Time in Prison
Or, "Life in The Big House". The prison film has proved to be a popular subject for cinema and many superb titles are represented in this canon of work. Here the human spirit is often shown to thrive in what are generally hostile and oppressive settings. There are the tales of the 'wrongly accused man' protesting his innocence, the 'race against time' thrillers to save the condemned from execution, and the 'prison as hell' where your worst nightmares have come true. There are also the comedies where the familiar prison 'cliches' are parodied, and the science-fiction variants that show the possible shape of things to come...
Now, go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.
Pictured: Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins in "The Shawshank Redemption".
Down By Law (1986)
7.8/10
Director: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Ellen Barkin, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, John Lurie, Tom Waits
Jim Jarmusch's follow-up to his immensely successful "Stranger Than Paradise" stars Tom Waits, John Lurie - and in a treasure of a performance, Robert... Read more
Escape From Absolom (1994)
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Lance Henriksen, Ray Liotta, Stuart Wilson, Kevin Dillon, Kevin J O'Connor, Mich...
A.k.a. 'No Escape'. Sentenced to life imprisonment in a futuristic high security prison, convict John Robins (Ray Liotta) is left to fend for himself... Read more
Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
7.6/10
Director: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom
Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel re-team for their fifth film in this fascinating account of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous... Read more
Escape from Alcatraz ( Blu-ray ) (1979)
7.6/10
Director: Don Siegel
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Fred Ward, Jack Thibeau, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom
Clint Eastwood and director Don Siegel re-team for their fifth film in this fascinating account of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous... Read more
Escape From New York (1981)
7.2/10
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Kurt Russell, Lee Van Cleef, Ernest Borgnine, Donald Pleasence, Isaac Hayes, Sea...
1997. New York City is a maximum security prison. When the President's plane crash lands within it's walls, he is taken prisoner by criminals demandin... Read more
Escape From New York ( Blu-ray ) (1981)
7.2/10
Director: John Carpenter
Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Donald Pleasence, Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton, Kurt Ru...
1997. New York City is a maximum security prison. When the President's plane crash lands within it's walls, he is taken prisoner by criminals demandin... Read more
Escape Plan (2013)
6.7/10
Director: Mikael Hafstrom
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Sylvester Stallone, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinn...
One of the world's foremost authorities on structural security agrees to take on one last job: breaking out of an ultra-secret, high-tech facility cal... Read more
Fat Belly: Chopper...Unchopped (2009)
Director: Damon Cameron, Steve Lund
Starring: Mark 'Chopper' Read
A frank and gripping biography of Australian career criminal Mark 'Chopper' Read; a man who has spent more than 23 years behind bars, been shot at, st... Read more
Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972)
Director: Shunya Ito
Starring: Meiko Kaji
Experimental and exploitation cinema meet in this subversive feature. The film follows a woman named Matsu (a.k.a. "Scorpion"), wrongly imprisoned aft... Read more
Figures In A Landscape (1970)
6.7/10
Director: Joseph Losey
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Robert Shaw, Henry Woolf, Pamela Brown
In an unnamed totalitarian country, two escaped convicts (Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell) are on the run, hunted by a sinister black helicopter. Th... Read more