DVDpedia : Library : Genre : P

Theatrical: 1962

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 114

Summary: The futile yet inspiring stand of 300 Greek soldiers against the hugest army ever assembled in the ancient world inspired this typical example of Hollywood epic movie-making. King Leonidas of Sparta (Richard Egan, "Demetrius and the Gladiators"), prevented by political squabbling from sending his entire army to defend the narrow pass of Thermopylae, sets out with his personal bodyguard to fight off the ambitious Persian king, Xerxes. Along the way are a pair of young lovers, scantily clad dancing girls, and treachery though a secret mountain path. "The 300 Spartans", made in 1961, has an overstated cold war subtext--there's much talk of freedom vs. slavery--and there are a few too many shots of armored men marching through the Greek countryside, but the historical conflict has a fundamentally stirring quality. Also featuring Sir Ralph Richardson ("Dr. Zhivago", "Dragonslayer") as a wily Athenian politician. "--Bret Fetzer"

Theatrical: 1961

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 90

Summary: A Greek Fisherman brings an Atlantean Princess back to her homeland which is the mythical city of Atlantis. He is enslaved for his trouble. The King is being manipulated by an evil sorcerer who is bent on using a natural resource of Atlantis to take over the world. The Atlanteans, or rather the slaves of Atlantis, are forced to mine a crystalline material which absorbs the suns rays. These crystals can then be used for warmth. The misuse of science has created weapons out of the crystals that can fire a heat ray to destroy whatever it touches.

Theatrical: 1960

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 90

Summary: After the Trojan War, Glauco is the strongest man amongst the Greeks. His friend Pirro meets two men who offer him a large sum of money to persuade Glauco to sail towards unexplored shores. Pirro accepts the proposal and convinces Glauco with a trick: he hits him on his head. The ship lands at a strange place where Pirro and the other men aboard are drugged and find themselves in the hands of the Amazons. Only Glauco escapes, saved from the Egyptian inventor Sofo and he falls in love with Antiope. Between loves and duels, conspiracies and ruses, the pirates will bring together Amazons and Greeks.

Theatrical: 1961

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 127

Summary: A Greek military hero named Darios visits his uncle in Rhodes in the year 280 BC. Rhodes has just finished constructing an enormous colossus of Apollo to guard its harbor and is planning an alliance with Phoenicia which would be hostile to Greece. Darios flirts with the beautiful Diala, daughter of the statue's mastermind, while becoming involved with a group of rebels headed by Peliocles. These rebels seek to overthrow the tyrannical King Serse as does Serse's evil second-in-command, Thar. The rebels' revolt seems to fail, with Peliocles and his men being captured and forced to provide amusement in the local arena, but an earthquake eventually upsets, not only the Colossus in the harbor, but the balance of power in Rhodes as well.

Theatrical: 1964

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 114

Summary:

Theatrical: 1964

Studio: Rank

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 188

Summary: Action-packed look at the beginnings of the fall of the Roman Empire. Here is the glory, the greed and grandeur that was Rome. Here is the story of personal lust for power, and the shattering effects of that power's loss. Here is the tale of the plight of a people living on the brink of a political abyss.

Theatrical: 1957

Studio: Westlake

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 107

Summary: Wish the Steve Reeves Hercules films were just a little more robust than they are: Reeves is magnificent to look at, and the women are beautiful. But somehow, these Hercules films don't create the same feeling in people that they get from Harryhausen's "Jason and the Argonauts", and the more elaborate spectacles like "Ben Hur". Fans of Reeves, and the genre, may object most to the pan-and-scan versions of these movies presented here. Bad prints, too, and this is a shame, because the color photography and widescreen were a huge part of the appeal of these amiably modest spectacles. If you've been waiting for "Hercules" to come out on a restored DVD, this isn't it, sadly. Reeves and his fans deserved better.

Theatrical: 1964

Studio: Retro Media

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 90

Summary: In ancient Greece a race of evil aliens from the moon land on earth. For years they've terrorized the nearby city of Samar, demanding children for sacrifice. Now, the queen of Samar has made a pact with the moon men to conquer the world and become the most powerful woman alive. However, the residents of Samar, sick of all the chaos, cheer when the mighty Hercules shows up to put a stop to it all.

Theatrical: 1961

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 101

Summary: The ever intrepid world-trotting hunk of a man Herc (Hercules to those who are not his friends) saves a beautiful maiden from the hands of an evil creature. She takes him to her home, Atlantis. Herc kicks some butt and saves her from her mother who wants to kill her and from some scary looking blond guys but unfortunately the rest of the inhabitants are destroyed. Do not worry because Herc escapes along with his son, the maiden and an annoying midget.

