# Ok What Was The Best Prison Movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 20, 2001, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714 "2001-03-20T14:23:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Melpomene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/0ea827/32.png) [@Melpomene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melpomene)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/21 "2001-03-20T17:58:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by plnnr \* > \*\*Obviously “what we have here is a failure…to communicate.” > > C’mon folks, you can’t honestly believe that “Shawshank Redemption” (aka The Movie That Would Not End) is better than “Cool Hand Luke.” > > \*\* Alright alright…with all the mention of it, I’ve finally decided I really NEED to go rent it! Thanks 😉 Oh and I want to echo the mention of American History X…particular scenes are a little too, uh, real to pass up without feeling a little queasy. Great movie, too. RealityChuck - where can we find this film/social document? I like movies that take that extra step or can hit that higher level of existence. Share!! ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/22 "2001-03-20T18:44:26Z")
Lot of good choices here. My choices would include **Shawshank** , **Bridge on the River Kwai** , and **The Longest Yard** , but I’ll throw a couple more out for consideration: **20,000 Years in Sing Sing** **The Colditz Story** , another POW movie. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Dire Wolf_ > Hey, what was that Linda Blair movie? You know, the one where they all hold her down and tell her to “meet Johnny. Johnny Mop.” I think that might have been **Born Innocent** , a made-for-TV movie that caused some sort of uproar when it was first shown. As a result, many stations refused to show it again. ---
**Author:** ![egkelly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/db5fbb/32.png) [@egkelly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/egkelly)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/23 "2001-03-20T18:55:28Z")
Not really a prison movie per se, but thematically similar-“THE DESPERATE HOURS” (the 1950 version, with Humphry Bogart and Frederic March). Great suspense, fine acting, and film noir to boot! ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/24 "2001-03-20T19:10:51Z")
No votes yet for **Reform School Girls**? What Gives? Seriously: 1)The Great Escape 2)Bridge Over the River Kwai 3)Papillion The Green Mile blew monkeys, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/25 "2001-03-20T19:10:52Z")
Here’s one I bet wouldn’t otherwise get mentioned: _Women of San Quentin_, a 1983 TV movie. Not a great movie but the only prison movie I’ve ever seen that I thought actually gave a realistic view of working in a prison. ---
**Author:** ![dustMagnate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/fbc32d/32.png) [@dustMagnate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dustMagnate)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/26 "2001-03-20T19:34:31Z")
**Caged** When that blond gets her locks shorn and her kitty crushed LOOK OUT for the flatware! This movie warped me at a very young age. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/27 "2001-03-20T19:45:08Z")
On OP : **The Great Escape Stalag 17 The Longest Yard Cool Hand Luke.** Off the OP. **Bill** seriously, there **are** other stations to watch besides TNT/WTBS, honest. You might even **like** some of them. ---
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/28 "2001-03-20T20:34:48Z")
Like I said Wring I get **free** movies cause my wife works part time at a movie rental place. So I never half to watch commercials and I can push pause when I go to the can. 😃 I thought of another one that was awesome but still not as good as Shawshank. How about “Midnight Express”? That movie was so intense. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/29 "2001-03-20T20:57:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wildest Bill \* > \*\*Like I said Wring I get **free** movies cause my wife works part time at a movie rental place. So I never half to watch commercials and I can push pause when I go to the can. 😃 \*\* ok, then try and **rent/borrow** a movie that isn’t shown on WTBS/TNT 15 times every weekend? ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/30 "2001-03-20T21:04:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RealityChuck \* > \*\*“I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” – not only a great film, but highly influential, not only as a film, but as a social document. > > \*\* Damn. You beat me to it. Yeah, if a film changes society that should count for something. Of course now chain gangs are back. Time for a remake? ---
**Author:** ![cerebrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3da27b/32.png) [@cerebrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerebrum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2001, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/31 "2001-03-20T22:50:48Z")
I 2nd Blood in, Blood out. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/32 "2001-03-21T00:34:43Z")
> [@](#): > > RealityChuck - where can we find this film/social document? I like movies that take that extra step or can hit that higher level of existence. Share!! Here’s the [IMDB link](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0023042). Coincidentally, it will be on TCM at noon-2pm this Friday. It did a lot to spur prison reform in the U.S. It was based on a true story – the author of the book (Robert Burns) described his experiences; the state of Georgia was determined to the point of insanity to keep him in chains (even trying to rearrest him – he had escaped – when the movie premiered). The last line is a chiller. Definitely set the VCR. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/33 "2001-03-21T01:12:08Z")
Ysabel \<-- stumbling around in agony, clutching her hair as she tries to assimilate the fact that there are actually people on this earth who believe that The Shawshank Redemption is even in the same arena as Cool Hand Luke. [sup]\[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/34 "2001-03-21T01:19:08Z")
How can anyone say it’s anything other than “Cool Hand Luke”? Robin ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/35 "2001-03-21T01:49:19Z")
I hereby move that only people who have never seen _Cool Hand Luke_ can nominate another movie. And that only because we feel sorry for them. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/36 "2001-03-21T02:14:27Z")
Oh yeah, speaking of prison reform, **Brubaker** deserves a mention. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@Clark\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_K)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/37 "2001-03-21T04:23:59Z")
Clearly, Cool Hand Luke. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/38 "2001-03-21T07:22:19Z")
Also, I loved **O’ Brother, Where Art Thou?**. Although it’s more of an escape/road movie. Cheers, Hodge ---
**Author:** ![sleeplessinseattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@sleeplessinseattle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeplessinseattle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/39 "2001-03-21T10:20:17Z")
Therefore, I offer another vote for Shawshank Redemption and I also thought Murder in the First was very good. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714/40 "2001-03-21T14:21:41Z")
And I still vote for Shawshank. Shawshank has this incredible use of color in the film. And I’ll admit I prefer films that are uplifting and not bummers. Cool Hand is a very close second but up there are… Brubaker (why is this one not mentioned) Bridge on the River Kwai Midnight Express Chicken Run The Hurricane But if you will allow it in the catagory the absoulte best prison movie, far far above Cool Hand Luke and Shawshank would be, Schindlers List [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-what-was-the-best-prison-movie/58714.md?page=3)