Last Updated on 12 June 2024

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 100 best prison escape movies of all time.

I found 18 different ranked lists online of “best prison break or prison escape movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 18 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

Greatest Prison Escape Movies – Viewing ChecklistDownload
  1. The Great Escape (1963)
  2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
  3. Escape from Alcatraz (1979)
  4. Papillon (1973)
  5. Midnight Express (1978)
  6. Cool Hand Luke (1967)
  7. The Fugitive (1993)
  8. Chicken Run (2000)
  9. A Man Escaped (1956)
  10. Rescue Dawn (2006)
  11. O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
  12. Escape from New York (1981)
  13. The Grand Illusion (1937)
  14. Stalag 17 (1953)
  15. Escape Plan (2013)
  16. Con Air (1997)
  17. The Defiant Ones (1958)
  18. Brute Force (1947)
  19. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002)
  20. The Way Back (2010)
  21. I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
  22. Toy Story 3 (2010)
  23. Victory (1981)
  24. Runaway Train (1985)
  25. Logan Lucky (2017)
  26. Down By Law (1986)
  27. Le Trou (The Hole) (1960)
  28. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
  29. Life (1999)
  30. U.S. Marshals (1998)
  31. No Escape (1994)
  32. The Old Man & the Gun (2018)
  33. Out of Sight (1998)
  34. Son of a Gun (2014)
  35. King of Devil’s Island (2010)
  36. Von Ryan’s Express (1965)
  37. The Count of Monte Cristo (1934)
  38. Shot Caller (2017)
  39. Public Enemies (2009)
  40. Holes (2003)
  41. Room (2015)
  42. Cube (1997)
  43. Escape from L.A. (1996)
  44. Stir Crazy (1980)
  45. Papillon (2017)
  46. The Escapist (2008)
  47. Escape from Pretoria (2020)
  48. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
  49. The Colditz Story (1955)
  50. Maze (2017)
  51. Abashiri Prison (1965)
  52. Bronson (2008)
  53. The Last Castle (2001)
  54. Brawl in Cell Block 99 (2017)
  55. Ernest Goes to Jail (1990)
  56. The Next Three Days (2010)
  57. Lockout (2012)
  58. Escape Plan: The Extractors (2019)
  59. Prison Break: The Final Break (2009)
  60. The Count of Monte Cristo (1975)
  61. The McKenzie Break (1970)
  62. The Wooden Horse (1950)
  63. Escape from Sobibor (1987)
  64. Escape at Dannemora (2018)
  65. Paddington 2 (2017)
  66. The Green Mile (1999)
  67. Watchmen (2009)
  68. Unbroken (2014)
  69. Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
  70. Shutter Island (2010)
  71. The Big House (1930)
  72. There Was a Crooked Man… (1970)
  73. Snowpiercer (2013)
  74. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
  75. Breakout (1975)
  76. Face/Off (1997)
  77. The Maze Runner (2014)
  78. The Rock (1996)
  79. Finding Nemo (2003)
  80. The Island (2005)
  81. Get Out (2017)
  82. Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
  83. Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
  84. The Truman Show (1998)
  85. The Shape of Water (2017)
  86. Ex Machina (2014)
  87. Green Room (2015)
  88. Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (2008)
  89. Death Race (2008)
  90. Undisputed 3: Redemption (2010)
  91. White Heat (1949)
  92. The MacKintosh Man (1973)
  93. Passage to Marseille (1944)
  94. Cube²: Hypercube (2002)
  95. Defiance (2008)
  96. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)
  97. Birdman of Alcatraz (1962)
  98. Diamonds of the Night (1964)
  99. The Condemned (2007)
  100. Starred Up (2013)

Loading