
- DirectorRic Roman WaughStarsStephen DorffMarisol NicholsVincent MillerLocked up for killing an intruder in self-defense, a family man must cope with life in the violent penal system.
- DirectorWalter HillStarsWesley SnipesVing RhamesPeter FalkWhen heavyweight champion George "Iceman" Chambers lands in prison, the resident gangster arranges a boxing match with the reigning prison champ.
- DirectorIsaac FlorentineStarsMichael Jai WhiteScott AdkinsBen CrossSequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.
- DirectorIsaac FlorentineStarsScott AdkinsMykel Shannon JenkinsMark IvanirBoyka is back. This time he is fighting in the first ever inter-prison tournament with one knee.
- DirectorF. Gary GrayStarsGerard ButlerJamie FoxxLeslie BibbA frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterKarl MaldenThelma RitterA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.
- DirectorTim RobbinsStarsSusan SarandonSean PennRobert ProskyA nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTom HanksMichael Clarke DuncanDavid MorseA death row guard learns that a gentle giant in his charge possesses a mysterious gift.
- DirectorRingo LamStarsJean-Claude Van DammeLawrence TaylorLloyd BattistaA man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the wardens' entertainment.i like jcvd so i like this
my rate 6/10 - DirectorDeran SarafianStarsJean-Claude Van DammeRobert GuillaumeCynthia GibbIn a violent and corrupt prison, decorated cop Louis Burke must infiltrate the jail to find answers to a number of inside murders. What he finds is a struggle of life and death tied in to his own past.one of the best jcvd movies my rate 6/10
- DirectorDaniel MonzónStarsLuis TosarAlberto AmmannAntonio ResinesThe story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
- DirectorsAlan MehrezPhilip TanStarsDaniel BernhardtJames HongPat MoritaAlex Cardo is imprisoned and disciplined by one of the inmates. His new master also tells him about the brutal yet illegal Kumite tournament - but how will they get there?
- DirectorTony KayeStarsEdward NortonEdward FurlongBeverly D'AngeloLiving a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.
- DirectorJack HillStarsPam GrierAnitra FordCandice RomanBlossom (Pam Grier) and Django (Sid Haig) are thieving mercenaries who engineer a prison break from the outside.
- DirectorNicolas Winding RefnStarsTom HardyKelly AdamsLuing AndrewsA young man who was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing a post office ends up spending three decades in solitary confinement. During this time, his own personality is supplanted by his alter-ego, Charles Bronson.
