Lock Up (1989)

Please don't spend money on this.

Lack of good storyline.

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Absolutely the worst movie.

How many maximum security prisons have full on garages with beautiful cars in them? I'm guessing not many. Also, think about this...the people in this prison are the scum of the earth - they're murderers, child molesters, the worst people on the planet. But for some reason we're getting behind these people and rooting for them? Only the one guy (Stallone) doesn't deserve to be there. All the rest of them (except for the 1% or so who could be innocent) are revolting, horrible people. Makes "Tango and Cash" look like "Citizen Kane." This turkey is bad from the first moment, with that 80s sentimental/emotional/uplifting synthesizer riff so we know this is the good guy. He's good with children, he's kind, all roses and sunshine. Then the dark scene with the man with the scowl on his face and the music is in minor key. Yep, that's the bad guy. Just in case you didn't pick up on that.

Sylvester Stallone always gets a bad rap for his films, not sure why? I've been checking out some of his older stuff recently and this is one of the good ones. Its from 89, so you immediately have to excuse some of the cheese that comes from movies out of that era but the plot is strong (if unoriginal) and the acting more than decent especially from Donald Sutherland as the sadistic and bloodthirsty prison warden and a(very thin) Tom Sizemore in an early role. Frank McRae & Sonny Landham also impress and there is a brief sighting from Danny Trejo as "gang member." Its classic Stallone though, he always manages to put a spin on his tough guy characters so that you feel sympathy and genuinely care about them. The story is entertaining and pretty much delivers what you'd expect from a prison film including here football games in the mud, and a montage while the guys work on a muscle car in the garage -strangely reminding me of 'Grease'.I liked Stallone's character in this, he plays Frank Leone; a minimum security nice guy just trying to finish his time and go home to his girlfriend. He has just weeks left before being released when he's suddenly moved to a maximum security hellhole. This prison is run by warden Drumgoole who wants revenge because Frank was the only man to ever escape which resulted in his demotion (Frank needed to attend a funeral).Drumgoole proceeds to make Frank's last few weeks a living hell, "This is hell, and I'm going to give you the guided tour" pushing him to the limits and having his sadistic guards torture him. When Frank won't break (despite time in the hole, getting shanked and encounters with fellow prisoner Chink Weber) Drumgoole arranges for him to learn that his girlfriend is about to be raped on the outside, causing Frank to plot his escape once more.Stallone seems to have a penchant for doing movies where his character goes to prison. Not sure what that's all about but look at this list; Tango and Cash, Escape to Victory, First Blood, First Blood part2, Judge Dredd, Demolition Man, Escape.

Lock Up will not be the most memorable film, but Stallone did a much better job than he usually does, and the film had a good depiction of the jail as a real hell.It could have been a very good movie, but it was just way too predictable. If Leone is getting beat up in a rugby game and they show a guy concerned in the back, will the guy help him? Of course he does. If Leone tells a guy only to start a car and drive it, will the guy drive it? Of course he does. And does Leone get punished instead of the guy? of course he does... I mean, you predicted it way before it actually happened. I wanted to be surprised, but you never will be in this movie. I actually fell asleep watching it, too slow at the start.Corrupt prison movie. Good action in the end. If you like Stallone and Donald Sutherland, they'll do justice to the movie.

It is definitely one of the strongest action movies with Sylvester Stallone's participation: the plot has twists and unexpected outcomes, the cast is evenly strong and there are interesting characters both "good" and "bad". Apart from Stallone, the other stars are Tom Sizemore, Donald Sutherland and John Amos - all memorable and active still today. The director John Flynn was famous for good action movies without obtuse bursts or chases.As almost all prison movies, it must be uninteresting to women, the female character is less than 10 minutes on the screen. Bill Conti's music provides an additional value to the scenes.If you like Stallone, you should see this movie (again)!