Prison Movies, a list by VODKING

8.7

/1371221/

85

/25752/

84

/13899/

4.5

/1908257/

93

/167/

97

/29224/

92

/21/

4.0

age 18+

The true story of Henry Hill, a half-Irish, half-Sicilian Brooklyn kid who is adopted by neighbourhood gangsters at an early age and climbs the ranks of a Mafia family under the guidance of Jimmy Conway.

89

IMDb 47

9.3

/3143286/

91

/51922/

87

/29483/

4.6

/2415769/

89

/146/

98

/53482/

82

/22/

3.5

age 15+

Imprisoned in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, Dufresne comes to be admired by the other inmates -- including an older prisoner named Red -- for his integrity and unquenchable sense of hope.

88

8.0

/196445/

79

/3199/

77

/1549/

4.2

/113912/

100

/56/

95

/4203/

92

/16/

4.0

age 14+

When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.

87

8.0

/106428/

77

/2189/

78

/1756/

4.3

/221585/

93

/87/

90

/1894/

97

/21/

4.0

In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

86

7.6

/27838/

76

/1302/

74

/310/

4.3

/292958/

97

/215/

98

/77/

83

/43/

4.0

age 15+

Divine G, imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn't commit, finds purpose by acting in a theatre group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience, humanity, and the transformative power of art.

86

8.0

/41583/

77

/663/

76

/583/

4.1

/23702/

100

/51/

93

/729/

4.0

age 13+

When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.

85

8.2

/275018/

80

/4865/

79

/2737/

4.2

/138684/

94

/53/

95

/4759/

86

/16/

age 8+

The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security 'escape-proof' camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Based on a true story.

85

8.1

/47546/

78

/1663/

75

/896/

4.2

/79673/

100

/21/

92

/481/

age 7+

Wallace's whirlwind romance with the proprietor of the local wool shop puts his head in a spin, and Gromit is framed for sheep-rustling in a fiendish criminal plot.

84

8.1

/38023/

78

/619/

76

/517/

4.1

/24696/

94

/83/

93

/624/

89

/21/

A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and then leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist. After the heist, events take a crazy turn.

84

8.1

/200926/

80

/3074/

79

/1881/

4.2

/99643/

94

/50/

95

/1869/

84

/16/

3.0

age 16+

A small-time Belfast thief, Gerry Conlon, is wrongly convicted of an IRA bombing in London, along with his father and friends, and spends 15 years in prison fighting to prove his innocence.

83

7.8

/69872/

75

/1282/

75

/1041/

4.0

/97989/

97

/72/

89

/2286/

91

/17/

age 8+

David Huxley is waiting to get a bone he needs for his museum collection. Through a series of strange circumstances, he meets Susan Vance, and the duo have a series of misadventures which include a leopard called Baby.

83

7.7

/109591/

77

/3055/

75

/1815/

4.3

/176399/

89

/83/

91

/2301/

73

/15/

4.0

age 13+

A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.

82

7.8

/67254/

76

/1363/

74

/897/

4.0

/104285/

99

/104/

90

/1515/

age 12+

Walter Burns is an irresistibly conniving newspaper publisher desperate to woo back his paper’s star reporter, who also happens to be his estranged wife. She’s threatening to quit and settle down with a new beau, but, as Walter knows, she has a weakness: she can’t resist a juicy scoop.

82

7.5

/107495/

74

/1849/

73

/1447/

3.8

/45304/

97

/60/

86

/1955/

80

/26/

4.0

age 17+

A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.

81

7.7

/103090/

78

/2898/

77

/1909/

3.9

/130816/

73

/126/

94

/7799/

78

/7/

4.0

age 14+

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

81

8.5

/1260542/

84

/23558/

83

/12240/

4.2

/782053/

84

/88/

96

/34092/

62

/32/

3.0

age 17+

Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two African-American men. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader of a violent white supremacist gang that committed acts of racial crime throughout L.A. and his actions greatly influenced Danny. Reformed and fresh out of prison, Derek severs contact with the gang and becomes determined to keep Danny from going down the same violent path as he did.

80

7.5

/76148/

73

/1693/

72

/1173/

4.0

/80421/

90

/133/

83

/1705/

82

/25/

3.5

age 16+

The story of Bobby Sands, the IRA member who led the 1981 hunger strike during The Troubles in which Irish Republican prisoners tried to win political status.