Theatrical: 1964

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 90

Summary:

Theatrical: 1961

Studio: Kinowelt Home Entertainment

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 81

Summary: Upon his return from battle in the previous film, the great warrior Hercules learns that his lover, Daianara, has lost her senses. Acording of the oracle Medea, Dianara's only hope is the Stone of Forgetfulness which lies deep in the realm of Hades. Hercules, with two companions, Theseus and Telemachus, embarks on a dangerous quest for the stone, while he is unaware that Dianara's guardian, King Lico, is the one responsible for her condition and plots to have the girl for himself as his bride upon her revival.

Theatrical: 1959

Studio: Digiview

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 97

Summary: Bodybuilder Steve Reeves once again plays the legendary big muscled warrior in this sequel the the original Hercules. Very good quality digital transfer with widescreen openining titles. Color/97 Minutes/Interactive Menus/Scene Selection/Previews

Theatrical: 1949

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 131

Summary: In Palestine, 1000 B.C., the Jews are ruled by the Philistines Samson, budding Jewish revolutionary, wants to marry Semadar, a Philistine, though it's her young sister, Delilah, who really wants Samson. The wedding becomes a fight in which Semadar is killed; Samson, scorning Delilah, becomes a guerilla whose strength defeats armies. But Delilah, now the Saran's mistress, believes she can discover Samson's weakness.

Theatrical: 1963

Studio:

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 85

Summary: Argolese saves Telca, daughter of King Tedaeo, from a marauding lion. In gratitude the King offers Telca's hand in marriage to Argolese but only if the strongman can slay a dragon which has been laying waste to part of his kingdom. Argolese kills the monster but when he returns he finds that Tedaeo has been overthrown and imprisoned, along with Telca, by a warlike people known as "the Demulus" who rule from a city inside a mountain. Argolese infiltrates this city but is captured and sentenced by Queen Ella to be pulled apart by elephants. Argolese survives this ordeal and Ella suggests an alliance between them. Argolese remains true to Telca but then Ella is killed by the jealous Melissia who becomes the new queen of the Demulus. With the aid of a diminutive ally named Barbar, Argolese frees the followers of King Tedaeo and then releases a lava flow into the city. Both King Tedaeo and the usurper Queen Melissia die in the turmoil but Argolese, Telca, and others escape out of the mountain to begin new lives.

Theatrical: 1960

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 196

Summary: Stanley Kubrick was only 31 years old when Kirk Douglas (star of Kubrick's classic "Paths of Glory") recruited the young director to pilot this epic saga, in which the rebellious slave Spartacus (played by Douglas) leads a freedom revolt against the decadent Roman Empire. Kubrick would later disown the film because it was not a personal project--he was merely a director-for-hire--but "Spartacus" remains one of the best of Hollywood's grand historical epics. With an intelligent screenplay by then-blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo (from a novel by Howard Fast), its message of moral integrity and courageous conviction is still quite powerful, and the all-star cast (including Charles Laughton in full toga) is full of entertaining surprises. Fully restored in 1991 to include scenes deleted from the original 1960 release, the full-length "Spartacus" is a grand-scale cinematic marvel, offering some of the most awesome battles ever filmed and a central performance by Douglas that's as sensitively emotional as it is intensely heroic. Jean Simmons plays the slave woman who becomes Spartacus's wife, and Peter Ustinov steals the show with his frequently hilarious, Oscar-winning performance as a slave trader who shamelessly curries favor with his Roman superiors. The restored version also includes a formerly deleted bathhouse scene in which Laurence Olivier plays a bisexual Roman senator (with restored dialogue dubbed by Anthony Hopkins) who gets hot and bothered over a slave servant played by Tony Curtis. These and other restored scenes expand the film to just over three hours in length. Despite some forgivable lulls, this is a rousing and substantial drama that grabs and holds your attention. Breaking tradition with sophisticated themes and a downbeat (yet eminently noble) conclusion, "Spartacus" is a thinking person's epic, rising above mere spectacle with a story as impressive as its widescreen action and Oscar-winning sets. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1954

Studio: Lux Film

Genre: Peblum

Duration: 117

Summary: This vintage Italian production of "Ulysses" is best enjoyed as Homeric adventure for kids. While "The Odyssey" is handled with admirable fidelity, you may suppress a chuckle when Kirk Douglas, as the titular Greek hero, speaks English "and" Italian, dubbing himself in English! Looking like a "Spartacus" wannabe, Douglas brings appropriate gravity to his classically mythic exploits. Having sacked Troy, Ulysses and his stalwart crew set sail for Ithaca, only to be delayed for a decade by such epic distractions as a giant Cyclops (a memorable highlight), the madness-inducing Sirens, and the deceptive Circe, who turns men into swine. Meanwhile, Ulysses's loyal wife Penelope (Silvana Mangano) is being wooed by suitors (including Anthony Quinn, fresh from Fellini's "La Strada"), making Ulysses's homecoming an urgent necessity. Resembling a Ray Harryhausen fantasy without "dynamation," this ambitious film boasts impressive special effects (for its time), and the kind of lavish sets and costumes that were once an Italian specialty. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1992

Studio: Universal Studios

Genre: Prison

Duration: 125

Summary: Actor-turned-director Edward James Olmos set out to spread the word against the destructiveness of gang violence with this 1992 gritty drama. Set in the barrios of East Los Angeles, he attempts to cover 30 years in the life of a family with strong gang ties. This brutally realistic story may not intentionally glorify violence, but it offers no answers. (Olmos actually shot the prison scenes in Folsom, which explains their harsh reality.) Great performances though, especially by Olmos and William Forsythe. Olmos plays a gang leader released from prison who is finally in touch with himself, only to realize it is too late. The one major problem with this well-intentioned flick is that it is rated R for violence, nudity, and profanity. Therefore, the kids who most need its message are not, in theory, the ones who will see it. "--Rochelle O'Gorman"

Theatrical: 1983

Studio: Anchor Bay

Genre: Prison

Duration: 123

Summary: Prior to starring in the hard-edged 1983 drama "Bad Boys", Sean Penn had proven his early promise in the TV movie "The Killing of Randy Webster", played a memorable supporting role in "Taps" (with fellow newcomer Tom Cruise), and created the definitive California surfer dude as the perpetually stoned Jeff Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". But it was "Bad Boys" that cemented Penn's reputation as a rare talent--an actor whose skill transcended his youth, revealing a depth and maturity that the majority of his acting peers could only aspire to. That gravity and emotional dimension is evident throughout Penn's performance here as Mick O'Brien, a chronic offender whose path to a Chicago juvenile corrections facility seems utterly preordained. The institution is hardly conducive to reformation--it's a jail for problem kids, and a cauldron for all the societal ills that sent kids there in the first place. Mick's there because he was involved in a shootout during a botched robbery of drugs from rival street gangster Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), whose little brother was killed when Mick accidentally ran him over with his getaway car.
Overcrowding results in Mick and Paco's being sent to the same facility (one of the film's few stretches of credibility), and this leads to a rather predictable showdown that will take the juvie prison's violence to its inevitable extreme. It's a shame this conclusion ultimately doesn't live up to the film's superior first hour, but "Bad Boys" remains a remarkably authentic, even touching portrait of troubled youth whose torment is conveyed through thoughtful and richly emotional development of characters. Director Rick Rosenthal (who had previously helmed "Halloween II") maintains a vivid sense of setting within the correctional facility's cold walls, and through the performances of Penn and a superb supporting cast (including Ally Sheedy in her film debut as Mick's girlfriend), "Bad Boys" emerges as one of the best films of its kind, forcing the viewer to ask difficult questions about at-risk youth and the proper way to improve or at least preserve their endangered lives. "--Jeff Shannon"

Theatrical: 1930

Studio:

Genre: Prison

Duration: 87

Summary: After a manslaughter conviction from drunk driving, nice but foolish Kent is sent to a prison over-crowded and unable to properly deal with it's inmates. There he meets veteran criminals like Morgan and his hardened pal Butch. And the system punishes them all, turning them against each other and bringing out the worst.

