{ "id": "epd04rhfpd", "slug": "lock-up", "title": "Lock Up", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s", "label": "Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000: Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s", "path": [ { "id": "geo.us", "label": "United States", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946", "label": "United States · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure", "label": "Action and adventure films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure" }, { "id": "geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s", "label": "Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Lock Up is a 1989 American prison drama directed by John Flynn, starring Sylvester Stallone as a model prisoner targeted by a vengeful warden, played by Donald Sutherland.", "snippet": "Lock Up is a 1989 American prison drama directed by John Flynn, starring Sylvester Stallone as a model prisoner targeted by a vengeful warden, played by Donald Sutherland.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.action-adventure.action-thrillers-1980s-and-1990s", "markdown": "# Lock Up\n\n**Lock Up** is a 1989 American prison drama directed by John Flynn, starring [Sylvester Stallone](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvester-stallone) as Frank Leone, a model prisoner weeks from parole who is transferred to a maximum-security prison run by a warden, played by [Donald Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/donald-sutherland), seeking revenge for an earlier escape. It was released in the United States on 4 August 1989 by Tri-Star and underperformed at the box office against a crowded summer lineup.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-ca-3575-story.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Release | 4 August 1989, wide release in the United States by Sony Pictures (Tri-Star)[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up) |\n| Director and writers | John Flynn; screenplay by Richard Smith, Jeb Stuart, and Henry Rosenbaum[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) |\n| Principal cast | Sylvester Stallone (Frank Leone), Donald Sutherland (Warden Drumgoole), John Amos (Captain Meissner), Sonny Landham (Chink Weber), Tom Sizemore (Dallas), Darlanne Fluegel (Melissa)[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/) |\n| Budget and gross | $24,000,000 production budget; $22,099,847 domestic gross, all of it domestic, with an opening weekend of $6,025,520 in 1,382 theaters[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up) |\n| Filming | Five weeks at Rahway State Prison (East Jersey State Prison) in Woodbridge, New Jersey, plus Northern State Prison in Newark and later work in Los Angeles[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) |\n| Critical reception | Metascore 52 (mixed or average); Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 31% from 16 reviews, with a 51% audience Popcornmeter[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up) • [4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/) |\n| Rating and length | Rated R by the MPAA; the AFI Catalog lists 100 minutes, while other listings give runtimes from 103 to 115 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097770) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nFrank Leone is nearing the end of a prison term for a relatively minor offense and is regarded as a model inmate at a minimum-security facility.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up) After a weekend furlough with his girlfriend Melissa, he is beaten by guards and transferred at night to Gateway Prison, a maximum-security institution.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587)\n\nThe transfer is engineered by Warden Drumgoole, who previously ran the prison from which Leone, the only prisoner to have escaped from his institution, broke out; the escape ended with extra time added to Leone's sentence and Drumgoole's public humiliation and demotion.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up) • [7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up) At Gateway, Drumgoole and Captain Meissner subject Leone to a systematic campaign of harassment, beatings, and humiliation, trying to goad him into a violent outburst that would extend his remaining six months.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) • [7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up) Leone also clashes with the hostile fellow inmate Chink Weber and his gang.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up) He holds out until he learns that a prisoner about to be released has been hired by Drumgoole to rape and kill Melissa, at which point he breaks his own code and plots his escape.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up)\n\n## Production\n\n**Title changes.** The film went through several working titles. A Variety news item of 22 February 1989 reported that principal photography had begun and that the title had changed from *Escape* to *Maverick*; by 21 April 1989, when shooting in New Jersey wrapped, it had been retitled *Hard Time* before settling on *Lock Up*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587)\n\n**Locations.** The production spent five weeks filming at Rahway State Prison, also known as [East Jersey State Prison](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-jersey-state-prison), in Woodbridge, New Jersey, with further work at Northern State Prison in Newark. Several prisoners served as extras and correction officers appeared as background players. Some later filming took place in Los Angeles, where the gym of the Park Plaza Hotel was dressed as jail cells.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) The film was produced by White Eagle Productions, with Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon as producers, and photographed by Donald E. Thorin with [Panavision](https://www.edgepedia.org/panavision) cameras and lenses.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587)\n\n**Injuries and postproduction.** During filming of the prisoners' football game, Stallone and [Sonny Landham](https://www.edgepedia.org/sonny-landham) were both injured: Stallone was taken to an orthopedic hospital and diagnosed with a stiff knee, and Landham needed surgery to repair shoulder ligaments and torn tendons.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) The $24-million film was rushed through postproduction for its August release; Stallone told the Los Angeles Times that the picture was cut in just twelve days.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-ca-3575-story.html) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587) In a separate mishap, preview trailers were stolen from a courier's car in New York City, so the trailers were not screened for the July 4th weekend of 1989.