80

7.4

/43356/

72

/998/

70

/658/

3.8

/47680/

96

/49/

81

/582/

77

/11/

4.0

During an extreme heatwave, a beautiful Florida woman and a seedy lawyer engage in an affair while plotting the murder of her rich husband.

80

7.5

/161678/

76

/4690/

75

/3038/

3.8

/158943/

97

/31/

85

/1593/

76

/9/

3.5

age 13+

San Francisco Bay, January 18, 1960. Frank Lee Morris is transferred to Alcatraz, a maximum security prison located on a rocky island. Although no one has ever managed to escape from there, Frank and other inmates begin to carefully prepare an escape plan.

84

80

8.2

/15443/

78

/243/

78

/222/

4.1

/12327/

96

/28/

91

/194/

A World War I veteran’s dreams of becoming a master architect evaporate in the cold light of economic realities. Things get even worse when he’s falsely convicted of a crime and sent to work on a chain gang.

80

7.8

/130265/

77

/3241/

77

/2497/

4.2

/378355/

89

/73/

90

/1496/

73

/13/

3.0

age 13+

Aspiring comic Rupert Pupkin attempts to achieve success in show business by stalking his idol, a late night talk-show host who craves his own privacy.

80

7.3

/51022/

72

/1792/

71

/988/

3.9

/35021/

99

/116/

84

/432/

81

/26/

3.5

age 17+

19-year-old Eric, arrogant and ultra-violent, is prematurely transferred to the same adult prison facility as his estranged father. As his explosive temper quickly finds him enemies in both prison authorities and fellow inmates — and his already volatile relationship with his father is pushed past breaking point — Eric is approached by a volunteer psychotherapist, who runs an anger management group for prisoners. Torn between gang politics, prison corruption, and a glimmer of something better, Eric finds himself in a fight for his own life, unsure if his own father is there to protect him or join in punishing him.

79

7.8

/24491/

77

/485/

74

/407/

4.0

/21465/

88

/25/

87

/306/

73

/8/

C.R. MacNamara is a managing director for Coca-Cola in West Berlin during the Cold War, just before the Wall is put up. When Scarlett, the rebellious daughter of his boss, comes to West Berlin, MacNamara has to look after her, but this turns out to be a difficult task when she reveals to be married to a communist.

79

7.6

/58181/

75

/967/

73

/812/

4.1

/75186/

88

/32/

93

/1294/

75

/20/

3.0

A disc jockey, a pimp and an Italian tourist escape from jail in New Orleans.

79

7.1

/95004/

68

/1493/

66

/921/

3.6

/77803/

91

/156/

82

/5415/

85

/31/

4.0

age 16+

Despite his dedication to the junior-high students who fill his classroom, idealistic teacher Dan Dunne leads a secret life of addiction that the majority of his students will never know. But things change when a troubled student Drey makes a startling discovery of his secret life, causing a tenuous bond between the two that could either end disastrously or provide a catalyst of hope.

79

7.3

/152319/

73

/6093/

72

/3010/

4.0

/692780/

91

/238/

82

/533/

80

/41/

3.5

age 16+

After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.

79

7.8

/278664/

77

/5985/

75

/3038/

3.8

/218403/

83

/208/

90

/27741/

72

/39/

3.5

age 15+

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins.

78

7.2

/4787/

70

/102/

69

/88/

4.0

/21618/

95

/39/

79

/59/

78

/8/

3.5

A young girl whose father is an ex-convict and whose mother is a junkie finds it difficult to conform and tries to find comfort in a quirky combination of Elvis and the punk scene.

78

7.6

/106867/

76

/2105/

74

/1482/

3.7

/32681/

82

/113/

87

/1687/

74

/30/

3.5

age 16+

The story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.

80

78

7.5

/14278/

76

/318/

71

/206/

4.0

/16175/

89

/9/

91

/580/

78

/11/

Powerful, uncompromising drama about two boys' struggle for survival in the nightmare world of Britain's notorious Borstal Reformatory.

77

6.6

/76544/

69

/3827/

66

/1160/

3.5

/137868/

88

/198/

93

/39/

68

/41/

4.0

age 16+

Gunning for revenge, outlaw Nat Love saddles up with his gang to take down enemy Rufus Buck, a ruthless crime boss who just got sprung from prison.

78

77

7.8

/21020/

73

/362/

75

/330/

3.9

/9811/

88

/24/

85

/240/

76

/7/

After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.

