Summary

Prison escape motion-picture show are a thrilling subgenre that has been around for decade and persist in to be a draw today . Careful preparation , coordination , and gross execution are what it take to successfully complete this kind of commission and some are not always prosperous . Fans will find both among the best flick of this genre . From classics of the Golden Era of Hollywood to more recent escapade , prison flight movies bear a permanent legacy .

There ’s nothing quite like a character ’s desperate , determined , and dangerous endeavour at freedom , whether they are clean-handed victim or endearinganti - zep who go in clink . However , while the concept of character breaking out of their confinement might seem like a limiting genre , consultation might be surprised by how varied prison escape movies can be . From intense play to family - favorable comedies to epic adventures , these prison house escape movies stand out in the music genre .

Screen Rant break down the best movies of all clip , from quondam classics to modern masterpiece across multiple genres of cinema .

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15The Way Back (2010)

Prisoners At A Gulag Escape And Face The Dangerous Walk To Freedom

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ground on a much - argufy fable of along walk to freedom taken by get by prisonersfrom a Siberian gulag , The Way Backis a sprawling period of time play in the spirit ofdirector Peter Weir ’s most wholesale epics . The gulag presents a brutal and inhumane fate for these prisoners with the audience desperately hope they can be free from it . The escape from the gulag is really the simplest part of the principal characters ' trial by ordeal but , of course of action , that is n’t their real prison .

It becomes as much a survival film as a prison escape movie with the captive face the rough element .

Their 4000 - mile journeying across just about every kind of beautifully bleak landscape imaginable wears them down to their cores and Weir never loses good deal of the worked up details even in the most enormous backdrops . It becomes as much a endurance motion picture as a prison house relief valve movie with the prisoners confront the harsh elements , include freezing temperatures and vicious fauna . The movie feature a substantial ensemble , including Saoirse Ronan , Ed Harris , and Colin Farrell .

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14King Of Devil’s Island (2010)

Inmates In A Boy’s Prison Rebel

A dramatization of lifespan ina boy ’s prison on the Norwegian island of Bastøy in the other 20th centurywhich leads to an rebellion by the detainee , King of Devil ’s Islandis an inexorable but deep involve dramatic event .

The write up begin with a Modern arrival at the Bastøy prison island where he befriends the other prisoner and attempt to press back against the vilification and putridness he witnesses at the prison . Stellan Skarsgård pass a gifted cast as the critically out - of - touch director of the prison .

However , it ’s the boys themselves who shine the brightest , creating an enveloping criminal macrocosm and unbreakably tough bonds of dedication that could go toe to toe with the most veteran gangster saga . It is a harrowing narration of a place that is meant to process justice yet offer none to the young inmates , pushing them to the point of heroic number .

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13Down By Law (1986)

Three Men Are Locked Up Together And Form A Connection

Jim Jarmusch direct the black - and - white prison escape valve movieDown By Lawstarring Tom Waits , John Lurie , and Roberto Benigni . Waits and Lurie play two men who are set up for a crime they did not commitwhile Benigni is a tourist who is lock up for inadvertent manslaughter .

While most prison escape cock films concentre on these complicated and intricate schemes of escaping , this one is unequaled infocusing on how these convicts interact with each other , present a charming and hilarious trio who form a alone moral force .

Jarmusch ’s predilection for merry dialogue along with cinematographer Robby Müller ’s slow - paced and deliberate camerawork make this one of the more interesting movies about prison . There is a sweet and fun to the pic that is rarified in the genre . Like most of Jarmusch ’s movies , Down By Lawdeveloped a cult follow that extended far beyond its initially kinky indie origins .

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12The Grand Illusion (1937)

World War I POWs Plan Their Escape

During World War I , French officers Captain de Boëldieu ( Pierre Fresnay ) and Lieutenant Maréchal ( Jean Gabin ) are captured by German forces and detained in a prisoner - of - war camp . As they plot their escape , the film delves into themes of class distinctions , camaraderie , and the futility of war .

War movies and prison escape pic often overlap , as is the case with the French filmThe Grand Illusionfrom reserved French auteur Jean Renoir . The story followstwo Gallic pilots who are shoot down and catch during World War I.

After being taken to a German POW bivouac , they continue to fire their pride in the Gallic state of war campaign . They unendingly attempt to escape before being sent to a seemingly inescapable prison .

