Movies by Lists - Best Prison-Escape Movies (76 [76]) 
| Title | Year | Director | Genre | Rating | Runtime | Added |
|---|
| Against the WallBased on the true story of the Attica Prison uprising of 1971. | 1994 | John Frankenheimer (*) | Action, Drama, History, Thriller | 6.7 (3.1K votes) | 111 | 20230619 |
| Anything for Her [Pour elle]With no legal means left to him, a high school teacher devises a daring plan to rescue his wrongfully imprisoned wife from jail. | 2008 | Fred Cavayé | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.1 (9.1K votes) | 96 | 20211228 |
| Bad BoysChicago crime kid Mick O'Brien is sent to reform school after accidentally killing a rival's kid brother. | 1983 | Rick Rosenthal | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.2 (15.1K votes) | 123 | 20211228 |
| Birdman of AlcatrazA surly convicted murderer held in permanent isolation redeems himself when he becomes a renowned bird expert. | 1962 | John Frankenheimer (*) | Biography, Crime, Drama | 7.8 (17.3K votes) | 147 | 20211228 |
| Blood In, Blood OutBased 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. | 1993 | Taylor Hackford | Crime, Drama | 8.0 (30.6K votes) | 180 | 20211228 |
| Blood In, Blood Out [Bound By Honor]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. | 1993 | Taylor Hackford | Crime, Drama | 7.9 (34.4K votes) | 180 | 20240530 |
| Boy in the Striped Pajamas, TheThrough the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences. | 2008 | Mark Herman | Drama, History, War | 7.8 (207.8K votes) | 94 | 20211228 |
| Bridge on the River Kwai, TheBritish POWs are forced to build a railway bridge across the river Kwai for their Japanese captors in occupied Burma, not knowing that the allied forces are planning a daring commando raid through the jungle to destroy it. | 1957 | David Lean (*) | Adventure, Drama, War | 8.1 (214.6K votes) | 161 | 20211228 |
| Brute ForceAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard. | 1947 | Jules Dassin | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Thriller | 7.6 (10K votes) | 98 | 20211228 |
| CagedA gentle, naive, pregnant 19-year-old widow is slowly and inexorably ground down by the hardened criminals, sadistic guards and matron at a woman's prison. Will she be the same person when her sentence is up? | 1950 | John Cromwell | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir | 7.7 (3.9K votes) | 96 | 20211228 |
| Camp X-RayA soldier assigned to Guantanamo Bay befriends a man who has been imprisoned there. | 2014 | Peter Sattler | Drama, War | 6.9 (42.6K votes) | 117 | 20231109 |
| CarandiruStories of crime, revenge, love, and friendship at the Carandiru Penitentiary, the largest prison in Latin America. | 2003 | Hector Babenco (*) | Crime, Drama | 7.6 (21.9K votes) | 145 | 20240501 |
| Cell 211The 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. | 2009 | Daniel Monzón | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.6 (66.5K votes) | 113 | 20211228 |
| Chained HeatYoung Carol Henderson ends up in prison where she must learn how to survive in an environment plagued by violence, murder, rape, racism, drugs and staff corruption and brutality. | 1983 | Paul Nicholas | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 5.0 (2.5K votes) | 95 | 20230424 |
| Con AirNewly paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner transport plane when the passengers seize control. | 1997 | Simon West | Action, Crime, Thriller | 6.9 (290.1K votes) | 115 | 20211228 |
| Condition RedPrison guard falls in love with inmate. She wants him to let her escape. | 1995 | Mika Kaurismäki | Action, Drama, Thriller | 4.7 (381 votes) | 83 | 20240501 |
| Cool Hand LukeA laid back Southern man is sentenced to two years in a rural prison, but refuses to conform. | 1967 | Stuart Rosenberg (*) | Crime, Drama | 8.1 (172.7K votes) | 127 | 20211228 |
| Count of Monte Cristo, TheA young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friend", escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge. | 2002 | Kevin Reynolds | Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller | 7.8 (135.1K votes) | 131 | 20211228 |
| Counterfeiters, The [Die Falscher]The story of the Operation Bernhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history, carried out by Germany during WWII. | 2007 | Stefan Ruzowitzky | Crime, Drama, History, War | 7.6 (45.1K votes) | 99 | 20211228 |
