On the Yard (Best Prison Movies)
by J_Frank_Parnell | created - 05 Aug 2021 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicBest movies, primarily set in a prison, in jail, military prison, POW camp, youth detention centre, etc (and some classic tv shows set in prisons, down the bottom of the list... and we've all seen 'Shawshank', and 'Green Mile' is Hallmark Channel garbage...)
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1. Starred Up (2013)
Not Rated | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Eric 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?
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Ben Mendelsohn, Rupert Friend, Sam Spruell
Votes: 48,698 | Gross: $0.03M
The most brutally realistic portrayal of prison, criminality, and society's conflicts in dealing with the above. Hard to watch, at times, but impossible to look away from.
2. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
GP | 127 min | Crime, Drama
A laid-back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform.
Director: Stuart Rosenberg | Stars: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, J.D. Cannon
Votes: 188,580 | Gross: $16.22M
3. 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: 41,527 | Gross: $0.23M
As someone who both met Chopper Reid, and knew the Australian prison system in the 80s/90s, this movie is so authentic, it's not even funny.
4. Down by Law (1986)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Votes: 55,304 | Gross: $1.44M
One of my favourite comedies of the 80's.
5. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
PG | 112 min | Action, Biography, Crime
Alcatraz 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.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Patrick McGoohan, Roberts Blossom, Jack Thibeau
Votes: 147,481 | Gross: $43.00M
6. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
Not Rated | 147 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Karl Malden, Thelma Ritter, Neville Brand
Votes: 19,314
7. 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: 140,920 | Gross: $0.10M
Incredibly good movie, about a crazy true story/real guy. 10/10 must-watch
8. In the Name of the Father (1993)
R | 133 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
Director: Jim Sheridan | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Alison Crosbie, Philip King
Votes: 187,159 | Gross: $25.01M
9. Straight Time (1978)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
The difficulties of a career burglar to reinsert himself after being released on parole.
Directors: Ulu Grosbard, Dustin Hoffman | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton
Votes: 10,165 | Gross: $9.90M
Kinda breaks the criteria, since very little is actually set inside a prison. But it's very much about being an ex-con, life after release, being on parole, etc, so I'm leaving it in. Plus it's a pretty great, under-recognised movie; Served as inspiration for Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Heat, and one of the missions in GTAV is copy-pasted directly from this movie.
10. 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: 17,076 | Gross: $9.20M
Not that one, the other one
11. Empire of the Sun (1987)
PG | 153 min | Drama, War
A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers
Votes: 134,344 | Gross: $22.24M
12. The Great Escape (1963)
Approved | 172 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson
Votes: 258,983 | Gross: $12.10M
13. Stalag 17 (1953)
Not Rated | 120 min | Comedy, Drama, War
After two Americans are killed while escaping from a German P.O.W. camp in World War II, the barracks black marketeer, J.J. Sefton, is suspected of being an informer.
Director: Billy Wilder | Stars: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss
Votes: 58,823
14. Take the Money and Run (1969)
PG | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
The life and times of Virgil Starkwell, inept bank robber.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde
Votes: 31,466 | Gross: $0.72M
15. Rescue Dawn (2006)
PG-13 | 125 min | Adventure, Biography, War
A U.S. fighter pilot's epic struggle of survival after being shot down on a mission over Laos during the Vietnam War.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Zach Grenier
Votes: 110,819 | Gross: $5.49M
16. White Heat (1949)
Not Rated | 114 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.
Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Edmond O'Brien, Margaret Wycherly
Votes: 35,761
17. Animal Factory (2000)
R | 94 min | Crime, Drama
A young man goes to prison and a tough, older convict takes him under his wing as a mentor.
Director: Steve Buscemi | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Edward Furlong, Danny Trejo, Mark Boone Junior
Votes: 14,648 | Gross: $0.04M
18. Brute Force (1947)
Passed | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
At a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.
Director: Jules Dassin | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Hume Cronyn, Charles Bickford, Yvonne De Carlo
Votes: 11,547
19. Midnight Express (1978)
R | 121 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Billy Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.