Theatrical: 1947

Studio: Criterion

Genre: Prison

Duration: 98

Summary: Jules Dassin's brooding, brutal drama about a prison wound to the breaking point by a sadistic captain of the guards is a classic film noir as well as one of the greatest prison films ever made. Burt Lancaster (in only his third film but already commanding the screen like a pro) is the savvy prison veteran whose clashes with Hume Cronyn (the ambitious guard with a god complex) land him first in solitary then in the claustrophobic drain pipe, a muddy, airless work detail that slowly kills every man assigned to it. With the help of his cellmate buddies and former gangland boss Charles Bickford he hatches a plan to break out, but Cronyn has his own plans for the unbreakable prisoner. Dassin's oppressive prison is thick with atmosphere: cavernous buildings and halls that echo with the footsteps of inmates and the clanking of bars, overcrowded cells that seem to close in on the men, a busy machine shop where the film's most memorable scene takes place--the ruthless assassination of a stoolie in a pounding metal press. Cinematographer William Daniels, a master of Hollywood's soft-focus glamour, creates a harsh, hard-edged look for the film, softened only by looming shadows. A sense of doom hovers over everything, culminating in an explosive finale, but the barbaric, brutish violence hangs in the air long after the film is over. "--Sean Axmaker"
On the DVD
Criterion's beautiful restored print of "Brute Force" is accompanied by a small collection of supporting materials, including a commentary track by longtime film noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini. They give a good brief on the film's history, such as the disagreements between producer Mark Hellinger and director Jules Dassin on the subject of the movie's use of flashbacks--an approach that would break the claustrophobia of the prison sequences and introduce female characters. Hellinger wanted the backstory, Dassin objected, and the producer won; but the point is definitely arguable. Prison-movie specialist Paul Mason gives a useful 15-minute talk, partly on "Brute Force" and partly on the genre of prison movies. Criterion's booklet has an excellent essay by critic Michael Atkinson, a vintage 1947 profile of the colorful columnist-turned-producer Hellinger, and an intriguing, bitter exchange of letters between Hellinger and Production Code chief Joseph Breen on the subject of the film's censorship problems. "--Robert Horton"

Theatrical: 1950

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Prison

Duration: 96

Summary: Frightened 19-year-old Marie Allen (Eleanor Parker) gets sent to an Illinois penitentiary for being an accomplice in an armed robbery. A sympathetic prison head (Agnes Moorehead) tries to help, but her efforts are subverted by cruel matron Evelyn Harper (Hope Emerson). Marie's harsh experiences turn her from doe-eyed innocent to hard-nosed con.

Theatrical: 1974

Studio: Buena Vista

Genre: Prison

Duration: 79

Summary: The greatest women-in-prison film ever made, "Caged Heat" takes the traditional sex-and-violence formula of gorgeous babes behind bars, gratuitous nudity, and degradation at the hands of beastly guards and a corrupt system, and transforms it into rebel burst of grrrl power. Jonathan Demme's directorial debut, made for Roger Corman's New World Pictures in the glory days of 1970s drive-in moviemaking, wedges his message of empowerment in between the showers and the shock treatments. Russ Meyer alumnus Erica Gavin stars with tough cookie Juanita Brown as they lead the brassy set of cellblock babes through prison breaks and bank robberies, all pulled off with smarts and sass. These women are in control and manage to keep their dignity (if not their clothes) in this fast-paced, hard-edged picture, but it's Barbara Steele who practically steals the film as the repressed warden whose dreams look like a road show version of "Cabaret". "--Sean Axmaker"

Theatrical: 1967

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Prison

Duration: 126

Summary: Luke Jackson is a cool, gutsy prisoner in a Southern chain gang, who, while refusing to buckle under to authority, keeps escaping and being recaptured. The prisoners admire Luke because, as Dragline explains it, "You're an original, that's what you are!" Nevertheless, the camp staff actively works to crush Luke until he finally breaks.

Theatrical: 1939

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Prison

Duration: 92

Summary: Although innocent, reporter Frank Ross is found guilty of murder and is sent to jail. While his friends at the newspaper try to find out who framed him, Frank gets hardened by prison life and his optimism turns into bitterness. He meets fellow-inmate Stacey and they decide to help each other.

Theatrical: 1979

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Prison

Duration: 111

Summary: One of Clint Eastwood's two most important filmmaking mentors was Don Siegel (the other was Sergio Leone), who directed Eastwood in "Dirty Harry", "Coogan's Bluff", "Two Mules for Sister Sara", and this enigmatic, 1979 drama based on a true story about an escape from the island prison of Alcatraz. Eastwood plays a new convict who enters into a kind of mind game with the chilly warden (Patrick McGoohan) and organizes a break leading into the treacherous waters off San Francisco. As jailbird movies go, this isn't just a grotty, unpleasant experience but a character-driven work with some haunting twists. "--Tom Keogh"

Theatrical: 2008

Studio: Pantry Films

Genre: Prison

Duration: 104

Summary: Een brave familievader met een veelbelovende toekomst verliest alles wat hij heeft, wanneer hij een inbreker in zijn huis per ongeluk doodmaakt. Veroordeeld voor onvrijwillige doodslag, moet hij de komende drie jaar doorbrengen in een zwaarbewaakte gevangenis waar de regels van de normale maatschappij niet langer gelden.

