Prison Movies
My favorite Prison movies and shows of all time.
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- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim RobbinsMorgan FreemanBob GuntonOver the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
- 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.
- DirectorSteve BuscemiStarsWillem DafoeEdward FurlongDanny TrejoA young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.
- DirectorAndrew DominikStarsEric BanaSimon LyndonVince ColosimoChopper tells the intense story of Mark "Chopper" Read, a legendary criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a jail sentence in prison. His book, "From the Inside", upon which the film is based, was a best-seller.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsSean PennRobert DuvallMaria Conchita AlonsoAn experienced cop and his rookie partner patrol the streets of East Los Angeles while trying to keep the gang violence under control.
- DirectorEdward James OlmosStarsEdward James OlmosWilliam ForsytheSal LopezA Mexican-American Mafia kingpin is released from prison, falls in love for the first time, and grows introspective about his gangster lifestyle.
- DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsDamian ChapaJesse BorregoBenjamin BrattBased on the true life experiences of poet Jimmy Santiago Baca, the film focuses on step-brothers Paco and Cruz, and their bi-racial cousin Miklo.
- DirectorJulius AveryStarsEwan McGregorBrenton ThwaitesAlicia VikanderJR busts out of prison with Brendan Lynch, Australia's most notorious criminal, and joins Lynch's gang for a gold heist that soon pits the two men against one another.
- DirectorJean-Stéphane SauvaireStarsJoe ColeVithaya PansringarmCherry MikoThe true story of an English boxer incarcerated in one of Thailand's most notorious prisons as he fights in Muay Thai tournaments to earn his freedom.
- DirectorDavid MackenzieStarsJack O'ConnellBen MendelsohnRupert FriendEric Love, 19, is locked up in prison. On his first day, he assaults another inmate and several guards. He's offered group therapy and his dad, an inmate as well, tries to talk sense into him. Can he be rehabilitated?
- 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.
- DirectorRick RosenthalStarsSean PennReni SantoniJim MoodyChicago crime kid Mick O'Brien is sent to reform school after accidentally killing a rival's kid brother.
- DirectorAlan ClarkeStarsTim RothTerry RichardsBill StewartAfter being sent to a detention center, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers, who want to conform him to the status quo.
- DirectorKyle Patrick AlvarezStarsEzra MillerTye SheridanBilly CrudupIn 1971, twenty-four male students are selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.
- CreatorPaul T. ScheuringStarsDominic PurcellWentworth MillerAmaury NolascoA structural engineer installs himself in a prison he helped design, in order to save his falsely accused brother from a death sentence by breaking themselves out from the inside.
- DirectorAlberto RodríguezStarsMiguel HerránJavier GutiérrezJesús CarrozaA young accountant, awaiting trial in 1977 for embezzlement with a possible 20 years sentence, joins a group of prisoners demanding amnesty.
- DirectorBob OdenkirkStarsDax ShepardWill ArnettChi McBrideWhen a career criminal's plan for revenge is thwarted by unlikely circumstances, he puts his intended victim's son in his place by putting him in prison...and then joining him.
- DirectorEtan CohenStarsWill FerrellKevin HartAlison BrieWhen millionaire James King is jailed for fraud and bound for San Quentin, he turns to Darnell Lewis to prep him to go behind bars.
- 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.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroNick NolteJessica LangeA convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
- DirectorJ. Lee ThompsonStarsGregory PeckRobert MitchumPolly BergenA lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.
- DirectorMichael NoerStarsCharlie HunnamDamijan OklopdzicChristopher FairbankWrongfully convicted for murder, Henri Charriere forms an unlikely relationship with fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter, Louis Dega, in an attempt to escape from the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island.
- 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.
- DirectorFrancis AnnanStarsDaniel RadcliffeDaniel WebberIan HartBased on the real-life prison break of two political captives, Escape From Pretoria is a race-against-time thriller set in the tumultuous apartheid days of South Africa.
- DirectorBong Joon HoStarsChris EvansJamie BellTilda SwintonIn a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
- DirectorGalder Gaztelu-UrrutiaStarsIvan MassaguéZorion EguileorAntonia San JuanA vertical prison with one cell per level. Two people per cell. Only one food platform and two minutes per day to feed. An endless nightmare trapped in The Hole.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim SturgessEd HarrisColin FarrellSiberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India.
- DirectorJean-Jacques AnnaudStarsBrad PittDavid ThewlisBD WongHeinrich Harrer, an Austrian climber, breaks out of prison and travels to the holy city of Lhasa. He is employed as an instructor to the 14th Dalai Lama and soon becomes his close confidante.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsBrad DavisIrene MiracleBo HopkinsBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
- DirectorJohn Edward LeeStarsDanny TrejoEd O'RossShelby DeekinsThe true story, based on a Deathbed Confession, about what really happened to Frank Morris and the Anglin brothers who escaped from Alcatraz Prison in 1962. They made it- but what happened next is shocking. Investigated by the US Marshals.
- StarsQuinntin Wolfe BernsteinMichael DykeMichael EsslingerMore than 50 years after three men broke out of the world's toughest penitentiary, HISTORY's 'ALCATRAZ: SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH' uncovers new leads and exclusive family secrets that may solve this country's most notorious cold case.
- DirectorPaul KrasnyStarsMichael BeckArt CarneyAlex KarrasFact based story of the lives and attempted 1946 escape of several inmates in the famous correctional facility. Young inmate Clarence Carnes masterminds a grand escape involving several inmates who have nothing to lose, serving life sentences.
- StarsMichael DykeMichael EsslingerArt RoderickThe greatest prison break in history became America's most notorious cold case. The escape from Alcatraz in 1962 forced the government into a merciless manhunt. Still, the three inmates were never found.
- CreatorSteven LilienElizabeth SarnoffBryan WynbrandtStarsSarah JonesJorge GarciaJonny CoyneIn 1963, all the prisoners and guards mysteriously disappear from Alcatraz. In the present day, they resurface and a secret agency are tasked with re-capturing them.
- DirectorAndrew JonesStarsDerek NelsonErick HaydenNicholas AnscombeA group of prisoners, led by an armed robber and a gangster, attempt to escape from the infamous Alcatraz Island.
- DirectorMichael BayStarsSean ConneryNicolas CageEd HarrisA mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
- DirectorSimon WestStarsNicolas CageJohn CusackJohn MalkovichNewly-paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control.
- DirectorTim AllenStarsTim AllenSigourney WeaverJeanne TripplehornA recently paroled ex-con who has trouble adjusting to the wacky normalcy of life outside of prison. He has spent the last three years behind bars after getting caught committing a crime and taking the rap for his much more dangerous pal.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsPaul NewmanGeorge KennedyStrother MartinA laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
- DirectorJohn HerzfeldStarsSylvester StalloneDave Bautista50 CentAfter security expert Ray Breslin is hired to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Hong Kong tech mogul from a formidable Latvian prison, Breslin's girlfriend is also captured.
- DirectorSteven C. MillerStarsSylvester StalloneDave BautistaXiaoming HuangYears after he fought his way out of an inescapable prison, Ray Breslin has organized a new top-notch security force. But when one of his team members goes missing, Breslin must return to the hell he once escaped from.
- DirectorMikael HåfströmStarsSylvester StalloneArnold Schwarzenegger50 CentWhen a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside.