Best Prison movies of 1980s

Actors : Joe Don Baker, Rossano Brazzi, Patrizia Pellegrino, Venantino Venantini,
Directors : Greydon Clark,

Homicidal Sheriff Thomas Jefferson Geronimo is tasked with escorting a mobster to Malta; when the prisoner escapes, Geronimo goes rogue to catch him.

Actors : Gary Oldman, Pamela Reed, Dennis Hopper, Frances McDormand,
Directors : Mick Jackson,

In 1955 Florida, a Korean vet has a breakdown and is incarcerated in a "maximum security" mental health prison, where patients are abused.

Actors : Lauren Bacall, John Gielgud, Peter Ustinov, Carrie Fisher,
Directors : Michael Winner,

When a former prison wardress who dominates the lives of her three adult stepchildren and her daughter is found dead at an archaeological dig near the Dead Sea, there are a great many suspects.

Actors : Daniel Valdez, Charles Aidman, Tyne Daly, Edward James Olmos,
Directors : Luis Valdez,

A kind of musical accompanying the story of the early 1940's and the effect that the "zoot suit" (a man's suit of long jacket and pegged pants, always worn with a long keychain that looped ...

Actors : Leonard Pietraszak, Witold Pyrkosz, Jan Machulski, Ewa Szykulska,
Directors : Juliusz Machulski,

Set in Warsaw in 1930's. After six years in jail, framed for bank robbery by an accomplice, the legendary Kwinto has only revenge on his mind. He is a safecracker in the old style, a thief ...

Actors : Adam Ferency, Krystyna Janda, Agnieszka Holland, Janusz Gajos,
Directors : Ryszard Bugajski,

Tonia goes out drinking. She wakes up in prison, not having a clue why she's there. She is tortured to encourage her to confess to a crime she is not aware of.

Actors : Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine, Edward Herrmann, Diane Keaton,
Directors : Gillian Armstrong,

Peter Soffel is the stuffy warden of a remote American prison around the turn of the century. His wife, Kate, finds herself attracted to prisoner Ed Biddle. She abandons her husband and ...

Actors : Bert Remsen, Gary Busey, Seymour Cassel, Yaphet Kotto,
Directors : Richard C. Sarafian,

Returning home from prison, a Vietnam War veteran sets out to clean up his hometown which has come under the control of a violent motorcycle gang.

Actors : Nick Nolte, Debra Winger, Will Patton, Judith Ivey,
Directors : Karel Reisz,

A seeming good Samaritan (Debra Winger) hires a private detective (Nolte) to prove a teen sitting in prison on a murder charge is innocent. His investigation discovers deep corruption in a ...

Actors : Roy Cheung, Ka-Kui Ho, Yun-Fat Chow, Tony Ka Fai Leung,
Directors : Ringo Lam,

Inside a Chinese prison two inmates form a friendship and face the difficulty of life on the inside.

Actors : Gino Samil, Magnus Nilsson, Johan Ulveson, Björn Skifs,
Directors : Jonas Frick,

Conny is a chemistry teacher who is framed for drugpossesion. Unable to prove his innocence he ends up in prison. When he finds a secret exit some inmates "persuades" him to participate in ...

Actors : Ned Manning, Wilbur Wilde, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford,
Directors : Brian Trenchard-Smith,

In the near future, a teenage couple are trapped in a drive-in theater which has become a concentration camp for social outcasts. The inmates are treated to drugs, exploitation films, junk food, and new wave music.

Actors : Mike Bishop, David Field, Chris DeRose, Kevin Mackey,
Directors : John Hillcoat,

Prison gangs clash in a high-tech security jail where there are no rules.

Actors : Billy Murray, Adam Faith, Cheryl Campbell, Roger Daltrey,
Directors : Tom Clegg,

'John McVicar' was a London Bad Boy. He graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest ...

Actors : Anatoliy Papanov, Nina Usatova, Valeriy Priyomykhov, Viktor Stepanov,
Directors : Aleksandr Proshkin,

After the general Soviet gulag amnesty of 1953 former political inmates Sergei and Nikolai arrive in a remote Siberian village where 8 pardoned common criminals terrorize the inhabitants.

Actors : Dilip Kumar, Jackie Shroff, Naseeruddin Shah, Nutan,
Directors : Subhash Ghai,

The PSO is a British oriented group who wants to take control of India. When senior police inspector Vishwa Pratap Singh arrests there leader Dr. Michael Dang the authorities blast the jail...

Actors : Nick Nolte, Rita Taggart, Ernie Hudson, Mark Rolston,
Directors : John D. Hancock,

A San Quentin inmate, sentenced to life without parole, writes a play that catches the interest of a reporter.

Actors : J.J. Cohen, Jon Polito, Virginia Madsen, Craig Sheffer,
Directors : Duncan Gibbins,

A young woman from a Catholic school and a young man from a nearby prison camp fall in love and must run away together to escape the law, the church and their parents.

Actors : Michel Galabru, Gérard Depardieu, Catherine Deneuve, Yves Montand,
Directors : Alain Corneau,

Two men break out of prison; a rival gang ambushes them. One is mortally wounded and tells the other, Mickey, to take him to the estate of a retired robber, Noel, who lives in comfort with ...

Actors : Raul Julia, Teri Garr, Griffin O'Neal, Desi Arnaz,
Directors : Caleb Deschanel,

The young and self-confident Danny blufs at the local police-station that he will escape out of prison within one hour. What follows is a flashback about his childhood with his uncle and ...