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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 19348
Released: March 27, 2007 |
| Our Price: $3.71 |
| Used Price: $1.14 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
"This is hell and I'm going to give you a guided tour!" With these chilling words, the warden (Donald Sutherland) welcomes Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone) to Gateway Prison, a nightmare jail where every minute is hard time. The warden wants vengeance for the past; Leone wants only to survive the present. Their explosive battle of wills is the electrifying heart of one of Stallone's most heroic thrillers, LOCK UP. Stallone gives a monumental performance as Leone, a convict driven to break his own cherished code by a warden who will stop at nothing to get him.
Description of Lock Up:
With vanity projects like 1989's schlocky Lock Up to his credit, it's a wonder Sylvester Stallone survived to make some better movies in the '90s. This is a brutal dose of macho action that Stallone squeezed in between Rambo III and Rocky V, and his fans didn't seem to mind, so who's to judge? It's not as bad as Sly's other 1989 disaster (Tango & Cash), but you'd have to be demented, drunk, or have really low standards to call this a good movie. But if you're in a primal mood you'll get a kick out of this grimy flick, which would qualify as Z-grade exploitation if it weren't for Stallone's beefy presence as Frank Leone, a cooperative prisoner who's six months shy of parole when he's relocated to a hellhole called Gateway Prison. The wretched high-security facility is commandeered by Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who is determined to settle an old score with Stallone ... and you can pretty much guess the rest. Director John Flynn didn't exactly distinguish himself with this one (he'd go on to direct forgettable fare like Out for Justice and Brainscan), but there's more visual style here than you might expect, and Sly manages to take it all so seriously that you can easily enjoy this gut buster as an unintentional comedy. --Jeff Shannon
Lock Up Reviews:
Could have been better. 
2008-01-07 - Was not as good as I thaught it would be. Could have been better.
Sid the Elf says Lockup is Sly's lost classic 
2007-08-06 - In Lockup, the old boy Sly Stallone, plays a prisoner named Frank Leone. Leone is without question the most beloved tragic figure in modern American cinema. He is a rough and tumble yet lovable parpadelle and brocolli eating machanic who remarks on a nice kiss from his girlfriend by simply saying "that's Italian." It doesn't really make any sense to us, either. But it makes sense to Leone, and that's just going to have to be good enough.
Anyway, Leone was originally arrested for beating up some punks who are terrorizing his mechanic mentor for whom he cares deeply. He is sent to Treadmore, a prison run by the evil Warden Drumgoole. For some reason Drumgoole has it out for Frank, so he won't let Leone have a weekend furlough to see his mentor who is close to dying. Leone escapes, humiliating and enraging Drumgoole. When Frank turns himself back in, he is sent to a decent minimum security prison where he is let out on weekends and the guards talk football and cars with him. And he's only got a couple more months left on his sentance. Suddenly, as revenge, Drumgoole gets Leone transfered to his new prison, Gateway. This place is no joke; definately maximum security, with a twist. To help exact his revenge, Drumgoole employs the thugish tactics of Sid's all-time favorite hooligan, prisoner Chink Webber. This guy haunts Leone throughout the whole movie,trying to antagonize Leone into fighting and getting more time tacked onto his sentance. He does everything short of forcing Leone to eat corned beef and cabbage. He even rips off Frank's chain with the mallichio horn on it. And who can forget the famous football scene?
As you can tell, this is one of Sid's all-time favorite movies. However, this film did NOT recieve its due ammount of critical acclaim or box-office sucess. We, Sid the Elf, have just one question: why? Lockup has everything you can ask for in a movie. Sid just can't get enough of the ledgendary Chink Webber, who gives us so many great lines. For example "Move it Ace, that's my spot," and "When are you going to paint your nails and start answering to the name (explitive deleted)?" You have First Base, who contributes a heaping helping of comedy just by speaking. There's the immortal Eclipse, who touches the heart when the solitary tear rolls down his face at witnessing the destruction of his baby, Maybeline(a car by the way). And, if the room doesn't get officially dusty when Leone is seemingly caught trying to escape because his close friend, Deep-fried Dallas rats him out then you have no soul.
We could go on for pages and pages on Lockup because it is one of Sid the Elf's favorite movies. We were discussing this during our current screening, which kicked off our Stallone season, and we are putting it behind only the zenith of B Death Ring. So, naturally, Lockup gets the Sid the Elf Seal of Approval. See this movie! You'll thank us, yet again. That means everything's ok.
most underrated stallone film ever 
2007-03-18 - This simply is the most underrated film stallone has ever done since the other most underrated stallone film before it over the top.Wonderfull film about frank leone who sits out his prison scentence quietly until donal sutherland transvers him to his prison with the goal to kill him.
Watch stallone play a nice guy who just tries to survive.And once again
bill conti delivers a perfect score for a stallone film.The music here is just perfect.
Welcome to Hell...
2005-08-04 - One of Stallone's best movies, where he stars as Frank, a convict on the verge of being a free man when he gets transferred to the worst possible prison imaginable. It turns out the warden of the prison he's been transferred to has a grudge against him and sought him out specifically. This movie is like the unbeatable 'Shawshank Redemption' with an action film twist. Donald Sutherland plays the demonic warden and is excellent as usual.
Along the way, Frank befriends many of his inmates and helps them understand that once they become a part of the system and break, then they're owned by the warden. It quite frankly makes you care about some of the men inside the prison, like 'Shawshank' did, even though you know they pretty much all deserve to be in there.
It's a shame that many people have never heard of this movie, because it is Stallone's best effort aside from 'Rocky', 'Cop Land' & 'Rocky Balboa'. This is a very emotional movie that really keeps you involved with multiple twists and a great story. See it! You won't be disappointed!
Derek from Johannesburg
2004-11-07 - BEST PRISON DRAMA MOVIE
After Rocky 1, this is Stallone's BEST movie! (the reason why this is in my DVD collection)..
Anyone that can say that the Shawshank Redemption was a better prison drama, obviously wasn't watching this movie.
The movie shows the tough side and the human side to a man trying to make the best of a bad situation (in prison).
Stallone's brilliant performance highlights both these qualities.
There'll never be another Sylvester Stallone - only modern-day imitations..
