Waste of Money.

ridiculous rating

Don't Believe the Hype

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

A typically dumb movie for Stallone, which packs in all the usual clichés and characters into a shallow yet satisfying package. If you've ever seen any other prison movies then you'll know what to expect here: the gang of thugs, Stallone's loyal pals, the hero's stay in solitary confinement, beatings by the guards, and the guard who turns out to be an ally of the hero. Thankfully, this is a fast-paced movie which packs a lot of cheesy male-bonding, double-crosses, and action into the running time and at least turns out to be consistently entertaining for a mainstream movie.Stallone, as per usual, plays a squeaky-clean character who has to face up against the bad guys. Stallone's acting skills are perfectly suited for a lowbrow movie such as this and he fits in nicely. Sonny Landham (previously an adult star) is also very good, and hissably evil as a cruel inmate who is determined to make his life miserable. The supporting cast is unusually good for a film like this, a fact which makes Stallone's movie more enjoyable than Van Damme's prison offering, DEATH WARRANT. John Amos is a hard-as-nails guard with compassion in his heart, a young (and thin) Tom Sizemore is a wacky fellow inmate who becomes Stallone's pal, and the familiar Frank McRae is a huge but cuddly car-lover. To top it all off, a previously "big name" actor stars as the chief bad guy...it's none other than Donald Sutherland, who has had a nice thirty-five year career playing in horror and cult movies. Sutherland has a ball as the sadistic, ruthless, and slightly demented warden.Basically, the various scenarios throughout this film are just different ways to make Stallone suffer. He has to suffer holding his breath for over a minute in a poisoned cell, getting locked up in solitary, getting stabbed and beaten plus lots more. Of course, you just know that Stallone and his pals are going to turn the tables at the end in what is a pretty good, tense conclusion. LOCK UP is a film for Stallone fans, prison movie fans, or just casual viewers who want to switch their brains off after a hard day at work.

This film has like the best opening theme in a movie ever the music in here is so touching and sad that might even make you shed a tear. Can we also please accept what an amazing actor Donald Sutherland is? The dude plays the villain so well down just like he did in The Hunger Games Saga that you really want him to die although we never get that satisfaction here but we did get it in Mockingjay Part 2 anyways if you see the behind the scenes video of this film is truly great and you will see that Sonny Landham is actually not that great into filming fight scenes you will understand if you buy the DVD. Lock Up is a touching, funny but also good action movie from start to finish and Stallone gives his best!!!

Interesting thing - This could have been a "Rambo" movie. It would had taken place after "First Blood"."Lock up" is an ambitious movie that tries hard to tell something , but ends as a cheesy , clichéd and pointless movie. It's "Shawshank Redemption" for dummies. It has some good elements in it , but it's still a bombastic , over the top fare that it's hard to take seriously.The whole conflict in "Lock up" is ridiculous . It's basically a story of Devil (prison warden) trying to break down Jesus (the prisoner) . Everything is black and white here , there's no moral ambiguity . Furthermore , I fail to see what's the point of this movie is. That the justice system is flawed ? That the prison wardens and guards are sociopaths who enjoy torturing innocent prisoners ? That the prisoners are mostly good people who deserve respect ? Honestly , I don't know what the movie is trying to say here .The other serious problem of the movie is the acting of Sylvester Stallone and Donald Sutherland. Not only their characters are terribly one dimensional ( one is 100 % good , the other is 100 % bad) , but both of them give hammy performances. Stallone lacks expression , while Sutherland tries too hard to show how evil he is.The final nail to the coffin is the predictable , cheesy and cliché screenplay. It does seem to move from one sadistic act to another. The villains are never subtle. The dialogues are often laughable ("Rape my fist") . The friendship that Leone forms with a small group of other inmates is downright school-girlish (the spray fight !). There's nothing realistic about the whole story and that's why it's hard to be emotionally involved with what is happening on the screen.There are good elements. "Lock up" is nicely directed by John Flynn ("Rolling thunder" , "Bestseller") .The score by Bill Conti (Rocky") is good. The movie looks great - the prison used here was the East Jersey State Prison in Rahway, New Jersey. The cast includes real inmates of Rahway State Prison. Chuck Wepner, the real-life inspiration for Rocky Balboa, was an inmate at the prison where the film was shot.The supporting cast is pretty strong with Tom Sizemore ("Passenger 57") , Frank McRae ("48 ours") , Sonny Landham ("Predator") , Darlanne Fluegal ("To live and die in LA") and Danny Trejo ("Desperado")."Lock up" is a bad movie , but somewhat entertaining , especially if you don't take it seriously. It won't be until the 1997 when Stallone will make a good drama with the good and underrated "Copland" . I give "Lock up" 2/10.

I really enjoy this movie. I think even thirty years later, this movie still holds up. It's another great Stallone movie and it's very entertaining and enjoyable to watch.In this movie, Frank Leone is nearing the end of his prison sentence for a relatively minor crime. But just before he is paroled, Frank gets transferred from his minimum security prison to a maximum security prison, Warden Drumgoole takes charge. The Warden was assigned to control this hell-hole prison because of Frank's and thinks that now he should pay. He is determined to make Frank's life miserable for as long as possible. Overall, I give this movie a 7 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Great.