New French prison movie A Prophet is already being hailed as a classic of the genre and we reckon it deserves all the plaudits it’s been getting. But what of cinema’s other cooler kings? How do they measure up? We’ve spent some time in the cinematic slammer to put together our own top 10 prison movies. Have we got it right? Is Shawshank Redemption the greatest ever prison movie? Should we be banged up in solitary for daring to include Chicago in our pantheon? Do let us know what you think.
A Prophet goes on general release from 22nd January. Read the review.
Great Escape… Yes
Shawshank… Yes
Cool Hand Luke… Hell, yes
Birdman, Papillon, Dead Man Walking, etc… Absolutely
Chicago… What the…?
Chicago’s not a prison movie it’s a flashy, overlong, tediously stagey musical.
So basically, what we have here is a failure to communicate!
PS… And Hey, if we can include Chicago, what the heck happened to Jailhouse Rock? Personally I prefer Elvis dancing with a chair to Madame Zeta Jones emoting in suspensers.
But you have left out Chicken Run havn’t you?
Great Escape – the escape wasn’t that great as most of them got caught
Shawshank – now that was a great escape
Chicago – you’ve got to be kidding! It’s got to be Cool Hand Luke for me – what was that one with the wooden horse?
I really enjoyed Anything for Her, last year’s French prison drama. Probably not as universally-acclaimed as A Prophet, and a bit oddly unbelievable, but it still had me gripped from the outset.
I’m rather fond of the Porridge movie, in which Fletch and Godber are forced to escape Slade Prison during a celebrity football match and end up hiding in the countryside, with Fletch keeping lookout.
‘What can you see?,’ ask Godber.
‘Cops’, replies Fletch.
‘What, you mean like a wooded glade?’
‘Yeah, a wooded glade crawlin’ with bleedin’ cops’.
Chicago over Ronnie Barker and genius writers Clement and La Frenais? Hard labour for you.
where the heck is stir crazy? i can agree with most of these choices except for the sean penn one. i’d rather BE in jail than sit through a sean penn film…
Shawshank ace, Great Escape? not really – Ok when you were 12 but would you really watch it again? Chicken Run, now there is a searing condemnation of the panoptic state.
Shawshank Redemption is my favourite – it was gripping from start to finish.
Midnight Express is definitely worthy of your Top 10 listing. One of the most harrowing movies I’d ever seen when it first came out. Can’t believe it was back in 1978!! Whatever happened to Brad Davis?
The Shawshank Redemption gets my no. 1 vote. After the grim ‘reality’ of prison life, we see, on a glorious day, Red walking through a hayfield with insects hovering. Red says, “I hope.” I just love a happy ending!