77

7.3

/19025/

71

/398/

70

/325/

3.7

/22096/

87

/38/

81

/297/

80

/10/

3.5

The story of two radically different men thrown together in a Latin American prison cell. One is Valentin, a journalist being tortured for his political beliefs. The other is Molina, a gay window-dresser who fills their lonely nights by spinning romantic fantasies drawn from memories of old movies.

77

7.3

/423107/

73

/11460/

70

/5710/

3.6

/291658/

93

/97/

82

/15957/

82

/26/

3.0

age 17+

In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity of a criminal mastermind. The plan turns sour when the criminal wakes up prematurely and seeks revenge.

76

7.8

/28525/

72

/532/

75

/704/

3.7

/17595/

82

/383/

Michael and Sara wed, but the happiness is short-lived when the Feds apprehend her for the murder of Michael's mother, Christina. Once a hit is ordered on Sara, the team reunite to break out the increasingly vulnerable target.

76

7.9

/227246/

79

/8322/

77

/4454/

4.0

/270326/

71

/91/

92

/10454/

60

/12/

3.0

age 16+

Jake Blues, just released from prison, puts his old band back together to save the Catholic home where he and his brother Elwood were raised.

76

7.4

/547468/

75

/25199/

73

/13120/

4.1

/1771865/

89

/238/

69

/1892530/

75

/40/

3.0

age 6+

Shrek, Fiona, and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's mother and father, the Queen and King. But not everyone is happily ever after, as Shrek and the King find it difficult to get along. But when the Fairy Godmother discovers that Fiona has married Shrek instead of her son Prince Charming as King Harold had promised, she plots to destroy their marriage and replace the ogre with her son Charming.

76

7.1

/82231/

72

/5328/

69

/1516/

3.7

/85171/

90

/99/

73

/587/

79

/21/

3.5

age 18+

After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police, a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.

76

6.8

/15208/

72

/984/

68

/407/

3.5

/12423/

95

/135/

76

/156/

77

/36/

3.5

age 15+

While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent past as he soothes an especially feisty horse.

79

76

7.8

/16309/

75

/252/

75

/239/

4.1

/9444/

75

/8/

92

/202/

81

/7/

North Africa, World War II. British soldiers on the brink of collapse push beyond endurance to struggle up a brutal incline. It's not a military objective. It's The Hill, a manmade instrument of torture, a tower of sand seared by a white-hot sun. And the troops' tormentors are not the enemy, but their own comrades-at-arms.

76

7.5

/93320/

74

/1935/

74

/1828/

3.7

/67499/

90

/31/

88

/1399/

59

/11/

3.0

age 16+

Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle drugs out of Turkey. The Turkish courts decide to make an example of him, sentencing him to more than 30 years in prison. Hayes has two opportunities for release: the appeals made by his lawyer, his family, and the American government, or the "Midnight Express".

76

7.6

/155584/

78

/5425/

75

/1758/

3.9

/284690/

85

/61/

87

/3579/

68

/23/

2.5

age 15+

Two carefree pals from Brooklyn traveling through rural Alabama on their way back to college are mistakenly arrested, and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a cousin who's a lawyer - Vincent Gambini, a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. When he arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend, to try his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!

76

7.7

/297397/

77

/10814/

74

/6684/

3.8

/290739/

86

/49/

86

/5569/

61

/15/

3.0

age 16+

When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.

75

7.4

/66479/

73

/1413/

71

/1009/

3.8

/327078/

76

/59/

88

/1731/

69

/19/

3.0

Billy is released after five years in prison. In the next moment, he kidnaps teenage student Layla and visits his parents with her, pretending she is his girlfriend and they will soon marry.

77

75

7.5

/20789/

72

/364/

70

/341/

3.7

/18543/

92

/26/

78

/247/

Given a pardon from jail, Roy Earle gets back into the swing of things as he robs a swanky resort.

75

7.1

/11355/

76

/530/

74

/384/

3.5

/7453/

73

/11/

90

/450/

66

/11/

3.5

age 17+

During his 18 years in Folsom Prison, street-gang leader Santana rules over all the drug-and-murder activities behind bars. Upon his release, Santana goes back to his old neighborhood, intending to lead a peaceful, crime-free life. But his old gang buddies force him back into his old habits.

74

7.3

/10504/

71

/212/

68

/131/

3.5

/3054/

82

/130/

77

/2113/

69

/33/

3.5

age 16+

The story of Washington D.C. radio personality Ralph "Petey" Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist in the 1960s.

74

7.2

/53694/

73

/1784/

70

/820/

3.5

/47958/

82

/33/

85

/2628/