Theatrical: 1932

Studio: Warner Home Video

Genre: Prison

Duration: 93

Summary: Having returned from fighting in World War I, James Allen doesn't want to settle into a humdrum life and decides to set off to find his fortune. He travels the length and breadth of America, working as a skilled tradesman in the construction industry. When times get tough however, he finds himself living in a shelter where an acquaintance suggests they go out for a hamburger. What the friend really has in mind is to rob the diner and Allen soon finds himself working on a chain gang with a long jail sentence. Allen manages to escape however and heads to Chicago where over several years he slowly but surely works his way up the ladder to become one of the most respected construction engineers in the city. His past catches up with him and despite protestations from civic leaders and his many friends in Chicago, he finds himself again on the chain gang. Escaping for a second time, he accepts that to survive, he must lead a life of crime.

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: Altamira Pictures Inc.

Genre: Prison

Duration: 143

Summary:

Theatrical: 2000

Studio: Sony Pictures

Genre: Prison

Duration: 105

Summary: Avery had to drop out of college to support his girlfriend Krista and their son Jordan, but he saved his money and is eager to get back in the game. He has returned to the swim meet circuit and is now having the time of his life. One night, after winning a race, he is approached by a college scout. Thrilled, he goes out with his friends Dre and Cashmere to celebrate. A gun used in a drive-by shooting somehow finds its way into Cashmere's car. The cops arrive, and soon the trio land in jail. Cashmere has an easier time adapting to penitentiary life than Dre and Avery, who are more unfamiliar with the gang life that pervades the environment. Avery clings to Krista and Jordan as reasons to hold on, but there is only one man who can, and will, fight on his behalf - Charles, his swimming scout, who believes in his innocence without question. Regardless of the outcome, Avery must learn to hold on to his ideals after the brutality he has witnessed.

Theatrical: 1973

Studio: Allied Artists Pictures

Genre: Prison

Duration: 150

Summary: Based on the true story of Henri Charriere, also known as Papillon, which is French for 'butterfly' (the character even sports a large tattoo of a butterfly). A petty criminal, Papillon is wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to life in a French penal colony in 'Guiane' (French Guiana, South America). Papillon is determined to escape but attempt after attempt meets with difficulty, resulting in eventual recapture. He continues his attempts to escape despite incarcerations in solitary confinement as punishment.

Theatrical: 1979

Studio: Xenon

Genre: Prison

Duration: 99

Summary:

Theatrical: 1987

Studio: Tai Seng

Genre: Prison

Duration: 98

Summary: This solid 1987 big-house melodrama costars Tony Leung Kar-fei ("The Lover") as a bespectacled innocent, perhaps mentally impaired, who is unjustly imprisoned. Behind bars he is befriended by a life-loving reprobate (Chow Yun-fat) who displays his cool by rolling a lit cigarette over his knuckles, in a risky variation on the George Raft silver dollar trick. Director Ringo Lam jacks up the visceral tension effectively, even though Leung's character is too naive to be true. Chow is in top form, however, enduring even more brutal beatings than in "A Better Tomorrow". All prison exposé films are essentially the same, but this one has a few unusual wrinkles: there are no intimations of that American slammer staple, homosexuality, though close fraternal attachments are suggested in a lyrical Christmas party dance sequence. "--David Chute"

Theatrical: 1986

Studio: MGM

Genre: Prison

Duration: 112

Summary: Tearing up the track at 100 miles-per-hour, Runaway Train features hair-raising footage (Leonard Maltin) and spectacular, OscarÂ(r)-nominated* performances by Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. Packed with action, suspense and a powerful climax that will sweep you away (The New YorkDaily News), Runaway Train is an intense...stunning...astonishing (Roger Ebert) super-thriller! Manny (Voight) is the toughest convict in a remote Alaskan prison who, along with fellow inmate Buck (Roberts), makes a daring breakout. Hopping a freight train, they head full-steam for freedom, but when the engineer dies of a heart attack, they find themselves trapped, alone and speeding toward certain disaster. Until, that is, they discover a third passenger, a beautiful railroad worker (Rebecca DeMornay) who's just as desperateand just as determined to surviveas they are! *1985: Actor (Voight), Supporting Actor (Roberts)

Theatrical: 2006

Studio: Happinet Pictures

Genre: Prison

Duration: 97

Summary: