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".
Fled (1996)
5.3/10
Director: Kevin Hooks
Starring: Laurence Fishburne, Stephen Baldwin, Will Patton
Stephen Baldwin's a movie-obsessed computer expert. Laurence Fishburne is a no-nonsense criminal. Together they're linked on a chain gang, and togethe... Read more
Get the Gringo (2012)
7/10
Director: Adrian Grunberg
Starring: Mel Gibson, Kevin Hernandez
A.k.a. "How I Spent My Summer Vacation". Crashing across the Mexican border in a getaway car containing millions, career criminal, "Driver" (Mel Gibso... Read more
Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
7.1/10
Director: John Hillcoat
Starring: Dave Field, Mike Bishop, Chris De Rose, Nick Cave
An explosive prison film set in an awful warning near-future. Stoked by the authorities who want to trigger police-state powers, unrest grows in a hig... Read more
Girls In Prison (1956)
5.6/10
Director: Edward L Cahn
Starring: Richard Denning, Joan Taylor, Adele Jergens
A 'babes behind bars' film that has it all: a beautiful woman sent to jail on a trumped-up robbery charge, tough inmates looking for a hidden fortune,... Read more
Hunger (2008)
7.6/10
Director: Steve McQueen
Starring: Liam Cunningham, Stuart Graham, Michael Fassbender
Follows life in the Maze Prison of Northern Ireland, with an interpretation of the highly emotive events surrounding the 1981 IRA Hunger Strike led by... Read more
I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)
8.1/10
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Starring: Glenda Farrell, Preston Foster, Paul Muni, Helen Vinson
Mervyn LeRoy's searing adaptation of Robert E. Burns' autobiography stars Paul Muni as a drifter unfairly sentenced to 10 years' hard labour on a Geor... Read more
I Want To Live! (1958)
7.5/10
Director: Robert Wise
Starring: Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland, Virginia Vincent
Susan Hayward won an Oscar for her commanding performance in this true story of prostitute Barbara Graham, who, framed and convicted of murder, was to... Read more
I've Loved You So Long (2008)
7.6/10
Director: Philippe Claudel
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein, Serge Hazanavicius, Laurent Grevill, Fre...
An intricate and intriguing French film that stars Kristin Scott Thomas as Juliette, a woman who has just been released from prison. Lea, her much you... Read more
In the Name of the Father (1993)
8.1/10
Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postlethwaite
"In the Name of the Father" tells the true saga of Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis), a petty thief in strife-torn '70s Belfast. After angering the IRA... Read more
In the Name of the Father ( Blu-ray ) (1993)
8.1/10
Director: Jim Sheridan
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Pete Postlethwaite
"In the Name of the Father" tells the true saga of Gerry Conlon (Daniel Day-Lewis), a petty thief in strife-torn '70s Belfast. After angering the IRA... Read more