| Defiant Ones, TheTwo escaped convicts chained together, white and black, must learn to get along in order to elude capture. | 1958 | Stanley Kramer (*) | Crime, Drama | 7.6 (15.1K votes) | 96 | 20211228 |
| Dog Pound [La perrera]Three juvenile delinquents are sentenced to a correctional facility where they encounter gang violence, death, and harassment from staff and other inmates. | 2010 | Kim Chapiron | Crime, Drama | 7.0 (12K votes) | 91 | 20211228 |
| Down By LawTwo men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state. | 1986 | Jim Jarmusch (*) | Comedy, Crime, Drama | 7.7 (50.6K votes) | 107 | 20211228 |
| Empire of the SunA young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation of China during World War II. | 1987 | Steven Spielberg (*) | Drama, History, War | 7.7 (122.4K votes) | 153 | 20211228 |
| Escape From AlcatrazAlcatraz 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. | 1979 | Don Siegel (*) | Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.6 (129.6K votes) | 112 | 20211228 |
| Escape from SobiborGerman death camp in Sobibor, Poland, killed two hundred fifty thousand Jews. It had the most successful prisoner escape in World War II on October 14, 1943. | 1987 | Jack Gold | Drama, History, War | 7.3 (8.9K votes) | 143 | 20220414 |
| Escape PlanWhen a structural-security authority finds himself set up and incarcerated in the world's most secret and secure prison, he has to use his skills to escape with help from the inside. | 2013 | Mikael Håfström | Action, Thriller | 6.7 (237.7K votes) | 115 | 20211228 |
| Escapist, TheFrank's 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. | 2008 | Rupert Wyatt | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 6.7 (16.8K votes) | 102 | 20211228 |
| Experiment, The [Das Experiment]For two weeks, 20 male participants are hired to play prisoners and guards in a prison. The "prisoners" have to follow seemingly mild rules, and the "guards" are told to retain order without using physical violence. | 2001 | Oliver Hirschbiegel (*) | Drama, Thriller | 7.7 (93K votes) | 120 | 20211228 |
| FelonLocked up for killing an intruder in self-defense, a family man must cope with life in the violent penal system. | 2008 | Ric Roman Waugh | Crime, Thriller | 7.4 (77.4K votes) | 104 | 20211228 |
| Get the GringoA career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a young boy. | 2012 | Adrian Grunberg | Action, Drama, Thriller | 6.9 (110.6K votes) | 96 | 20231017 |
| Grand Illusion, The [La Grande Illusion]During WWI, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German P.O.W. camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are eventually sent to a seemingly inescapable fortress. | 1937 | Jean Renoir (*) | Drama, War | 8.1 (35.8K votes) | 113 | 20211228 |
| Great Escape, TheAllied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. | 1963 | John Sturges (*) | Adventure, Drama, History, Thriller, War | 8.2 (237.9K votes) | 172 | 20211228 |
| Great Raid, TheTaking place towards the end of WWII, 500 American Soldiers have been entrapped in a camp for 3 years. Beginning to give up hope they will ever be rescued, a group of Rangers goes on a dangerous mission to try and save them. | 2005 | John Dahl | Action, Drama, War | 6.6 (24K votes) | 132 | 20240501 |
| Green Mile, TheThe lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift. | 1999 | Frank Darabont (*) | Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery | 8.6 (1.2M votes) | 189 | 20211228 |
| Hill, TheIn a North African military prison during World War II, five new prisoners struggle to survive in the face of brutal punishment and sadistic guards. | 1965 | Sidney Lumet (*) | Drama, War | 7.9 (13.7K votes) | 123 | 20211228 |
| Hole, The [Le Trou]Distrust and uncertainty arise when four long-term inmates cautiously induct a new prisoner into their elaborate prison-break scheme. | 1960 | Jacques Becker (*) | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 8.5 (17.2K votes) | 131 | 20211228 |
| HungerIrish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike. | 2008 | Steve McQueen (*) | Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.5 (70.3K votes) | 96 | 20220806 |
| I Am a Fugitive From a Chain GangWrongly convicted James Allen serves in the intolerable conditions of a Southern chain gang, which later comes back to haunt him. | 1932 | Mervyn LeRoy (*) | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir | 8.2 (13K votes) | 92 | 20211228 |