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587)\n\n## Box office\n\nLock Up opened on 4 August 1989 in 1,382 theaters, earning $6,025,520 on its first weekend, 27.3 percent of its eventual total, and ranking sixth for the frame.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up) Grosses fell 45 percent in the second weekend, and the film finished with $22,099,847 domestically, about 0.9 times its $24 million production budget; The Numbers records no international gross.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up) A contemporary Slant Magazine retrospective describes the film as swallowed up at the box office during a brief four-week run in August 1989.[8](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/summer-of-89-lock-up/) Stallone himself kept a low profile before release, telling the Los Angeles Times that the summer competition was \"definitely scary\" and calling the film the closest thing he had done to *Rocky* in that it was an ensemble piece relying on a support system of characters.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-ca-3575-story.html)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was mixed to negative. The film holds a Metascore of 52, based on six contemporaneous reviews with none positive, five mixed, and one negative.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/) On Rotten Tomatoes it scores 31 percent from 16 reviews, with 5 fresh and 11 rotten, against a 51 percent audience score.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up) Reviewers repeatedly read the film through Stallone's star persona: Empire called it \"a hard-boiled version of Rocky,\" Variety placed it in the same simplistic vein as most Stallone pictures, and the Washington Post's Hal Hinson described it as a prison fantasy in which the popular inmates smoke, work on cars, and spray each other with paint guns.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/) Time Out was more favorable, calling it a competent action picture directed with considerable kinetic power and noting [Sutherland](https://www.edgepedia.org/sutherland), cast against type with a fearsome haircut, spitting out hackneyed hate with more conviction than it deserved.[7](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up) The film received two Razzie Award wins and five nominations.[4](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/)\n\n## Place in the prison film genre\n\nScholars of the prison film place Lock Up among the familiar Hollywood prison narratives of the 1980s that centered on violence, alongside films such as *Escape from Alcatraz* (1980) and *Penitentiary II*.[9](https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2500635_7/component/file_3191919/content) Retrospective lists of the genre's canon regularly include it in sequence with *Cool Hand Luke* (1967), *Escape from Alcatraz* (1979), and *The Shawshank Redemption* (1994).[10](https://s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/ap-st01.ext.exlibrisgroup.com/64OTAGO_INST/storage/alma/8E/44/B3/AD/09/B9/69/79/7D/8D/05/DE/2B/8F/E7/02/bitstream_58293.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUYRSPBSIJGGDX6A%2F20260218%2Fap-southeast-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260218T021346Z&X-Amz-Expires=86399&X-Amz-Signature=6e8e4835a037e3725496d02723df4097747e2ce18b97bd8ddda1b380c21b810c&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3D%22bitstream_58293.pdf%22%3B+filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27bitstream_58293.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf) The Deseret News review at the time of release made the same connection, observing that most major male action stars of the era had a prison picture, from [Paul Newman](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-newman) in *Cool Hand Luke* to [Clint Eastwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/clint-eastwood) in *Escape from Alcatraz*, and that Stallone's entry borrowed a little from each.[11](https://www.deseret.com/1989/8/26/20088033/film-review-lock-up/) The film was released on home video by Lionsgate Home Entertainment on 27 October 2010.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Lock Up (1989), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/58177-LOCK-UP?cp=1&cxt=Filmography1&pos=1&sid=bbd7ff42-7403-42bd-8246-39ea78dba000&sr=0.13107587)\n2. [Pat H. Broeske, \"Team Player,\" Los Angeles Times, 18 June 1989](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-ca-3575-story.html)\n3. [Lock Up (1989), Box office and financial information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lock-Up)\n4. [Lock Up, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lock-up/)\n5. [Lock Up, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1012605-lock_up)\n6. [Lock Up (1989), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097770)\n7. [Lock Up 1989, directed by John Flynn, Time Out film review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/lock-up)\n8. [Clayton Dillard, \"Summer of '89: John Flynn's Lock Up,\" Slant Magazine, 4 August 2014](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/summer-of-89-lock-up/)\n9. [Prison film genre scholarship, Max Planck Institute repository](https://pure.mpg.de/rest/items/item_2500635_7/component/file_3191919/content)\n10. [Performing Prison, University of Otago repository](https://s3.ap-southeast-1.amazonaws.com/ap-st01.ext.exlibrisgroup.com/64OTAGO_INST/storage/alma/8E/44/B3/AD/09/B9/69/79/7D/8D/05/DE/2B/8F/E7/02/bitstream_58293.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJUYRSPBSIJGGDX6A%2F20260218%2Fap-southeast-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260218T021346Z&X-Amz-Expires=86399&X-Amz-Signature=6e8e4835a037e3725496d02723df4097747e2ce18b97bd8ddda1b380c21b810c&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3D%22bitstream_58293.pdf%22%3B+filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27bitstream_58293.pdf&response-content-type=application%2Fpdf)\n11. [Chris Hicks, \"Film review: Lock Up,\" Deseret News, 26 August 1989](https://www.deseret.com/1989/8/26/20088033/film-review-lock-up/)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Action thrillers, 1980s and 1990s*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Lock Up\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Lock Up](https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up](https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Lock Up\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/lock-up. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Lock Up is a 1989 American prison drama directed by John Flynn, starring Sylvester Stallone as a model prisoner targeted by a vengeful warden, played by Donald Sutherland." }