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02 October 2006

Sports, with it's emphasis on competition and victory and natural dramatic tension, makes for good movies. Prison makes for a volatile setting with explosive characters which also often makes for good movies. However, to my knowledge there's only ever been two prison sports movies. Anybody know any others?

post by: jonmc at: 13:04 | 29 comments

Also, apparently one of those movies is being remade.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:06

Three.

heh.

posted by item 02 October | 13:07

Isn't that the idea behind the new Rock movie? Grid Iron Gang? Or am I reading the trailers wrong?

I think the issue is that sports movies are generally based on their being a "good guy" or "good guys" who defeat(s) the evil overcompetitive slightly-lawless opponents, which gets a little complicated when everyone's a bad guy.

posted by occhiblu 02 October | 13:10

That abomination should itself be sent to prison, mainly for featuring Adam Sandler. (and the original was far superior).

occhi, both movies I cited do manage to incorporate a lot of moral ambiguity into the plot and characters while still maintaining sympathy for the protagonists.

As far as the Rock's movie, I have no idea.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:12

both movies I cited do manage to incorporate a lot of moral ambiguity into the plot and characters while still maintaining sympathy for the protagonists.

Yes, which would be a good thing for art in general, regardless of context. But it's sadly lacking in most movies, regardless of context, was what I was trying to get at, which would explain why there are so few movies being created where the context automatically renders the morality questionable.

(And IMBD backs me up; Gridiron Gang is about a football squad organized in a juvenile detention center. I wonder if you'd find more of these set with kids?)

Also, I apologize for being unable to write a simple sentence today. My brain's working in convolutions and fifty-cent words, it seems.

posted by occhiblu 02 October | 13:17

You can see lots of 'individual' sports in prison movies -- like boxing, illegal boxing, kick-boxing and so on.

posted by Daniel Charms 02 October | 13:19

The Longest Yard (with Burt Reynolds) is surprisingly good... better than I remembered. It was playin' on our flight back from Vegas... any movie seems better somehow when viewed on a tiny back-of-the-seat-tv... booze tastes better outta those tiny bottles, too...

posted by Pips 02 October | 13:20

was what I was trying to get at, which would explain why there are so few movies being created where the context automatically renders the morality questionable.

I know what you're getting at, but Reynolds' character in The Longest Yard, while far from being an uncomplicated hero, is definitely sympathetic (and it's plain that he's the one the audience is supposed to root for, despite being a point shaver and a criminal). Same with Strauss' charcter in ..Jericho. And like I said, sports by it's very nature creates dramatic tension and prison is a volatile setting, plus there's the whole 'redemption of the fallen,' angel, so I'm surprised it hasn't been at least attempted more often.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:23

Daniel Charms: name one.

(also, boxing may be the most cinematic sport. Rocky is still in my all-time top 5)

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:24

Does this count as a prison sports movie?

posted by dersins 02 October | 13:29

Gridiron Gang is a prison sports flick

posted by Joe Famous 02 October | 13:29

Victory definitely counts.

posted by grabbingsand 02 October | 13:30

Undisputed is as well

posted by Joe Famous 02 October | 13:31

How about this, does it count?

posted by dersins 02 October | 13:33

Victory was in a POW camp, which is not quite the same. Dersins choice counts, so that makes three.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:36

And this?

posted by dersins 02 October | 13:37

I dunno if Jericho Mile will work as well today, by the way. It was filmed it Folsom Prison with real inmates for extras, which gave it a gritty feel. Plus it was the late '70's and everything and everybody looked seedier then for some reason and the malaise that hung over eveything then just adds to it somehow.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:38

Also?

posted by dersins 02 October | 13:41

dersins, that flick is a genre unto itself: midget prison sports cinema.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 13:42

And...

posted by dersins 02 October | 13:47

jonmc: my comment was mostly meant as tongue-in-cheek. There's always a fight scene in a prison movie; almost none of these qualify as sports, though. From the top of my head, I can only remember an "A-Team" episode where they had to bust some guy out of jail who was kept there because he was a good fighter or something, and a movie with George Clooney in it, where a rigged boxing match takes place in a prison. However, Google informs me that there's also the "Undisputed" (which I haven't seen), which should qualify as a prison sports movie.

posted by Daniel Charms 02 October | 14:06

So, chess isn't a sport, right? And neither is battle rhyming?

posted by box 02 October | 14:20

So, chess isn't a sport, right?

No. Only activities where bloodletting can occur are sports.

posted by jonmc 02 October | 14:27

So, in the thread so far we've got:

The Jericho Mile
The Longest Yard
Gridiron Gang
Victory
Undisputed
The Loneliness of The Long Distance Runner
Penitentiary III
Mean Machine

I'd add The Wildest Show In The South: The Angola Prison Rodeo

and (drum roll, please)

Bloodsport II!

posted by Fuzzy Monster 02 October | 15:05

You've been playing chess with the wrong people, then, jon.

posted by dersins 02 October | 15:06

Are there any female prison/sports movies? I keep thinking there is one but I can't focus in on details.

posted by iconomy 02 October | 15:10

Are there any female prison/sports movies?

Does Bikini Chain Gang count? I'm sure there were balls involved somehow...

posted by dersins 02 October | 15:15

Bikini Chain Gang? That cries out for a sequel...

posted by Pips 02 October | 16:45

Bikini Chain Gang 2: Electric Boogaloo?

posted by dersins 02 October | 17:26

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