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Movies: Best "prison escape" Movies

A prison film is a film genre concerned with prison life and often prison escape. These films range from acclaimed dramas examining the nature of prisons, such as A Man Escaped, Cool Hand Luke, Midnight Express, Brubaker, Escape from Alcatraz, The Shawshank Redemption, and Kiss of the Spider Woman to actioners like Lock Up and Undisputed, and even comedies satirizing the genre like Stir Crazy, Life, and Let's Go to Prison. Prison films have been asserted to be "guilty of oversimplifying complex issues, the end result of which is the proliferation of stereotypes". For example, they are said to perpetuate "a common misperception that most correctional officers are abusive", and that prisoners are "violent and beyond redemption". ()

Related keywords: "imprisonment" | "prison" | "prisoner" | "prisoners of war" | "release from prison"

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165 movies found (page 1/6):

The Shawshank Redemption(1994)

R
| 2h 22min | Drama, Crime
4.4/5 (with 12,480 votes)

Framed 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.

Directed by Frank Darabont - With Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, James Whitmore, Clancy Brown, ...
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Bad Boys for Life(2020)

R
| 2h 4min | Thriller, Action, Crime
3.6/5 (with 3,806 votes)

Marcus and Mike are forced to confront new threats, career changes, and midlife crises as they join the newly created elite team AMMO of the Miami police department to take down the ruthless Armando Armas, the vicious leader of a Miami drug cartel.

Directed by Adil El Arbi, Bilall Fallah - With Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Joe Pantoliano, Charles Melton, ...
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District 13: Ultimatum(2009)

R
| 1h 41min | Action, Thriller, Crime
3.2/5 (with 498 votes)

Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that is controlled by five different gang bosses, before the city’s secret services take drastic measures to solve the problem.

Directed by Patrick Alessandrin - With David Belle, Cyril Raffaelli, La Fouine, Daniel Duval, Élodie Yung, Francis Coffinet, ...
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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald(2018)

PG-13
| 2h 14min | Fantasy, Adventure, Kids & Family
3.4/5 (with 5,138 votes)

Gellert Grindelwald has escaped imprisonment and has begun gathering followers to his cause—elevating wizards above all non-magical beings. The only one capable of putting a stop to him is the wizard he once called his closest friend, Albus Dumbledore. However, Dumbledore will need to seek help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander, who agrees to help, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.

Directed by David Yates - With Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Johnny Depp, Zoë Kravitz, Ezra Miller, Katherine Waterston, ...
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The Rock(1996)

R
| 2h 17min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
3.5/5 (with 2,022 votes)

When vengeful General Francis X. Hummel seizes control of Alcatraz Island and threatens to launch missiles loaded with deadly chemical weapons into San Francisco, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert and notorious Federal prisoner have the stills to penetrate the impregnable island fortress and take him down.

Directed by Michael Bay - With Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, Michael Biehn, William Forsythe, John Spencer, ...
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Escape Plan(2013)

R
| 1h 55min | Action, Thriller
3.4/5 (with 2,327 votes)

Ray Breslin is the world's foremost authority on structural security. After analyzing every high security prison and learning a vast array of survival skills so he can design escape-proof prisons, his skills are put to the test. He's framed and incarcerated in a master prison he designed himself. He needs to escape and find the person who put him behind bars.

Directed by Mikael Håfström - With Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Caviezel, Vincent D'Onofrio, Vinnie Jones, 50 Cent, ...
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Public Enemies(2009)

R
| 2h 20min | Action, Crime
3.3/5 (with 1,993 votes)

Depression-era bank robber John Dillinger's charm and audacity endear him to much of America's downtrodden public, but he's also a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover and the fledgling FBI. Desperate to capture the elusive outlaw, Hoover makes Dillinger his first Public Enemy Number One and assigns his top agent, Melvin Purvis, the task of bringing him in dead or alive.

Directed by Michael Mann - With Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke, Channing Tatum, Billy Crudup, ...
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Prison Break: The Final Break(2009)

1h 29min | Action, Drama, Thriller
3.8/5 (with 281 votes)

The movie covers the events which occurred in between the downfall of The Company and the finale of the TV series (SEASON 4). It details the arrest and incarceration of Sara Tancredi, the final escape plan which Michael devises for Sara, and reveals the ultimate fate of Gretchen Morgan.

Directed by Kevin Hooks, Brad Turner - With Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, William Fichtner, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Sarah Wayne Callies, Amaury Nolasco, ...

