Fresh
The escape sequence has the spatial intricacy of the heist in Dassin's Rififi, but the tone is tougher, bleaker, and more suspenseful.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Brute Force
Power Packed Picture!
1947 · 1h 38m · NOT RATED
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Jules Dassin
Overview
Timeworn Joe Collins and his fellow inmates live under the heavy thumb of the sadistic, power-tripping guard Captain Munsey. Only Collins' dreams of escape keep him going, but how can he possibly bust out of Munsey's chains?
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
91%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Bristling, biting dialog by Richard Brooks paints broad cameos as each character takes shape under existing prison life.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
This is one of Dassin's best films.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Fresh
Producer Joan Harrison, who seems to have profited from a long association with Alfred Hitchcock, and Director Irving Pichel have created mounting suspense which comes to a distinctly surprising and explosive climax as the jury brings its verdict.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
More films
The Experiment (2001)
Drama · Thriller · R
20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems l...
- Runtime
- 2h
- Director
- Oliver Hirschbiegel
- Cast
- Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel, Justus von Dohnányi
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
72%
Metacritic
59
Lost Highway (1997)
Drama · Mystery · Thriller · R
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
- Runtime
- 2h 14m
- Director
- David Lynch
- Cast
- Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty
IMDb
7.6
Rotten Tomatoes
69%
Metacritic
53
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Drama · R
A death row inmate turns for spiritual guidance to a local nun in the days leading up to his scheduled execution for the murders of a young couple.
- Runtime
- 2h 2m
- Director
- Tim Robbins
- Cast
- Susan Sarandon, Sean Penn, Robert Prosky
IMDb
7.5
Rotten Tomatoes
97%
Metacritic
80
Goodbye Bafana (2007)
Drama · History · R
The true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
- Runtime
- 1h 55m
- Director
- Bille August
- Cast
- Joseph Fiennes, Dennis Haysbert, Diane Kruger
IMDb
7.1
Rotten Tomatoes
41%
Malcolm X (1992)
Drama · History · PG-13
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
- Runtime
- 3h 22m
- Director
- Spike Lee
- Cast
- Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
89%
Metacritic
73
The Tunnel (2001)
Drama · Thriller · N/A
Inspired by true events, Olympic swimmer Harry Melchior defects from East Germany in the 1960s and hatches a daring plot to help his sister and others flee East Berlin through a 145-yard underground tunnel.
- Runtime
- 2h 30m
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Heino Ferch, Nicolette Krebitz, Sebastian Koch
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
84%
Metacritic
72
Dresden (2006)
Drama · History · War · N/A
At a Dresden hospital in 1945, nurse Anna Mauth (Felicitas Woll) cares for badly injured British pilot Robert Newman (John Light), whom Anna believes to be a German deserter. As Allied forces close in, Anna grows close to Robert despite her engagement to Dr. Alexander Wenninger (Benjamin Sadler). The gripping historical romance won a 2...
- Runtime
- 3h
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Felicitas Woll, John Light, Benjamin Sadler
IMDb
6.6
Mogadischu (2008)
History · TV Movie · Thriller
The incredible true story of Lufthansa Flight 181, which was hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in October of 1977, and the noble efforts of stewardess Gabriele Dillmann (Nadja Uhl) to ensure the safety of the terrified passengers throughout the harrowing ordeal. When terrorists sympathetic to the cause of th...
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
IMDb
7.2
After the Truth (1999)
Crime · Drama · Thriller · N/A
Famous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele — the 'Death Angel of Auschwitz', who killed more than 300.000 people — emerges from his hideout in Argentina to Germany as a 87-year-old man, and must stand for his crimes in court. The young solicitor Peter Rohm is assigned to defend him, but Rohm himself — an expert on Mengele and his crimes — feels ...
- Runtime
- 2h 8m
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Götz George, Kai Wiesinger, Karoline Eichhorn
IMDb
7.3
Jungle Child (2011)
Adventure · Drama · N/A
A family of a German linguist lives with an indigenous tribe in Papua New Guinea.
- Runtime
- 2h 11m
- Director
- Roland Suso Richter
- Cast
- Thomas Kretschmann, Nadja Uhl, Michael Baral
IMDb
7.1
Comments
Talk about the film with other members