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Movies: Best "prison" 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 escape" | "prisoner" | "prisoners of war" | "release from prison"


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917 movies found (page 1/31):

The Shawshank Redemption(1994)

FSK: 12+ years
| 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.

Shrek 2(2004)

FSK: 0+ years
| 1h 33min | Animation, Kids & Family, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure
3.7/5 (with 5,730 votes)

Shrek, Fiona and Donkey set off to Far, Far Away to meet Fiona's mother and father. But not everyone is happy. Shrek and the King find it hard to get along, and there's tension in the marriage. The fairy godmother discovers that Shrek has married Fiona instead of her Son Prince Charming and sets about destroying their marriage.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore(2022)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 22min | Fantasy, Adventure, Kids & Family
3.4/5 (with 1,955 votes)

Professor Albus Dumbledore knows the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts magizoologist Newt Scamander to lead an intrepid team of wizards and witches. They soon encounter an array of old and new beasts as they clash with Grindelwald's growing legion of followers.

Inferno(1999)

FSK: 18+ years
| 1h 35min | Action, Drama, Romance / Love
3.1/5 (with 120 votes)

Eddie Lomax (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is a drifter who has been in a suicidal funk since the death of his close friend Johnny (Danny Trejo). Riding his motorcycle into a small desert town where Johnny once lived, Lomax is confronted by a gang of toughs, who beat him and steal his bike. However, Lomax is not a man to take an injustice lying down, and soon he begins exacting a violent revenge on the men who stole his motorcycle, with local handyman Jubal Early (Pat Morita) lending a hand and several area ladies offering aid and comfort.

Así del precipicio(2006)

1h 40min | Drama
2.2/5 (with 10 votes)

Three flatmates in Mexico City face uncertainties: Lucía who has a great job as an art director for TV commercials is abusing alcohol and cocaine. She risks losing her job, going to prison for assault, and she's woefully in love with a bullfighter who may be two-timing her. Carmen, an artist without income, can be manic - snorting lots of cocaine and hanging out with a gay man and a transvestite. What's her future? Hanna contemplates divorce from Abraham, a wealthy momma's boy, and she's disoriented by feelings of attraction to Sandra, a customer at her jewelry store. Can any of these poor little rich girls sort things out in a world of excess?

Project Wolf Hunting(2022)

3.3/5 (with 65 votes)

While under heavily armed guard, the dangerous convicts aboard a cargo ship unite in a coordinated escape attempt that soon escalates into a bloody, all-out riot. But as the fugitives continue their brutal campaign of terror, they soon discover that not even the most vicious among them is safe from the horror they unknowingly unleashed from the darkness below deck.

Boyka: Undisputed IV(2016)

1h 27min | Action, Drama
3.5/5 (with 547 votes)

In the fourth installment of the fighting franchise, Boyka is shooting for the big leagues when an accidental death in the ring makes him question everything he stands for. When he finds out the wife of the man he accidentally killed is in trouble, Boyka offers to fight in a series of impossible battles to free her from a life of servitude.

GoodFellas(1990)

FSK: 16+ years
| 2h 25min | Drama, Crime
4.3/5 (with 5,556 votes)

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.

The Exorcism of God(2022)

1h 38min | Horror
3.6/5 (with 438 votes)

An American priest working in Mexico is considered a saint by many local parishioners. However, due to a botched exorcism, he carries a secret that’s eating him alive until he gets an opportunity to face his demon one final time.

Directed by Alejandro Hidalgo

First Blood(1982)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 33min | Action, Adventure, Thriller, War
3.7/5 (with 2,872 votes)

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.

Megamind(2010)

FSK: 6+ years
| 1h 36min | Animation, Action, Comedy, Kids & Family, Science Fiction
3.5/5 (with 3,057 votes)

Bumbling supervillain Megamind finally defeats his nemesis, the superhero Metro Man. But without a hero, he loses all purpose and must find new meaning to his life.

Directed by Tom McGrath

Incendies(2010)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 11min | Drama, War, Mystery
4.1/5 (with 1,075 votes)

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

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Death Race(2008)

FSK: 18+ years
| 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.

The Butterfly Effect(2004)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 53min | Science Fiction, Thriller
3.8/5 (with 3,300 votes)

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences.

Undisputed III: Redemption(2010)

FSK: 18+ years
| 1h 36min | Action, Thriller
3.8/5 (with 366 votes)

Russian inmate Boyka, now severely hobbled by the knee injury suffered at the end of Undisputed 2. No longer the feared prison fighter he was, he has declined so far that he is now good only for cleaning toilets. But when a new prison fight tournament begins - an international affair, matching the best fighters from prisons around the globe, enticing them with the promise of freedom for the winner - Boyka must reclaim his dignity and fight for his position in the tournament.