Death Race(2008)

R
| 1h 45min | Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
3.1/5 (with 1,668 votes)

Terminal Island, New York: 2020. Overcrowding in the US penal system has reached a breaking point. Prisons have been turned over to a monolithic Weyland Corporation, which sees jails full of thugs as an opportunity for televised sport. Adrenalized inmates, a global audience hungry for violence and a spectacular, enclosed arena come together to form the 'Death Race', the biggest, most brutal event.

Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson - With Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, Natalie Martinez, Jacob Vargas, ...
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The Count of Monte Cristo(2002)

PG-13
| 2h 11min | Adventure, Drama, History
3.8/5 (with 764 votes)

Edmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a fellow inmate and plots his revenge, cleverly insinuating himself into the French nobility.

Directed by Kevin Reynolds - With Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris, James Frain, Luis Guzmán, Michael Wincott, ...
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Next Friday(2000)

R
| 1h 38min | Comedy
3.2/5 (with 236 votes)

A streetwise man flees South Central Los Angeles, heading to the suburbs and his lottery-winner uncle and cousin, to avoid a neighborhood thug with a grudge who has just escaped from prison.

Directed by Steve Carr - With Mike Epps, Justin Pierce, Tamala Jones, Don Curry, John Witherspoon, Tommy Lister Jr., ...
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Spiderhead(2022)

1h 46min | Science Fiction, Thriller
2.9/5 (with 614 votes)

A prisoner in a state-of-the-art penitentiary begins to question the purpose of the emotion-controlling drugs he's testing for a pharmaceutical genius.

Directed by Joseph Kosinski - With Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller, Jurnee Smollett
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Get the Gringo(2012)

R
| 1h 36min | Action, Thriller, Crime, Drama
3.3/5 (with 713 votes)

A career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.

Directed by Adrian Grünberg - With Mel Gibson, Dolores Heredia, Peter Stormare, Dean Norris, Bob Gunton, Scott Cohen, ...
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Silverado(1985)

PG-13
| 2h 13min | Western
3.5/5 (with 292 votes)

Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.

Directed by Lawrence Kasdan - With Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, ...
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T2 Trainspotting(2017)

R
| 1h 57min | Drama, Comedy
3.5/5 (with 1,469 votes)

After 20 years abroad, Mark Renton returns to Scotland and reunites with his old friends Sick Boy, Spud and Begbie.

Directed by Danny Boyle - With Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Robert Carlyle, Irvine Welsh, Kelly Macdonald, ...
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Out of Sight(1998)

R
| 2h 3min | Romance / Love, Comedy, Crime
3.3/5 (with 529 votes)

Meet Jack Foley, a smooth criminal who bends the law and is determined to make one last heist. Karen Sisco is a federal marshal who chooses all the right moves … and all the wrong guys. Now they're willing to risk it all to find out if there's more between them than just the law.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh - With George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, ...
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Police Story 3: Super Cop(1992)

R
| 1h 35min | Action, Crime, Thriller
3.4/5 (with 196 votes)

A Hong Kong detective teams up with his female Red Chinese counterpart to stop a Chinese drug czar.

Directed by Stanley Tong - With Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, Yuen Wah, Bill Tung
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A Perfect World(1993)

PG-13
| 2h 18min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
3.7/5 (with 697 votes)

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.

Directed by Clint Eastwood - With Kevin Costner, Laura Dern, T.J. Lowther, Clint Eastwood, Keith Szarabajka, Leo Burmester, ...
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Escape from Alcatraz(1979)

PG
| 1h 53min | Drama, Thriller
3.8/5 (with 1,203 votes)

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.

Directed by Don Siegel - With Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Fred Ward, Larry Hankin, Jack Thibeau, Roberts Blossom, ...
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The Mill(2023)

1h 46min | Science Fiction, Horror
3.1/5 (with 11 votes)

A businessman wakes up beside an ancient grist mill situated in the center of an open-air prison cell with no idea how he got there. Forced to work as a beast of burden to stay alive, he must find a way to escape before the birth of his child.

Directed by Sean King O'Grady

Papillon(1973)

PG
| 2h 31min | Crime, Drama
3.9/5 (with 807 votes)

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner - With Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Bill Mumy, George Coulouris, ...
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Fabricated City(2017)

2h 6min | Action, Thriller, Crime
3.9/5 (with 135 votes)

In real life, Kwon Yoo is unemployed, but in the virtual game world he is the best leader. Kwon Yoo is then framed for a murder. With the help of hacker Yeo-Wool, he tries to uncover the truth behind the murder case.