| In The Name Of The FatherA man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. An English lawyer fights to free them. | 1993 | Jim Sheridan (*) | Biography, Crime, Drama | 8.1 (168.9K votes) | 133 | 20211228 |
| Interrogation [Przesluchanie]Tonia goes out drinking. She wakes up in prison, not having a clue why she's there. She is tortured to encourage her to confess to a crime she is not aware of. | 1989 | Ryszard Bugajski | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 8.0 (3.2K votes) | 118 | 20211228 |
| Law Abiding CitizenA frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. | 2009 | F. Gary Gray | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.4 (288.4K votes) | 109 | 20211228 |
| LifeIn 1932, two strangers are wrongfully convicted and develop a strong friendship in prison that lasts them through the 20th century. | 1999 | Ted Demme | Comedy, Crime, Drama | 6.8 (53.6K votes) | 108 | 20231001 |
| Life Is BeautifulWhen an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor, and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp. | 1997 | Roberto Benigni | Comedy, Drama, Romance, War | 8.6 (666.4K votes) | 116 | 20211228 |
| Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, TheA young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal. | 1962 | Tony Richardson | Drama, Sport | 7.6 (8.5K votes) | 104 | 20211228 |
| Lonely are the BraveA fiercely independent cowboy gets himself locked up in prison to escape with an old friend. | 1962 | David Miller | Drama, Western | 7.6 (8.9K votes) | 107 | 20211228 |
| Longest Yard, TheA 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. | 1974 | Robert Aldrich (*) | Comedy, Crime, Drama, Sport | 7.1 (18.4K votes) | 121 | 20211228 |
| Man Escaped, A [Un condamné à mort s'est échappé ou Le vent souffle où il veut]A captured French Resistance fighter during WWII engineers a daunting escape from a Nazi prison in France. | 1956 | Robert Bresson (*) | Drama, Thriller, War | 8.3 (21.1K votes) | 101 | 20211228 |
| Man With Connections, The [Le pistonné]A charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot. | 1970 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz (*) | Comedy, Western | 6.9 (5K votes) | 126 | 20230424 |
| ManicAfter attacking another player with a bat during baseball at school, Lyle's sent to the psych ward. He meets other teenagers with problems. Will group therapy help? | 2001 | Jordan Melamed | Drama | 7.2 (10K votes) | 100 | 20240412 |
| Mean MachineA football star jailed for assault leads a group of inmates in a match against prison guards. | 2001 | Barry Skolnick | Comedy, Crime, Drama, Sport | 6.5 (38.9K votes) | 99 | 20211228 |
| Merry Christmas Mr. LawrenceDuring W.W. II, a British colonel tries to bridge the cultural divides between a British P.O.W. and the Japanese camp commander in order to avoid blood-shed. | 1983 | Nagisa Ôshima | Drama, War | 7.3 (17.1K votes) | 123 | 20211228 |
| Mesrine - Part 1 - Killer InstinctThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France. | 2008 | Jean-François Richet | Action, Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.5 (33.3K votes) | 113 | 20211228 |
| Midnight ExpressBilly Hayes, an American college student, is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison. | 1978 | Alan Parker | Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.6 (77.9K votes) | 121 | 20211228 |
| Miracle In Cell 7 [7-beon-bang-ui seon-mul]A story about the love between a mentally-ill father and his lovingly adorable daughter. | 2013 | Hwan-kyung Lee | Comedy, Drama | 8.2 (19.4K votes) | 127 | 20211228 |
| Murder in the FirstAn eager and idealistic young attorney defends an Alcatraz prisoner accused of murdering a fellow inmate. The extenuating circumstances: his client had just spent over three years in solitary confinement. | 1995 | Marc Rocco | Drama, Thriller | 7.3 (29.9K votes) | 122 | 20231001 |
| Next Three Days, TheA married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. | 2010 | Paul Haggis | Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller | 7.3 (194K votes) | 133 | 20211228 |
