GREAT PRISON MOVIES LAST 20 YEARS
by joro_iliev2 | created - 05 Jun 2011 | updated - 09 Jul 2012 | PublicShare your opinion,make a comment and give me your list...
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1. American History X (1998)
R | 119 min | Crime, Drama
Living 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.
Director: Tony Kaye | Stars: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien
Votes: 1,186,784 | Gross: $6.72M
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Drama
Over the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 2,890,519 | Gross: $28.34M
3. Cell 211 (2009)
113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.
Director: Daniel Monzón | Stars: Luis Tosar, Alberto Ammann, Antonio Resines, Manuel Morón
Votes: 70,793
4. The Hurricane (1999)
R | 146 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
The story of Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, a boxer wrongly imprisoned for murder, and the people who aided in his fight to prove his innocence.
Director: Norman Jewison | Stars: Denzel Washington, Vicellous Shannon, Deborah Kara Unger, Liev Schreiber
Votes: 102,514 | Gross: $50.67M
5. Carandiru (2003)
R | 145 min | Crime, Drama
Stories of crime, revenge, love, and friendship at the Carandiru Penitentiary, the largest prison in Latin America.
Director: Hector Babenco | Stars: Enrique Diaz, Wagner Moura, Caio Blat, Luiz Carlos Vasconcelos
Votes: 21,948 | Gross: $0.21M
6. Prison Break (2005–2017)
TV-14 | 44 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A 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.
Stars: Dominic Purcell, Wentworth Miller, Amaury Nolasco, Robert Knepper
Votes: 579,771
7. Felon (2008)
R | 104 min | Crime, Thriller
Locked up for killing an intruder in self-defense, a family man must cope with life in the violent penal system.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Marisol Nichols, Vincent Miller, Anne Archer
Votes: 83,581 | Gross: $0.04M
8. The Green Mile (1999)
R | 189 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
A 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.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt
Votes: 1,408,356 | Gross: $136.80M
9. He Got Game (1998)
R | 136 min | Drama, Sport
A basketball player's father must try to convince him to go to a college so he can get a shorter sentence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Ray Allen, Rosario Dawson
Votes: 51,477 | Gross: $21.55M
10. Bronson (2008)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A 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.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Tom Hardy, Kelly Adams, Luing Andrews, Katy Barker
Votes: 140,937 | Gross: $0.10M
11. Bad Boys (1983)
R | 123 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Chicago crime kid Mick O'Brien is sent to reform school after accidentally killing a rival's kid brother.
Director: Rick Rosenthal | Stars: Sean Penn, Reni Santoni, Jim Moody, Eric Gurry
Votes: 17,080 | Gross: $9.20M
12. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,213 | Gross: $2.08M
13. The Experiment (2010)
R | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
26 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.
Director: Paul T. Scheuring | Stars: Adrien Brody, Cam Gigandet, Forest Whitaker, Maggie Grace
Votes: 57,192
14. Instinct (1999)
R | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
When noted anthropologist Dr. Ethan Powell, who left society to live in the jungle, is imprisoned for murder, it's up to young psychiatrist Theo Caulder to get through to him.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Cuba Gooding Jr., Donald Sutherland, Maura Tierney
Votes: 34,296 | Gross: $34.10M
15. Dead Man Walking (1995)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama
A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.
Director: Tim Robbins | Stars: Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky, Raymond J. Barry
Votes: 101,815 | Gross: $39.39M
16. Conviction (II) (2010)
R | 107 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A working mother puts herself through law school in an effort to represent her brother, who has been wrongfully convicted of murder and has exhausted his chances to appeal his conviction through public defenders.
Director: Tony Goldwyn | Stars: Hilary Swank, Sam Rockwell, Melissa Leo, Thomas D. Mahard
Votes: 46,030 | Gross: $6.78M
17. Undisputed (2002)
R | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When heavyweight champion George "Iceman" Chambers lands in prison, the resident gangster arranges a boxing match with the reigning prison champ.
Director: Walter Hill | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ving Rhames, Peter Falk, Michael Rooker
Votes: 34,413 | Gross: $12.76M
18. Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free.
Director: F. Gary Gray | Stars: Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney
Votes: 320,025 | Gross: $73.34M
19. The Longest Yard (2005)
PG-13 | 113 min | Comedy, Crime, Sport
Prison inmates form a football team to challenge the prison guards.