Directed by Park Kwang-hyun - With Ji Chang-wook, Shim Eun-kyung, Ahn Jae-hong
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Desperate Measures(1998)

R
| 1h 40min | Action, Drama, Thriller
3.0/5 (with 121 votes)

San Francisco police officer Frank Connor is in a frantic search for a compatible bone marrow donor for his gravely ill son. There's only one catch the potential donor is convicted multiple murderer Peter McCabe who sees a trip to the hospital as the perfect opportunity to get what he wants most: freedom. With McCabe's escape, the entire hospital becomes a battleground and Connor must pursue and, ironically, protect the deadly fugitive who is his son's only hope for survival.

Directed by Barbet Schroeder - With Michael Keaton, Andy Garcia, Joseph Cross, Brian Cox, Marcia Gay Harden, Erik King, ...
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Stakeout(1987)

R
| 1h 56min | Action, Comedy, Romance / Love
3.2/5 (with 164 votes)

Two cops are given the 'dirty' job of staking out the home of an escaped convict's ex-girlfriend. Chris and the beautiful girlfriend accidentally meet and fall in love. Just as Chris confesses, the convict appears, but will she betray him ?

Directed by John Badham - With Richard Dreyfuss, Emilio Estevez, Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, Forest Whitaker, Dan Lauria, ...
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Runaway Train(1985)

R
| 1h 51min | Action, Thriller, Drama, Adventure
3.5/5 (with 229 votes)

A hardened convict and a younger prisoner escape from a brutal prison in the middle of winter only to find themselves on an out-of-control train with a female railway worker while being pursued by the vengeful head of security.

Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky - With Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, Rebecca De Mornay, Kyle T. Heffner, John P. Ryan, Danny Trejo, ...
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Avengement(2019)

1h 30min | Crime, Action
3.4/5 (with 194 votes)

While on a prison furlough, a lowly criminal evades his guards and returns to his old stomping ground to take revenge on the people who turned him into a cold blooded killer.

Directed by Jesse V. Johnson - With Scott Adkins, Craig Fairbrass, Thomas Turgoose, Nick Moran, Kierston Wareing, Leo Gregory, ...
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Stir Crazy(1980)

R
| 1h 51min | Comedy
3.2/5 (with 186 votes)

New Yorkers Skip Donahue and Harry Monroe have no jobs and no prospects, so they decide to flee the city and find work elsewhere, landing jobs wearing woodpecker costumes to promote the opening of a bank. When their feathery costumes are stolen and used in a bank robbery, they no longer have to worry about employment — they're sent to prison.

Directed by Sidney Poitier - With Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, Georg Stanford Brown, JoBeth Williams, Craig T. Nelson, Barry Corbin, ...
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Death Rides a Horse(1967)

R
| 1h 54min | Western
3.5/5 (with 79 votes)

Bill Meceita, a boy whose family was murdered in front of him by a gang, sets out 15 years later to exact revenge. On his journey, he finds himself continually sparring and occasionally cooperating with Ryan, a gunfighter on his own quest for vengeance, who knows more than he says about Bill's tragedy.

Directed by Giulio Petroni - With Lee Van Cleef, John Phillip Law, Mario Brega, Luigi Pistilli, Anthony Dawson, José Torres, ...
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Mesrine: Killer Instinct(2008)

R
| 1h 53min | Drama, Action, Thriller, Crime
3.7/5 (with 401 votes)

Jacques Mesrine, a loyal son and dedicated soldier, is back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian War. Soon he is seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. Mentored by Guido, Mesrine turns his back on middle class law-abiding and soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder.

Directed by Jean-François Richet - With Cécile de France, Gérard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya, Ludivine Sagnier, ...
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The Professional(1981)

1h 48min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
3.6/5 (with 213 votes)

French secret service agent Josselin Beaumont is dispatched to take down African warlord N'Jala. But when his assignment is canceled, he's shocked to learn that his government is surrendering him to local authorities. He is given a mock trial and sentenced to 20 years of hard labor. But Beaumont escapes from prison and vows not only to avenge himself against his betrayers but also to finish his original assignment.

Directed by Georges Lautner - With Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Desailly, Robert Hossein, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Cyrielle Clair, Élisabeth Margoni, ...
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