Condenação Brutal

Great… just look at the cast who director John Flynn gets us locked up with. Sylvester Stallone plays the ideal prisoner - a rock, Tom Sizemore an edgy inmate, Larry Romano the naïve kid, Frank McRae the friendly man mountain, Sonny Landham dominates with a snake-like turn, John Amos a hardened prison officer captain and finally Donald Sutherland looking down on them as the menacing prison warden using his inmates like chess pieces "That's no game man. It's a lesson". You'll love to hate him, as Sutherland is picture-perfect in his delivery. The cast are outstanding, as the performances of all simply engage. Also making the cut is Darlanne Fluegal, William Allen Young, Jordan Lund and Danny Trejo makes a brief appearance here or there. The story follows that of Frank Leone having only 6 months of his sentence to serve, but then one night he's whisked away and he finds himself in a high security penitentiary with a warden Drumgoole (who he shares a past with) that tends to break his spirit within that time by using brutality, intimidation and humiliation. However despite Drumgoole's grudge to see Leone's spirit smothered, he'll find out it won't come too easy. Habitual structure, but quite a tense, grim and barbaric prison-yard story with director Flynn's durably taut handling rising above the predictability. It does seem to move from one sadistic act to another (as the warden tries about anything to break his man), but the plot installs some genuine companionship's between the characters and provides a mind-set of how these inmates truly get through the days so to keep from sinking in to insanity. Unpleasant, but also affecting. Bill Conti strings together an effective music score.

"You won't break me."

This is a definite must for anyone following Stallone's movies! It is great in its storyline, its atmosphere, its characters and its ending! If you let it, it'll really grip you and hold you in tight suspense till the very end of the drama. I'd say this is one of the most underrated movies ever. If someone knows why, please write me a note.

Have to say right off that I can't believe the low rating for this one here, because it delivers everything that a Stallone fan would want, if one is loading this into the player then surely they know what to expect?

Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone) only has a few weeks to go before being released from prison, he is no hard core offender, he is a loving man and is ready for a new life with his gorgeous girlfriend Melissa (Darlanne Fluegel). During the night he is whisked away to a maximum security prison on the orders of a sadistic warden out for revenge because Leone was the only man to have ever escaped from his prison, thus setting in motion the wheels of revenge.

We then follow Leone as he is pushed to the limits by crazy warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland) and all the sadistic guards under his command. He also enlists the help of resident inmate beefcake Chink Weber (Sonny Landham), and they all in turn try to break Leone at all costs to ensure that he never leaves prison again. There certainly is nothing here that hasn't been done before in the prison film genre, and only an idiot would expect anything other than the ending we get, but this is a Stallone movie and it's full of guts, testo macho action, and it should be noted that Sly here puts some depth to the character of Leone. He garners our sympathy quite quickly, and considering the bloke is built like the proverbial brick outhouse, it's quite an achievement.

The supporting players are a mixed bunch, this is Tom Sizemore's first motion picture and he does really well with the character of Dallas, Sonny Landham is his usual scary menacing self, whilst Frank McRae as Eclipse does just enough right to make his mark. So it's something of a surprise to me that the best actor on show is actually the film's weak link. Donald Sutherland does overplay it to the point that he goes beyond pantomime villain, it's a real teeth itching performance that he would only outdo with the dreadful Jamie Lee Curtis starrer, Virus, 10 years later, but in a film with such primal fun/action intentions, it doesn't ruin the film and leaves it all told as a fine genre piece.

No awards here for sure, but when I watch a film about a man played by Sly Stallone in prison then I think I know what to expect, and it delivers all that I hoped for, so hooray for the beefcake I say. 7/10

This is probably Sylvester Stallone's best performance that wasn't in Copland or a Rocky / Rambo film.

While the muscle dudes of the 80s did a lot of character-free action, this one is an action film with some character and drama.

I was surprised that the average rating was only 5.8. I would rank it among the best action films of Stallone's resume and also among the best action films of the 80s.

The supporting performances are quite good all around. Donald Sutherland is solid as always, and you get easily the best performance of Sonny Landham's career and Tom Sizemore showing why he became a bigger star about 5 years down the road.

This is the only big movie where Larry Romano got more than a few lines and he does a good job as "First Base." I was a little surprised he didn't go much further and generally only appeared in the future when the casting director needed someone to "look and sound Italian." I recommend this one even if you aren't a big Stallone fan. If any lesser known film will change your mind about him, it's probably either Copland or this one.

Lock Up I feel is one of Stallone's better movie's. The storyline seems to fit the acting character of Stallone very well. Sutherland's depiction as the Warden "Drumgroole" also was excellent. As always, Stallone seems to epitomize struggle in movies very well. In the movie Stallone is a convict just trying to ride his time out, but the warden makes it very hard on him. John Amos also depicts the caring but hard as nails Prison guard "Micon" very well. In my opinion Lock Up is a Top Level Stallone film, and didn't get nearly the credit it deserved. I certainly would recommend this film. One word that can describe this film would be "EMOTIONAL" If you like a tough, gritty prison movie, then you will certainly like Lockup.