A história acontece em San Angeles, uma união das cidades de Santa Mônica, San Diego e Los Angeles, em 2032. John Spartan, um detetive do Século 20, é preso juntamente com Simon Phoenix, um assassino, em 1996, acusado de ser o responsável pela morte dos reféns de Simon. Eles passam anos na Crio-Prisão, uma prisão no qual o prisioneiro fica congelado até o final da pena. No ano de 2032, Simon Phoenix foge da prisão, diante de uma sociedade que até então desconhecia o crime e a desordem. Portanto, John Spartan teve que ser reabilitado para prender o criminoso.
Anos após a espetacular fuga de Ray Breslin da prisão à prova de fuga conhecida como O Túmulo, este organiza uma nova força de segurança de mercenários de elite. Quando um elemento da equipa de Breslin, Shu, um mestre de ‘wing chun’, frio como o gelo – desaparece no interior de um labirinto de luta de terror-tecno controlado por um computador denominado HADES, local onde os lutadores humanos se enfrentam como verdadeiras bestas – Breslin terá de aceder a um esconderijo secreto para salvar o seu amigo.
After killing a prison guard, convict Robert Stroud faces life imprisonment in solitary confinement. Driven nearly mad by loneliness and despair, Stroud's life gains new meaning when he happens upon a helpless baby sparrow in the exercise yard and nurses it back to health. Despite having only a third grade education, Stroud goes on to become a renowned ornithologist and achieves a greater sense of freedom and purpose behind bars than most people find in the outside world.
Claude Gaspard está preso na penitenciária de La Santé, por conta do falso testemunho de sua mulher que o acusou de ter tentado assassiná-la. Ele tem por companheiros de cela quatro detentos que planejam fugir. Claude é adotado. Com uma energia implacável, eles cavam um túnel para reencontrar a liberdade. À véspera do grande dia, Claude é convocado à sala do diretor da prisão. Ele o informa que está livre, pois sua mulher retirou a queixa. Habilmente interrogado, Claude trai seus amigos e revela o plano de fuga...
An unfortunate and naive girl is set-up by her boyfriend and convicted of drug smuggling. She is sent to a women's correctional facility where she must constantly struggle to survive.
Arizona Territorial Prison inmate Paris Pitman, Jr. is a schemer, a charmer, and quite popular among his fellow convicts — especially with $500,000 in stolen loot hidden away and a plan to escape and recover it. New warden Woodward Lopeman has other ideas about Pitman. Each man will have the tables turned on him.
A gangster is put in prison, but finds salvation through music while serving his time. Again on the outside, he finds success elusive and temptations abound.
After young Robert Graham commits a murder while drunk and defending his girlfriend, he is prosecuted by ambitious Mark Brady and sentenced to 10 years. Six years later, Brady becomes the prison warden and offers the beleaguered Robert a job as his chauffeur. Robert cleans up his act, but, on the eve of his pardon, his cellmate drags him back into the world of violence, and he faces a difficult choice that could return him to prison.
An American tourist lands in a Slavic prison run by a twisted woman and the U.S. ambassador.
A gangster takes a doctor and his family hostage.
A hostel warden becomes the target of a dreaded politician and his gangster son, but little do they realise that it is they who should fear him.
Brash hoodlum Tom Connors enters Sing Sing cocksure of himself and disrespectful toward authority, but his tough but compassionate warden changes him.
A nurse is framed for her involvement in the hospital murder of a politician who was threatening to expose corrupt practices. She escapes from jail but is captured and sent back, resulting in the rest of the inmates being punished, added to which of a new, tougher, head of security arrives to take up her new job....
Oscar, a tough guard at Newberry Prison, gets into an argument with Jerry, a smallish barber. He causes Jerry to be arrested as a fugitive, and gets him sent to Newberry. It's not long before both men fall in love with Mary, the daughter of the warden. Oscar gets Jerry put on the prison football team, where he is the smallest guy there, figuring that he will look like a fool in front of Mary and then she will pick Oscar. However, things don't turn out quite the way Oscar planned.
The daughter of a British prison governor returns from an American finishing school, and chases after the inmates of her Dad's prison.
Konrad von Seidlitz is a young yuppie lawyer currently celebrating his engagement with Cornelia, daughter of minister of justice Volkerts. As a public relations gag, he hasn't paid his parking fines for two years and now insists on being sentenced to jail for two weeks as punishment. Using his knowledge as a lawyer he makes the best out of his visit in jail still working, still in a splendid mood and not adapting to any rule. Probably a good way to get the desired public attention, but also a good way to make enemies inside the jail-house. One day before Konrad is to be released his booth is searched and two hundred grams of cocaine are found. That's a serious problem even for a brilliant lawyer like Konrad and even if you're innocent
Today's the day the Missouri madman Otis Boyle finally gets executed. The Warden and his Captain of the Guards, York, have been looking forward to this for years, but they could never have prepared themselves for his last request. As Warden insists upon fulfilling their most notorious inmate's twisted demand in the name of "tradition" and "protocol," York struggles to keep up in order to keep his job -- no matter how much it asks of him.