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Much like with the managing director ’s come chef-d’oeuvre , The normal of the Game , the insights into European finish and its decline are made incomparably poignant by the photographic film ’s proximity to the rootage of the Second World War . It is a persuasion - harry look at the futility of war and the humanity at the center of these conflicts . The Grand Illusionholds the differentiation of being the firstforeign language movie propose for Best Pictureat the Academy Awards .

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11I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)

Based On A Real-Life Convict’s Imprisonment In Georgia

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang trace the agonising journeying of a World War I veteran who becomes embroiled in a life of crime and terminate up doom to hard labor on a Southern chain gang . The film , based on a dead on target story , provides a bare commentary on the American Department of Justice system of the era and presents a gripping tale of perseverance and escape .

Another prison house escape movie from the earlier days of gesture pictures , I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Ganghas the added impact of being based on a on-key story . Adapted from theexperiences of Robert Elliott Burns on a Georgia chain gangafter returning home to a life of a drifter from World War I , this 1930s Best Picture campaigner is just as exciting and pertinent today as it was almost a hundred ago .

This starkly naturalistic drama showed that there were complexness to the world .

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I Am a Fugitive from a Sir Ernst Boris Chain Gangmay not sound like a movie with as wide a telescope as it has but the barbarity of the chemical chain ring itself is only a part of the level ’s word-painting of the wide prison of a corrupt and self - perpetuating deplorable system . In an eld in which the movies had a very clear cut down approximation of what prisoners are and the kind of mass who find oneself themselves in those situations , this starkly realistic dramatic event showed that there were complexities to the macrocosm .

10Rescue Dawn (2006)

The Brutal Fight For Survival Of A Real-Life Vietnam War POW

Rescue Dawn is a warfare drama aim by Werner Herzog , based on the true story of US fighter cowcatcher Dieter Dengler . Set during the Vietnam War , the film chronicles Dengler ’s agonizing journey of natural selection after being buck down over Laos . Christian Bale mavin as the pertinacious aviator facing immense hardship .

Werner Herzog is a filmmaker who skip over between documentary film and narrative movies , but one study inspired him to research it in both spiritualist . Herzog made the documentaryLittle Dieter take to Flyin 1997 about Dieter Dengler , a US pilot light whose plane wasshot down in the state of Laos during the Vietnam War and acquire prisoner .

Herzog then proceeded to search the same story in the movieRescue Dawn , a dramatization of the horrors and barbarism that Dengler faced before decide that his only hope of survival was escape .

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The motion picture is an acute look at Dengler ’s rebellion and eventual escape with another captive from the savage and torturing captivity . Steve Zahn gives a compelling performance as the other captive who join Dengler in the ambitious and grievous safety valve . It is another amazingtransformative purpose for Christian Baleas Dengler whose survival story is grip and triumphant .

9Midnight Express (1978)

A Young Drug Smuggler Attempts To Survive In Turkish Prison

Midnight Express is a celluloid directed by Alan Parker , establish on the true account of Billy Hayes , a young American who is arrested and incarcerate for smuggle drug in Turkey . The plastic film delves into Hayes ' brutal experiences within the Turkish prison house system and his subsequent seek to lam . The screenplay , pen by Oliver Stone , captures the intense and harrowing journey of survival and resilience .

Alan Parker’sMidnight Expressis a tough fib to watch though it ’s a seminal prison house escape movie . College student Billy Hayes ( Brad Davis ) isarrested and sent to a Turkish prison for attempting to smuggle hashish out of Istanbul . As a foreigner in the dangerous prison system , Billy quickly obtain that he will not survive in this prison house and makes plan to escape . Based on Hayes ’s account of his fourth dimension in a Turkish prison house , the photographic film takes many liberties with its story .

Despite that , Parker ’s direction and the performances of the cast are all excellent as well as Giorgio Moroder ’s Oscar - gain mark . The movie make the hearing on a compelling journey with Hayes as it is a dopey choice that terminate him in prison house but the atrocity and torture he endures pretend the audience desire for his dodging .

King Of Devil’s Island (2010)

Prison makes for a unique range of issues and tension that some shows , including Prison Break and Orange Is the New Black usage to expectant essence

8Papillon (1973)

Two Unlikely Friends Plan An Escape From A South American Prison

The star couplet of Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman make for a wonderful distich in the thrillerPapillon . The level is based on supposedtrue events and follows two prisoner who form an unlikely friendshipduring their respective life story sentences in a South American prison house . During this time , one of the prisoners plots an leakage and squawk off one of the most daring plots in film history .

