Posted September 6, 2012 by Scott Lawlor in Daily Posts

Thursday List – Top Prison Break Movies

Mel Gibson (Driver) in How I Spent My Summer Vacation

As Lionsgate UK releases Mel Gibson’s HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION onto DVD and Blu-ray from 24^th September we have a look at some of the best prison break films to grace the silver screen!

Who doesn’t like a prison escape movie? They certainly seem to have been a hot property genre over the years, below we have listed some of our favourite Prison Break movies

La Grande Illusion

During WWI, three French officers are captured. Captain De Boeldieu is an aristocrat while Lieutenant Marechal was a mechanic in civilian life. They meet other prisoners from various backgrounds, as Rosenthal, son of wealthy Jewish bankers. They are separated from Rosenthal before managing to escape. A few months later, they meet again in a fortress commanded by the aristocrat Van Rauffenstein. De Boeldieu strikes up a friendship with him but Marechal and Rosenthal still want to escape…

Check out my review of the blu ray HERE

Cool Hand Luke

In Cool Hand Luke, Paul Newman plays one of his best-loved roles as the loner who won’t, or can’t, conform to the arbitrary rules of his captivity. A cast of fine character actors, including George Kennedy in his Academy Award-winning role of Dragline, gives Newman solid support as fellow prisoners. And Strother Martin is the Captain who taunts Luke with the famous line, ‘”What we’ve got here is…failure to communicate.” No failure here. With rich humour and vibrant storytelling power, Cool Hand Luke succeeds resoundingly

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Directed by Adrian Grunberg and produced by and also starring Oscar winner, Mel Gibson (Braveheart, Edge of Darkness), How I Spent My Summer Vacation tells the story of wise-cracking Driver (Gibson) as he attempts to escape from ‘El Pueblito’, the worst prison in all of Mexico. However as Driver soon learns, El Pueblito is not an easy place for an outsider, and there’s little chance of breaking out unless it’s with the help of someone who knows the ropes… a 10-year-old kid. An explosive, action-packed thrill ride, How I Spent My Summer Vacation takes the breakout plot to the next level.

The Shawshank Redemption

Starring Tim Robbins (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) and Morgan Freeman (Million Dollar Baby, Driving Miss Daisy), the award-winning Shawshank Redemption regularly tops film polls for its deft exploration of the prison-break plot. Adapted from the classic Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the film tells the story of Andy Dufresne (Robbins), a banker who spends nearly two decades in Shawshank State Prison for the murder of his wife and her lover despite his claims of innocence. During his time at the prison, he befriends a fellow inmate, Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding (Freeman), before finally breaking for freedom.

The Great Escape

This 1960s classic starring Steve McQueen (The Cincinatti Kid, The Thomas Crown Affair) tells the tale of a group of allied POWs as they plan for several hundred of their number to make the greatest escape of them all: from a German camp during World War II.

Escape from Alcatraz

In Escape from Alcatraz the legendary Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby) plays stoic Frank Morris, one of the three prisoners believed to have succeeded in escaping the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island and getting off “The Rock.” Co-starring Fred Ward (Tremors, Miami Blue) and featuring the film debut of Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, The Colour Purple); the film marks the fifth and final collaboration between Eastwood and iconic director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, The Beguiled).

Papillon

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet of the Apes, Nicholas and Alexandra) and based upon the best-selling autobiography by French convict Henri Charrière, the Oscar-nominated Papillon sees Steve McQueen and Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man) as two convicts who forge a deep friendship whilst incarcerated together in 1930s France and decide to escape the desperate confines of the prison walls.