Director: Alan Parker | Stars: Brad Davis, Irene Miracle, Bo Hopkins, Paolo Bonacelli
Votes: 88,264 | Gross: $35.00M
20. Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954)
Not Rated | 80 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Fed up with the inhumane prison living conditions, a general prison riot breaks out, leading to hostage-taking, a stand-off with the guards and eventual negotiations with the prison administration officials.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Neville Brand, Emile Meyer, Frank Faylen, Leo Gordon
Votes: 2,433
21. Punishment Park (1971)
R | 91 min | Drama, Thriller
"Punishment Park" is a pseudo-documentary purporting to be a film crews's news coverage of the team of soldiers escorting a group of hippies, draft dodgers, and anti-establishment types ... See full summary »
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Patrick Boland, Kent Foreman, Carmen Argenziano, Luke Johnson
Votes: 7,634
Very weird kind of 'faux-documentary', about a (fictional, but presented as real) brutal penal program, punishing hippy political dissidents, who are mostly just spoilt, self-righteous college kids. Actually feels kinda relevant to some aspects of the present political climate.
22. 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932)
Passed | 78 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
Director: Michael Curtiz | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Bette Davis, Arthur Byron, Lyle Talbot
Votes: 2,960
23. Stir (1980)
101 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
When a repeat offender returns to a prison after exposing abuses committed by its guards to the press, tensions boil between inmates and staff, culminating in a bloody riot.
Director: Stephen Wallace | Stars: Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller, Gary Waddell
Votes: 392
Maybe even better than 'Chopper' and 'Ghosts of the Civil Dead', at capturing Australia's unique prison culture (but Chopper's a better movie, over-all)
24. The Platform (2019)
TV-MA | 94 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia | Stars: Ivan Massagué, Zorion Eguileor, Antonia San Juan, Emilio Buale
Votes: 272,689
Pretty decent Spanish sci-fi-ish kind of thing, set in a weird prison, in some alt reality. Not your typical, gritty, real-world "prison movie", but a pretty great prison movie, regardless.
25. Papillon (1973)
R | 151 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
A 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.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner | Stars: Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon
Votes: 138,409 | Gross: $53.27M
26. 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: 102,505 | Gross: $50.67M
27. Shot Caller (2017)
R | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A 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.
Director: Ric Roman Waugh | Stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omari Hardwick, Lake Bell, Jon Bernthal
Votes: 98,623
28. Each Dawn I Die (1939)
Approved | 92 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A corrupt D.A. (Thurston Hall) with political ambitions is angered by news stories implicating him in criminal activity and decides to frame the reporter (James Cagney) for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Director: William Keighley | Stars: James Cagney, George Raft, Jane Bryan, George Bancroft
Votes: 3,734
29. Ghosts... of the Civil Dead (1988)
93 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.
Director: John Hillcoat | Stars: David Field, Mike Bishop, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey
Votes: 1,959
30. The Last Castle (2001)
R | 131 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A court-martialed General rallies together twelve hundred inmates to rise against a corrupt and sadistic warden.
Director: Rod Lurie | Stars: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Burton
Votes: 85,311 | Gross: $18.21M
31. Scum (1979)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama
An uncompromising story of life in a British juvenile offender institution in the '70s.
Director: Alan Clarke | Stars: Ray Winstone, Mick Ford, Julian Firth, John Blundell
Votes: 13,086
32. The Longest Yard (1974)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
Votes: 21,433 | Gross: $7.13M
Fun, under-rated comedy about a burnt-out NFL star who gets roped into coaching the prison football team, against his will. Doesn't really try to be any serious commentary on prison. But a classic, overlooked 70's comedy.
33. Made in Britain (1982 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 76 min | Crime, Drama
After being sent to a detention center, a teenage skinhead clashes with the social workers, who want to conform him to the status quo.
Director: Alan Clarke | Stars: Tim Roth, Terry Richards, Bill Stewart, Eric Richard
Votes: 7,624
34. Doing Time (1979)
93 min | Comedy, Crime
Fletcher is ordered to arrange a prisoner vs celebrity football game, unaware it's a diversion for an escape. Fletcher and cellmate Lennie accidentally discover the plan and must break back into prison to avoid punishment.
Director: Dick Clement | Stars: Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay, Brian Wilde
Votes: 3,393
"Porridge"- Spin-off movie of the classic British prison sitcom starring Ronnie Barker.
35. 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: 101,802 | Gross: $39.39M
36. The Hill (1965)
Approved | 123 min | Drama, War
In a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards.
Director: Sidney Lumet | Stars: Sean Connery, Harry Andrews, Ian Bannen, Alfred Lynch
Votes: 15,170
37. Survivors Guide To Prison (2018)
TV-MA | 102 min | Documentary
Today, you're more likely to go to prison in the United States than anywhere else in the world. So in the unfortunate case it should happen to you - this is the Survivors Guide to Prison.