The movie is an former - school Hollywood adventure with a mixture of excitement and apprehension with the daunting chore laid before the protagonists . McQueen is an thespian whose picture show star personal magnetism lights up the screen door but it is interesting to see him in a more vulnerable theatrical role here , often ascertain as one of his safe performances . The movie was remade in 2017 with Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek but this original variation stay on the ranking adaptation of the story .

7The Defiant Ones (1958)

Sidney Poitier Makes History

The Defiant Ones is a flick organize by Stanley Kramer that stars Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier as two escaped convicts who are shackled together . Despite their racial differences and mutual suspicion , they must cooperate to survive while being pursued by the authorities . The film explore stem of racism , mutual dependence , and salvation .

Stanley Kramer ’s 1958 drama , The Defiant Ones , is a heedful and tense film about the struggle of race relations in the fifties . Two inmate clutch an opportunity to escape from a chain crew while chained together , despite hating each other . It is a setup that became a cornerstone of the buddy action moving picture genre with this movie influencing so many others .

However , its ethnical importance goes beyond that . Starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier , this motion picture won two Academy Award , with both actorsbeing nominate for Best Actor in a Leading Role . This was a landmark , asPoitier was the first Black actorto be nominated for the prize . The movie is a brilliant show window of how social issues , such as subspecies relations in America in this character , can be get by with in a meaningful way in the middle of an entertaining dangerous undertaking .

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6A Man Escaped (1956)

A Man Plans An Escape In Nazi-Occupied France

A Man Escaped is a 1956 war drama about a French Resistance fighter imprisoned during World War II . The moving picture follows his punctilious planning and carrying into action of a daring leak from incarceration , showcasing his resolve and resource amid challenging circumstances . Directed by Robert Bresson , it is free-base on rightful issue .

In stern contrast to Renoir’sThe Grand Illusion , Robert Bresson ’s devoutly ascetic warfare movie expose the unfeeling brutality of the Nazi occupation of France through one captive ’s experience .

establish on the memoirs of André Devigny , A Man Escapedfollowsa French electrical resistance fight who is appropriate and imprisoned with the looming terror of being action . Though weakened , afraid , and diffident of where he is , the man takes charge of his fortune and plans a venturous escape .

Down By Law (1986)

A Man Escapedis timelessly tense and the cold , nonsubjective degree of detail in the construction of every part of the outflow makes it all find so much more real . Bresson constructs the movie with a confident minimalist approach , never wasting a stab . It is also an telling trick that the movie is able to build incredible tension and suspense even as thetitle of the movie mess up the ending .

The Grand Illusion (1937)

During World War I, French officers Captain de Boëldieu (Pierre Fresnay) and Lieutenant Maréchal (Jean Gabin) are captured by German forces and detained in a prisoner-of-war camp. As they plot their escape, the film delves into themes of class distinctions, camaraderie, and the futility of war.

I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang (1932)

I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang follows the harrowing journey of a World War I veteran who becomes embroiled in a life of crime and ends up sentenced to hard labor on a Southern chain gang. The film, based on a true story, provides a stark commentary on the American justice system of the era and presents a gripping narrative of perseverance and escape.

Rescue Dawn (2006)

Rescue Dawn is a war drama directed by Werner Herzog, based on the true story of US fighter pilot Dieter Dengler. Set during the Vietnam War, the film chronicles Dengler’s harrowing journey of survival after being shot down over Laos. Christian Bale stars as the tenacious aviator facing immense adversity.

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Headshot Of Toby Huss In The Los Angeles TV Series Premiere Of Paramount+&rsquo;s &lsquo;Fatal Attraction&rsquo;

Midnight Express (1978)

Midnight Express is a film directed by Alan Parker, based on the true story of Billy Hayes, a young American who is arrested and imprisoned for smuggling drugs in Turkey. The film delves into Hayes' brutal experiences within the Turkish prison system and his subsequent attempts to escape. The screenplay, written by Oliver Stone, captures the intense and harrowing journey of survival and resilience.

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The Defiant Ones 1958 Movie Poster

The Defiant Ones is a film directed by Stanley Kramer that stars Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier as two escaped convicts who are shackled together. Despite their racial differences and mutual distrust, they must cooperate to survive while being pursued by the authorities. The film explores themes of racism, mutual dependence, and redemption.

Headshot of Sidney Poitier

A Man Escaped (1956)

A Man Escaped is a 1956 war drama about a French Resistance fighter imprisoned during World War II. The film follows his meticulous planning and execution of a daring escape from captivity, showcasing his resolve and resourcefulness amid challenging circumstances. Directed by Robert Bresson, it is based on true events.

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