What is the greatest prison-break film?

Yes, it's this one

http://filmforum.org/film/le-trou-film

Bresson's A Man Escaped is a different, less genre-specific beast imho.

Sounds thrilling. I'll stick with Runaway Train.

well i'm sold. i hadn't heard of this, not really knowing becker.

The Shawshank Redemption, obviously.

The knife came down, missing anagram by inches, and he took off.

Escape from New York

I can vouch for Le Trou, it's excellent. Becker also made Touchez pas au grisbi, a classic noir

What was the name of that process film they show you in film classes of the dude escaping from a small Nazi prison?

prison break: resurrection, a feature film in 9 parts

The Great Escape. Can't go wrong with Steve McQueen.

the Bresson film is totally a prison break movie but also one of the great artistic achievements of all time so I vote for that

have not seen Le Trou!! will fix that now :)

you feel the tension right to the credits in A Man Escaped, it's such a great movie.

The Shawshank Redemption is the answer to "the worst" in several categories

Papillon

Bad movie

THX1138

Tango and cash

Ernest goes to jail

Does I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang count?

I was thinking films where the bulk of the plot was consumed w/ planning and/or executing an escape. IAAFFACG is obviously great but broader than that.

i really love escape from alcatraz although its flashes of homophobia are pretty grim viewing from a 2017 perspective

Tango and cash

dmac bringing a nuclear warhead to a knife fight here imo

yes, that's one of the better Hollywood ones xp

i kind of expect homophobia in prison, along w/ homoeroticism

Dassin's Brute Force

or Laurel and Hardy's Pardon Us

both worthy

it's been so long since i saw Brute Force -- isnt it more of a prison riot film?

It's been a while since I've seen Brute Force also, but Burt is definitely trying to escape (the riot might be cover for the escape?) SPOILERS - it definitely belongs in the 'unsuccessful prison escape' category.

very few i can recall are unmitigated successes

The reason i started this after re-seeing Le Trou yesterday is it's sort of the Aristotelian ideal. There's a 4-minute shot of guys chipping at cement.

Rescue dawn is p good imo

Matrix is all about breaking out of the prison of the fake world that people thimk they're living in isn't it? Or rather the reality that taht's hiding.

we need bars, guards and tin cups.

La Grande Illusion

Cool Hand Luke features numerous prison breaks. It's also a pretty good film, although not a "greatest".

A Man Escaped vs Fortress

for myself i exclude escape films that are also war films, in this category.

i enjoyed Animal Factory, if "enjoyed" is the right word. the escape is at the end and it's kind of an odd one.

You know what, Life was actually pretty good.

I can vouch for Le Trou, it's excellent.

just watched it and yes it is.

i also just watched and yes holy shit. absolutely masterful. those long shots of the flickering light cast by their torch illuminating the sides of the tunnel!

the soundtrack is almost hallucinatorily concrete, loud, in your face.

there is way more than 10 mins of chipping cement btw

well, he holds two of those chipping shots for at least 4 minutes

it's immense.

it also feels intensely political. there's the class aspect, obviously. which we think we're going to be able to sidestep despite lots of flashing warnings that we're not. and the general us-against-the-system vibe. but something about seeing the meticulous detail of the preparation and execution played against the forces conspiring against them... the values of trust and straight talking vs reserve and secrets. of action vs emotion.

"this is what we do, what we're going to do, are you in?" vs "oh it's complicated, i'd bore you"

Out of Sight is pretty fun.

Chicken run

Fortress

Lockout, aka Escape From New York In Space, with Guy Pearce as Kurt Russell.

Natural Born Killers is about half a prison-break film