Law Abiding Citizen(2009)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 49min | Drama, Crime, Thriller
3.7/5 (with 2,192 votes)

A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.

The Longest Yard(2005)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 53min | Comedy
3.3/5 (with 1,434 votes)

Pro quarter-back, Paul Crewe and former college champion and coach, Nate Scarboro are doing time in the same prison. Asked to put together a team of inmates to take on the guards, Crewe enlists the help of Scarboro to coach the inmates to victory in a football game 'fixed' to turn out quite another way.

Despicable Me 3(2017)

FSK: 0+ years
| 1h 36min | Action, Animation, Comedy, Kids & Family, Adventure
3.2/5 (with 3,310 votes)

Gru and his wife Lucy must stop former '80s child star Balthazar Bratt from achieving world domination.

Directed by Pierre Coffin

Con Air(1997)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 56min | Action, Thriller, Crime
3.4/5 (with 1,790 votes)

Newly-paroled former US Army ranger Cameron Poe is headed back to his wife, but must fly home aboard a prison transport flight dubbed "Jailbird" taking the “worst of the worst” prisoners, a group described as “pure predators”, to a new super-prison. Poe faces impossible odds when the transport plane is skyjacked mid-flight by the most vicious criminals in the country led by the mastermind — genius serial killer Cyrus "The Virus" Grissom, and backed by black militant Diamond Dog and psychopath Billy Bedlam.

Horrible Bosses 2(2014)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 48min | Comedy
3.1/5 (with 1,860 votes)

Dale, Kurt and Nick decide to start their own business but things don't go as planned because of a slick investor, prompting the trio to pull off a harebrained and misguided kidnapping scheme.

Ocean's Eleven(2001)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 56min | Thriller, Crime
3.7/5 (with 5,301 votes)

Less than 24 hours into his parole, charismatic thief Danny Ocean is already rolling out his next plan: In one night, Danny's hand-picked crew of specialists will attempt to steal more than $150 million from three Las Vegas casinos. But to score the cash, Danny risks his chances of reconciling with ex-wife, Tess.

The Italian Job(1969)

FSK: 12+ years
| 1h 39min | Action, Crime, Comedy, Thriller
3.5/5 (with 298 votes)

Charlie's got a 'job' to do. Having just left prison he finds one of his friends has attempted a high-risk job in Torino, Italy, right under the nose of the mafia. Charlie's friend doesn't get very far, so Charlie takes over the 'job'. Using three Mini Coopers, a couple of Jaguars, and a bus, he hopes to bring Torino to a standstill, steal a fortune in gold and escape in the chaos.

Escape Plan(2013)

FSK: 16+ years
| 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.

Undisputed(2002)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 36min | Drama, Crime
3.3/5 (with 297 votes)

Monroe Hutchens is the heavyweight champion of Sweetwater, a maximum security prison. He was convicted to a life sentence due to a passionate crime. Iceman Chambers is the heavyweight champion, who lost his title due to a rape conviction to ten years in Sweetwater. WHen these two giants collide in the same prison, they fight against each other disputing who is the real champion.

Papillon(1973)

FSK: 16+ years
| 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.

Face/Off(1997)

FSK: 16+ years
| 2h 18min | Action, Crime, Science Fiction, Thriller
3.5/5 (with 2,359 votes)

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.

The Color Purple(1985)

FSK: 12+ years
| 2h 34min | Drama
3.9/5 (with 725 votes)

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.

Escape Plan 2: Hades(2018)

1h 36min | Action
2.6/5 (with 607 votes)

Ray Breslin manages an elite team of security specialists trained in the art of breaking people out of the world's most impenetrable prisons. When his most trusted operative, Shu Ren, is kidnapped and disappears inside the most elaborate prison ever built, Ray must track him down with the help of some of his former friends.

Death Race: Beyond Anarchy(2018)

3.2/5 (with 136 votes)

Black Ops specialist Connor Gibson infiltrates a maximum security prison to take down legendary driver Frankenstein in a violent and brutal car race.

Alien³(1992)

FSK: 16+ years
| 1h 54min | Science Fiction, Action, Horror
3.2/5 (with 2,482 votes)

After escaping with Newt and Hicks from the alien planet, Ripley crash lands on Fiorina 161, a prison planet and host to a correctional facility. Unfortunately, although Newt and Hicks do not survive the crash, a more unwelcome visitor does. The prison does not allow weapons of any kind, and with aid being a long time away, the prisoners must simply survive in any way they can.

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