# Favorite prison movie
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 23, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872 "2003-11-23T18:55:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/1 "2003-11-23T18:55:21Z")
My SO and I were watching _The Shawshank Redemtpion_ yesterday and we started talking about our favorite movie that took place in a prison. The rule was that most, if not all, of the movie had to take place in a prison and was generally supposed to be about life in prison. For that reason movies like _Count of Monte Cristo_, _Natural Born Killers_, _Face Off_ and _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ were not eligible.
I eventually decided _Cadence_ (with father/son duo Martin and Charlie Sheen starring) was my favorite. I like the way Charlie’s character and his prison mates changed during his time in the stockade.
Close runners up included _Escape from New York_, _The Shawshank Redemption_, _In the Name of the Father_, _Bad Boys_ (with Sean Penn and Clancy Brown), and (really, really close second) _Brubaker_.
Anybody else got a favorite prison movie that I should consider or check out?
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/2 "2003-11-23T19:09:28Z")
You mean other than XXX films, right?
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### Author:  [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/3 "2003-11-23T19:19:15Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by moriah \*
> \*\*You mean other than XXX films, right? \*\*
Eh, if there’s a porn prison movie out there that would hold my interest, then go ahead and post it.
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### Author:  [@Fang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fang)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/4 "2003-11-23T19:21:05Z")
For me it would be close between _Shawshank_ and _Cool Hand Luke_.
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### Author:  [@Skillet38](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skillet38)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/5 "2003-11-23T19:23:25Z")
This just reminded me I never saw The Green Mile, though I enjoyed the book.
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### Author:  [@shannablu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shannablu)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/6 "2003-11-23T19:23:33Z")
I would have to say _The Green Mile_.
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### Author:  [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/7 "2003-11-23T19:26:40Z")
How about _Stalag 17_ or _The Great Escape_ ?
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### Author:  [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/8 "2003-11-23T19:40:05Z")
_Shawshank_ is truly a great movie.
_Escape from Alcatraz_ is another one I have watched hundreds of times.
Actually, **Horseflesh** , all your picks are really good, except for _Cadence_, which I kind of thought was a little over the top at the end. It became like that celluloid abomination _Lock-up_, starring Sylvester Stallone and Donald Sutherland.
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### Author:  [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/9 "2003-11-23T19:43:42Z")
The green mile.
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### Author:  [@Blackeyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackeyes)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/10 "2003-11-23T20:09:11Z")
Shawshank.
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### Author:  [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/11 "2003-11-23T20:26:28Z")
The Linda Blair flick **Chained Heat** was always a favorite of mine. Well, in all fairness, the movie itself is pretty mediocre, but it’s got nekkid Linda Blair in it, so I can be forgiving.
**Animal Factory** , a Willem Dafoe movie (with Ed Furlong, of all people) released just a couple years back, was a decent effort. It was a bit tame, as far as “prison movies” go, but I’m told\* it’s a more realistic portrayal of life on the inside than most.
\*[sub]Having no first hand knowledge on this subject, I’m ignorant and happy to remain that way.[/sub]
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### Author:  [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/12 "2003-11-23T21:04:32Z")
What, no _Papillon_ votes yet?
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### Author:  [@raz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raz)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/13 "2003-11-23T21:12:46Z")
Definately Shawshank. Actually, its my favorite movie of all, not just my favorite prison movie. The Green Mile is also really good. I love both these movies because they keep my attention throughout the whole movie even though they’re both really long. I’m notorious for getting distracted during movies and/or falling asleep.
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### Author:  [@nitroglycerine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nitroglycerine)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/14 "2003-11-23T21:41:26Z")
Reform School Girls starring the late Wendy O. Williams. Not exactly prison, but close enough.
Jon
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### Author:  [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)
#### Post date: [November 23, 2003, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/15 "2003-11-23T23:29:51Z")
I like **The Longest Yard** and **Cool Hand Luke**.
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### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2003, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/16 "2003-11-24T01:58:23Z")
If you haven’t seen it, watch “In Cold Blood”. Watching that movie at about 15 made me determined that I would never do anything that would land me in jail. And it has worked for 32 years.
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### Author:  [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/17 "2003-11-24T03:41:27Z")
Damn. I forgot all about _Papillon_\*. I may have to reconsider my top choice. Gotta go watch it again, it’s been many (too many) years since I saw it.
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### Author:  [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/18 "2003-11-24T03:47:47Z")
Empire of the Sun
Bridge on the River Kwai
Shawshank Redemption
The Great Escape
Cool Hand Luke
Runaway Train
Empire is my favortie movie of all time, all the others tie for second.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/19 "2003-11-24T04:21:46Z")
Cool Hand Luke
American Me
Midnight Express
Chicken Run
Ernest Goes To Jail
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### Author:  [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2003, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-prison-movie/214872/20 "2003-11-24T04:37:34Z")
A second for Reform School Girls and a nomination for Caged Heat 3000 and all those Lloyd Simandl films with the women wearing electronic gags and chastity belts and nothing much else.
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