| O Brother, Where Art ThouIn the deep south during the 1930s, three escaped convicts search for hidden treasure while a relentless lawman pursues them. | 2000 | Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Music | 7.7 (302.5K votes) | 107 | 20211228 |
| PapillonA 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. | 1973 | Franklin J. Schaffner (*) | Biography, Crime, Drama | 8.0 (127.8K votes) | 151 | 20211228 |
| Prison on Fire [Gam yuk fung wan]Inside a Chinese prison two inmates form a friendship and face the difficulty of life on the inside. | 1987 | Ringo Lam (*) | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.3 (2.7K votes) | 98 | 20211228 |
| Prophet, A [Un prophète]A young Algerian man is sent to a French prison. | 2009 | Jacques Audiard | Crime, Drama | 7.9 (97.3K votes) | 155 | 20211228 |
| Pure Formality, A [Una pura formalita]Onoff is a famous writer who hasn't published any new books for quite some time and has become a recluse. When he is picked up by the police one stormy night, without any identification, out of breath and running madly, without clear | 1994 | Giuseppe Tornatore (*) | Crime, Drama, Thriller | 7.6 (11.4K votes) | 108 | 20211228 |
| Raze50 abducted women are forced to fight each other using their bare hands. | 2013 | Josh C. Waller | Action, Drama, Horror | 5.1 (6.4K votes) | 92 | 20240501 |
| Shawshank Redemption, TheTwo imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency. | 1994 | Frank Darabont (*) | Drama | 9.3 (2.5M votes) | 142 | 20211228 |
| Son of a GunJR busts out of prison with Brendan Lynch, Australia's most notorious criminal, and joins Lynch's gang for a gold heist that soon pits the two men against one another. | 2014 | Julius Avery | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | 6.4 (29.6K votes) | 108 | 20240501 |
| Stalag 17After 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. | 1953 | Billy Wilder (*) | Comedy, Drama, War | 8.0 (54.8K votes) | 120 | 20211228 |
| Starred UpEric 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? | 2013 | David Mackenzie | Crime, Drama | 7.4 (45.4K votes) | 106 | 20211228 |
| Stir CrazySet up and wrongfully accused, two best friends will be sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit. However, no prison cell could keep them locked in. | 1980 | Sidney Poitier | Comedy, Crime | 6.8 (27.5K votes) | 111 | 20211228 |
| There Was a Crooked ManA charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot. | 1970 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz (*) | Comedy, Western | 6.9 (4.5K votes) | 126 | 20211228 |
| Triumph of the SpiritIn Greece during World War II, a young Jewish boxer, meets regularly with girlfriend Allegra until they and their families are sent to Auschwitz. When the Nazis learn of his boxing, they force him to participate in weekly boxing matc | 1989 | Robert M. Young | Biography, Drama, History, Sport, War | 6.8 (2.5K votes) | 120 | 20211228 |
| UnbrokenAfter a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp. | 2014 | Angelina Jolie | Action, Biography, Drama, Sport, War | 7.2 (160.2K votes) | 137 | 20211228 |
| UndisputedWhen heavyweight champion George "Iceman" Chambers lands in prison, the resident gangster arranges a boxing match with the reigning prison champ. | 2002 | Walter Hill | Action, Crime, Drama, Sport | 6.2 (31.8K votes) | 94 | 20211228 |
| Undisputed 2 - Last Man StandingSequel to the 2002 film. This time, Heavyweight Champ George "Iceman" Chambers is sent to a Russian Jail on trumped-up drug charges. | 2006 | Isaac Florentine | Action, Crime, Drama, Sport | 7.1 (35.8K votes) | 98 | 20211228 |
| Undisputed 3 RedemptionBoyka is back. This time he is fighting in the first ever inter-prison tournament with one knee. | 2010 | Isaac Florentine | Action, Crime, Drama, Sport | 7.4 (40.9K votes) | 96 | 20211228 |
| United States of Leland, TheA young man's experience in a juvenile detention center that touches on the tumultuous changes that befall his family and the community in which he lives. | 2003 | Matthew Ryan Hoge | Drama | 7.0 (23.3K votes) | 108 | 20211228 |
| Von Ryan's ExpressAn American POW leads a group of mainly British prisoners to escape from the Germans in WWII. | 1965 | Mark Robson | Action, Adventure, War | 7.1 (13.7K votes) | 117 | 20211228 |
| Way Back, TheSiberian gulag escapees travel four thousand miles by foot to freedom in India. | 2010 | Peter Weir (*) | Adventure, Drama, History | 7.3 (114.5K votes) | 133 | 20211228 |