Director: Matthew Cooke | Stars: Patricia Arquette, Susan Sarandon, Danny Trejo, Jesse Williams
Votes: 1,215 | Gross: $0.01M
38. 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: 83,571 | Gross: $0.04M
Not bad, just as a movie. But while it tries tries to paint a "gritty, realistic" picture of prison life, it's probably about as accurate, as James Bond is an accurate portrayal of espionage.
The movie use a real prison as a set (which give a realistic vibe). But in the movie, it's run like a bizarre mix of Super-Duper-Duper-Max, and the most low-security camp in Norway. It's also run by the most cartoonish portrayal of a corrupt C.O imaginable. Not that corrupt C.O's are rare- they're kinda the norm. But not in the cartoonish way the movie portrays.
39. Jailhouse Rock (1957)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Music, Musical
After serving time for manslaughter, young Vince Everett becomes a teenage rock star.
Director: Richard Thorpe | Stars: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy, Vaughn Taylor
Votes: 9,833 | Gross: $4.00M
40. A Sense of Freedom (1981)
81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The life and imprisonment of Glasgow hard man and gangster Jimmy Boyle.
Director: John Mackenzie | Stars: David Hayman, Jake D'Arcy, Sean Scanlan, Alex Norton
Votes: 614
41. Riot (1969)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A riot in a state prison is staged to cover up an escape attempt, during which many inmates and guards are killed. Shot on location at Arizona State Prison.
Director: Buzz Kulik | Stars: Jim Brown, Gene Hackman, Mike Kellin, Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Votes: 657
42. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
R | 123 min | Drama, War
During WWII, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British POW and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid bloodshed.
Director: Nagisa Ôshima | Stars: David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano
Votes: 20,027 | Gross: $2.31M
43. Dead Leaves (2004)
Not Rated | 55 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
Two aliens awaken on Earth with no recollection of their past and embark on a devastating crime spree but are sent to an infamous lunar penitentiary named Dead Leaves.
Director: Hiroyuki Imaishi | Stars: Kappei Yamaguchi, Takako Honda, Yûko Mizutani, Mitsuo Iwata
Votes: 4,415
Absurdist anime, set in some weird, inter-dimensional prison
44. Oz (1997–2003)
TV-MA | 55 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
A series chronicling the daily activities of an unusual prison facility and its criminal inhabitants.
Stars: Ernie Hudson, J.K. Simmons, Lee Tergesen, Dean Winters
Votes: 106,706
45. Porridge (1974–1977)
TV-14 | 30 min | Comedy, Crime
The prison life of Fletcher, a criminal serving a five-year sentence, as he strives to bide his time, keep his record clean, and refuses to be ground down by the prison system.
Stars: Ronnie Barker, Brian Wilde, Fulton Mackay, Richard Beckinsale
Votes: 6,840
Classic UK sit-com, set in Wormwood Scrubs prison
46. The Prisoner (1967–1968)
TV-PG | 1,010 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After he resigns, a secret agent is abducted and taken to what looks like an idyllic village, but is actually a bizarre prison. He refuses to give his warders information while attempting to escape.
Stars: Patrick McGoohan, Angelo Muscat, Peter Swanwick, Peter Brace
Votes: 15,047
Very cool, surrealist, campy, psychadelic 60's series, set in a resort town that's a bizarre prison for inconvenient spies. Kinda like a cross between Lost, The Saint, and The Avengers (the 60s, British 'The Avengers', not the developmentally-impaired, MCU 'The Avengers'), with a dash of Twin Peaks.
47. Prisoner (1979–1986)
TV-14 | 50 min | Crime, Drama
The lives of the staff and inmates of a women's prison.
Stars: Elspeth Ballantyne, Barbara Jungwirth, Betty Bobbitt, Sheila Florance
Votes: 2,236
"He used to bring me roses..."
48. Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019)
TV-MA | 59 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Convicted of a decade-old crime of transporting drug money, ordinarily law-abiding Piper Chapman is sentenced to 18 months behind bars and quickly discovers the realities of life-changing prison time.
Stars: Taylor Schilling, Danielle Brooks, Taryn Manning, Emma Myles
Votes: 320,242
49. Prison School (2015–2016)
TV-MA | 24 min | Animation, Comedy
Hachimitsu Academy, once an all-girls school, has become co-ed, and teen Kiyoshi is one of five boys to enroll. When he is caught peeping, Kiyoshi is sent to the schools prison, where his punishment is carried out.
Stars: Hiroshi Kamiya, Katsuyuki Konishi, Ken'ichi Suzumura, Daisuke Namikawa
Votes: 7,628
Comedy anime series, set in a youth prison
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