Prison Drama

[D'wards]

Inspired by the Time thread I thought there is enough there to justify a thread of its own.

It's a great genre, and has produced some cracking films, and some utter shit too of course.

Me and me pals used to watch Scum.and McVicar a lot as kids to the extent one of them had a song from the McVicar soundtrack at her funeral- which may be a world first.

More recently I enjoyed Brawl in Cell Block 99, although was a little silly but still a great watch.

Tv wise the aforementioned Time was excellent. Prison Break started off great but soon tailed off, like most TV series.

What else?

 

[Santino]

Paddington 2

 

[D'wards]

Paddington 2

Quite!

It doesn't have to been all rape in the greenhouse (although interestingly thats in the dvd extras as an homage in Paddington 2)

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Does anyone remember Within These Walls, a tv series set in a womens' prison? It was in the early 70s I believe. I think it was about a rather posh prison governor trying to make the prison regime a bit more liberal. I was only young when I watched it, and I expect it would seem very corny and twee nowadays.

 

[trabuquera]

OZ - the one and only in TV terms
Blood in Blood Out (1993) - LA gangs/prison pipeline system classic, in many ways a terrible movie but legendary among actual gangsters of its milieu

 

[Reno]

I've mentioned A Prophet and Hunger on the Time thread and they would be among the best prison film I've seen. It's not something I'm hugely drawn to, I'm allergic to an excess of macho antics and prison films often revolve around the same, limited amount of tropes.

 

[belboid]

Does anyone remember Within These Walls, a tv series set in a womens' prison? It was in the early 70s I believe. I think it was about a rather posh prison governor trying to make the prison regime a bit more liberal. I was only young when I watched it, and I expect it would seem very corny and twee nowadays.

I was just thinking of that one. It was probably quite radical for the time but would indeed be embarrassingly bad now.

Googie Withers was the governor.

 

[hitmouse]

Yeah, Oz is great, I've not watched OINTB but remember that being hyped for a bit. Uh, Arrested Development?

 

[belboid]

Anyone mentioning a film with ‘Redemption’ in the title needs banning.

 

[Reno]

 

[DotCommunist]

Scum is the best isn't it. If you've not seen it Jamie Lannister is in the OK 'Shot Caller'. Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood is mint. Papilon was one I watched a few years back that is a rated highly. Cool Hand Luke of course, another classic

 

[Reno]

Maybe the most famous of many scifi-prison movies:

 

[hitmouse]

(i have never actually seen this but it feels obligatory)

 

[D'wards]

View attachment 277325
(i have never actually seen this but it feels obligatory)

Porridge is fantastic. The film is great too

 

[DotCommunist]

Porridge was very funny, theres a christmas special 'the desperate hours' which I remember fondly. For sci fi prison films Reno has mentioned one of the best but the Christopher Lambert starred 'Fortress' is also worth a look.

 

[belboid]

Scum is the best isn't it. If you've not seen it Jamie Lannister is in the OK 'Shot Caller'. Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood is mint. Papilon was one I watched a few years back that is a rated highly. Cool Hand Luke of course, another classic

Loved Papillon when I first saw it but thought it had dated incredibly badly when I saw it again.

Birdman of Alcatraz is still good, as is Brute Force, a 40’s noir.

Animal Factory (Steve Buscemi’s second film based, on an Edward Bunker book) is meant to be very good and is on prime now so I should catch up with it.

Bronson is quite a watch too.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Vis a Vis a.k.a Locked Up, a Spanish series is pretty good.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Some films not yet mentioned:

• Un Condamné À Mort S'est Échappé Ou Le Vent Souffle Où Il Veut AKA A Man Escaped
• Brubaker
• The Longest Yard
• Przesłuchanie AKA Interrogation
• The Escapist

TV series worth catching:

• Buried

 

[belboid]

Kiss of the Spiderwoman (not exactly a run of the mill prison piece). Though I havent seen it 25+ years, so it could look a bit naff now too.

 

[D'wards]

Mean Machine! Loved it as a kid but not seen it since the early 90s.
I'll have to check it out again

 

[DotCommunist]

Mean Machine is 100% worth it for this joke:
'let me play, I had trials'
'We all had fuckin trials mate thats why we're here'

 

[D'wards]

Mean Machine! Loved it as a kid but not seen it since the early 90s.
I'll have to check it out again

After googling the trailer I now realise the film i am thinking of is called The Longest Yard - it was always Mean Machine on telly I'm sure

 

[DotCommunist]

After googling the trailer I now realise the film i am thinking of is called The Longest Yard - it was always Mean Machine on telly I'm sure

Mean Machine is the vinnie jones led adapt of the longest yard.

 

[DotCommunist]

Oh, The Last Castle with James Gandolfini as the Guv of a military prison is good.

 

[DaveCinzano]

Mean Machine is the vinnie jones led adapt of the longest yard.

The Longest Yard (1974) was retitled The Mean Machine in the UK. The 2001 British remake with Vinnie Jones was called Mean Machine. It was remade again as an Adam Sandler vehicle in 2005, again as The Longest Yard.

 

[D'wards]

Burt was flipping brilliant

 

[D'wards]

Scrubbers was like the female Scum, starring a young Kathy Burke and a younger Pat Butcher

 

[belboid]

Stir Crazy was hilarious in the eighties. Another one I’m a little scared of reviewing.

 

[souljacker]

Anyone ever seen American Me? Edward James Olmos movie that enraged real life mexican gangsters so much that they tried to extort money off him and allegedly murdered 10 people involved in making the movie.

 

[D'wards]

I saw A Sense of Freedom as a very young kid - maybe about 8 (parenting was a little different back then).
I can just recall the protagonist covered in poo in a poo covered cell.

Might track that down- I'd like to watch it as an adult.

Anyone recall the gag in Arrested Development where it says as a little boy George Michael wanted to watch the Wizard of Oz but got confused and watched gritty prison drama Oz - cut to a shot of a little boy watching horrified from behind his blankets