Director: Peter Segal | Stars: Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds, Chris Rock, Nelly
Votes: 195,182 | Gross: $158.12M
20. Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing (2006 Video)
R | 98 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Sequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges.
Director: Isaac Florentine | Stars: Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Ben Cross, Eli Danker
Votes: 39,236
21. Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010 Video)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Boyka is back. This time he is fighting in the first ever inter-prison tournament with one knee.
Director: Isaac Florentine | Stars: Scott Adkins, Mykel Shannon Jenkins, Mark Ivanir, Hristo Shopov
Votes: 44,580
22. Mean Machine (2001)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A football star jailed for assault leads a group of inmates in a match against prison guards.
Director: Barry Skolnick | Stars: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown
Votes: 41,830 | Gross: $0.09M
23. Bound by Honor (1993)
R | 180 min | Crime, Drama
Based 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.
Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Damian Chapa, Jesse Borrego, Benjamin Bratt, Enrique Castillo
Votes: 34,057 | Gross: $4.50M
24. The Rock (1996)
R | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Michael Bay | Stars: Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, Ed Harris, John Spencer
Votes: 358,281 | Gross: $134.07M
25. American Me (1992)
R | 125 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A Mexican-American Mafia kingpin is released from prison, falls in love for the first time, and grows introspective about his gangster lifestyle.
Director: Edward James Olmos | Stars: Edward James Olmos, William Forsythe, Sal Lopez, Vira Montes
Votes: 10,384 | Gross: $13.09M
26. Half Past Dead (2002)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A man goes undercover in a hi-tech prison to find information to help prosecute those who killed his wife. While there he stumbles onto a plot involving a death-row inmate and his $200 million stash of gold.
Director: Don Michael Paul | Stars: Morris Chestnut, Steven Seagal, Matt Battaglia, Ja Rule
Votes: 16,748 | Gross: $15.36M
27. Half Past Dead 2 (2007 Video)
R | 92 min | Action, Crime
Former WWE & WCW World Champion Bill Goldberg and hip-hop group Tha Dog Pound's Ricardo "Kurupt" Brown push life to the limit in this explosive sequel to the 2002 hit movie Half Past Dead.
Director: Art Camacho | Stars: Bill Goldberg, Kurupt, Jack Conley, Robert Madrid
Votes: 2,097
28. Animal (2005 Video)
R | 93 min | Drama, Action
A notorious gangster nicknamed "Animal" must reconcile his past in order to make a future for his criminally-minded son.
Director: David J. Burke | Stars: Ving Rhames, Terrence Howard, Chazz Palminteri, Jim Brown
Votes: 2,161
29. Animal 2 (2008)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
James "Animal" Allen (Ving Rhames) took the fall for the crimes of his older son (Vicellous Shannon) and is now serving a life term at Folsom Prison.
Director: Ryan Combs | Stars: Ving Rhames, Vicellous Shannon, Richard Waugh, Yannick Bisson
Votes: 1,066
30. Death Race (2008)
R | 105 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world's most popular sport: a car race in which inmates must brutalize and kill one another on the road to victory.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson | Stars: Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane
Votes: 218,994 | Gross: $36.32M
31. Death Race 2 (2010 Video)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
Explores the origins of the first "Frankenstein" car driver, Carl "Luke" Lucas, who died in a race at the beginning of the first film.
Director: Roel Reiné | Stars: Luke Goss, Lauren Cohan, Sean Bean, Ving Rhames
Votes: 34,662
32. Chopper (2000)
R | 94 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Chopper 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.
Director: Andrew Dominik | Stars: Eric Bana, Simon Lyndon, Vince Colosimo, Renée Brack
Votes: 41,531 | Gross: $0.23M
33. The Escapist (2008)
Not Rated | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Frank is 14 years into a life sentence when he decides to break out of the London prison to set things right with his ill junkie daughter. He plans an ingenious escape requiring 4 inmates with different skills.
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: Brian Cox, Damian Lewis, Joseph Fiennes, Seu Jorge
Votes: 17,407 | Gross: $0.01M
34. Blood and Bone (2009)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In Los Angeles, an ex-con takes the underground fighting world by storm in his quest to fulfill a promise to a dead friend.
Director: Ben Ramsey | Stars: Michael Jai White, Julian Sands, Eamonn Walker, Dante Basco
Votes: 35,842
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