Lock Up [Blu-ray] Review

“Lock Up” is a prison film that has a Stallone twist on it. For example, The Shawshank Redemption is a prison film that is strictly a drama film, while “Lock Up” is also a prison film, but adds some Stallone action to it, which works.

“Lock Up” is about inmate Frank Leone (Stallone). He is on a visitation with his wife, and almost done with his prison sentence. However, one night two guards from a different prison transport him to another prison and as he gets out of the transportation truck, he sees Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland). Drumgoole is the reason why Frank is in prison. Drumgoole was the one behind getting Frank transferred, so he could personally put him through @#!*% .

Overall, “Lock Up” is a great prison film, which will keep you interested and entertained through the whole film.

Lock Up [Blu-ray] Overview

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

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Customer Reviews

Blu-ray…only slight improvement over DVD – Regina A. Walter – Indiana
I like the movie and infact I have owned the DVD since it came out. I looked forward to the blu-ray and must say was disappointed. The image quality is only a slight improvement, but the most disappointing aspect the of the blu-ray is the the DTS-unconpressed soundtrack is in reality inferior to the dolby surroung that appeared on the DVD. The DVD is much brighter. The HD soundtrack appears to have no sub track at all. Not one time in the two hours did I hear anything from my subwoofer. After watching this film I listened to the last Rambo movie as I thought something might be wrong with my system. The sound on Rambo was a magnum 44 while Lock Up was a cap gun. If you have the DVD, it is not worth the upgrade.

A Decent, If Far-Fetched, Prison Drama – Zachary Koenig – Fergus Falls, MN
When you really think about it, there are not too many “prison films” that are below average in terms of overall quality. Just by myself, I can think of three (Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest) that are spectacular. This film won’t break that trend, but it just barely squeaks by in the task.

For a basic plot summary, Lock Up sees Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone), a minimum-security prisoner, transported to a “hard time” type facility by Warden Drumgoole (Donald Sutherland), who is intent on torturing Leone for a past transgression. While in the slammer, Leone is pushed to the very brink of his sanity, and quite possibly beyond.

In terms of overall quality, this movie isn’t all that bad at all. It has some decent drama, some funny/interesting characters, and at least a semblance of a romantic angle that will emotionally draw some people into the film. Of course, for action/Stallone buffs, there are plenty of fight scenes and muscle-bearing to satisfy you, too.

Here is the main problem that bogs this movie down to “average”: the “relationship” between Leone and Drumgoole (the key players in the film) is so far-fetched as to be laughable. The Warden explicitly orders both the physical and emotional torture of Leone time and time again, to the point where I could not believe that even the most sadistic of Wardens could ever get away with something like that. Sutherland’s character is turned into little more than a grinning, glaring, Nazi-like figure with no other dimensions.

Thus, if you are a big fan of this type of “behind bars” drama, this movie will likely do it for you. If not, though, it can be skipped due to its inane main plot and sparing emotional depth.

Stallone Fan – OneToughCop – North Carolina
Im a Stallone fan and I really enjoyed this movie. For the price this is a great classic to pick up for anybodys collection

Buy Lock Up [Blu-ray]

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 12, 2010 13:17:05

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