Prison Dramas I've Reviewed
I thought this would be an interesting category. Here's a list of prison movies I've watched and reviewed on the IMDb. It's presented in IMDb ranking order.
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- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim RobbinsMorgan FreemanBob GuntonOver the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion."I'm a convicted murderer who provides sound financial planning."
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTom HanksMichael Clarke DuncanDavid MorseA tale set on death row, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the lead guard, Paul Edgecombe, recognizes John's gift, he tries to help stave off the condemned man's execution."I couldn't help it boss, I tried to take it back but it was too late."
- DirectorJohn SturgesStarsSteve McQueenJames GarnerRichard AttenboroughAllied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II."Give up your hopeless attempt to escape."
- DirectorMehmet Ada ÖztekinStarsAras Bulut IynemliNisa Sofiya AksongurDeniz BaysalA story of love between a mentally-ill father who was wrongly accused of murder and his lovely six year old daughter. Prison will be their home. Based on the 2013 Korean movie Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)."My father is the same age as me."
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsPaul MuniGlenda FarrellHelen VinsonWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him."I'll be a model prisoner if it kills me."
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform."Yeah, well, sometimes nothing means a real cool hand."
- 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."Forget France, and put your clothes on."
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsBurt LancasterKarl MaldenThelma RitterA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert."I guess you're a lifer pal, just like me."
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsTom WaitsJohn LurieRoberto BenigniTwo men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state."Yeah, it's a sad and beautiful world, pal."
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsEleanor ParkerAgnes MooreheadEllen CorbyA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly, inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards, and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up?"Pile out you tramps! It's the end of the line!"
- DirectorStanley KramerStarsTony CurtisSidney PoitierCara WilliamsTwo chained-together escaped convicts, White and Black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture."Looks like you two boys are in for trouble."
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBurt LancasterHume CronynCharles BickfordAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard."What's OK? Nothing's OK. It never was and it never will be."
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBrad DavisIrene MiracleBo HopkinsBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison."The bad machine doesn't know he's a bad machine."
- 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."When your life is defined by a single action, you change the concept of time."
- DirectorJohn CarpenterStarsAustin StokerDarwin JostonLaurie ZimmerA Highway Patrol Officer, two criminals and a station secretary defend a defunct Los Angeles precinct office against a siege by a bloodthirsty street gang."Anybody got a smoke?"
- DirectorJack GoldStarsAlan ArkinJoanna PaculaRutger HauerGerman death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943."But what is there to do but survive?"
- 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."I don't need a lawyer. I need a friend."
- DirectorRic Roman WaughStarsNikolaj Coster-WaldauOmari HardwickLake BellA newly released prisoner is forced by the leaders of his gang to orchestrate a major crime with a brutal rival gang on the streets of Southern California."A warrior's deadliest weapon is his mind."
- DirectorWilliam KeighleyStarsJames CagneyGeorge RaftJane BryanA corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him."Learnin' kind of fast, ain't ya mug?"
- DirectorAndrey KonchalovskiyStarsJon VoightEric RobertsRebecca De MornayTwo escaped convicts and a female railway worker find themselves trapped on a speeding train with no brakes and nobody driving."Boy, this is gonna be somethin'...
- DirectorChris CarterStarsDavid DuchovnyGillian AndersonBokeem WoodbineEnemies of a prison inmate who was executed in the electric chair begin dying one by one."How does it feel to be on death row, Warden?"
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsRobert RedfordYaphet KottoMorgan FreemanThe new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate."You want more from me you'll have to earn it."
- DirectorS. Craig ZahlerStarsVince VaughnJennifer CarpenterDon JohnsonA former boxer-turned-drug runner lands in a prison battleground after a deal gets deadly."You just lost your minimum freedom."
- DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBurt ReynoldsEddie AlbertEd LauterA sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards."Young people can learn a great deal from a skillfully played football game."
- DirectorGeorge W. HillWard WingStarsChester MorrisWallace BeeryLewis StoneA convict falls in love with his new cellmate's sister, only to become embroiled in a planned break-out which is certain to have lethal consequences."We're gonna have a lot more trouble with that bird, you'll see."