It’s hard to know what’s most frightening about a space prison: the dangerous inmates within or the deadly vacuum of space that lies outside its walls. Thankfully, you can comfortably enjoy the best space prison movies from the safety of your own couch.
While the film industry loves nothing more than to recycle ideas until everything is twinning, surprisingly, there hasn’t been a greater demand for movies centred around a space prison. Yeah, they might feature in a story briefly, such as in “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “The Chronicles of Riddick,” but where the heck are all the off-planet “The Green Mile” and “Escape from Alcatraz”s?! Why aren’t there more flicks where the entire premise involves someone trying to escape the seemingly inescapable?
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1. Fortress 2: Re-Entry
Release date: April 25, 2000 | Director: Geoff Murphy | Cast: Christopher Lambert, Beth Toussaint, Willie Garson
When someone needed an unproblematic action star who would work on a production with a budget less than a B.L.T. sandwich, Christopher Lambert was the go-to man. In 1992, Lambert starred as John Brennick in “Fortress,” a dystopian action where Brennick and his wife, Karen (Loryn Locklin), find themselves in trouble with the law because they dare to have more than one child. For this heinous crime, Brennick receives a punishing sentence at the futuristic, high-tech fortress prison run by the nefarious Men-Tel Corporation. To cut a long story short, Brennick discovers that the pregnant Karen is also there, so he stages a breakout for them.
In “Fortress 2: Re-Entry,” Men-Tel finds Brennick and locks him up again. This time, though, the prison is on a space station, making his attempt at escape even trickier than before. At least he doesn’t have to worry about saving Karen, but he still needs to battle the odds and plot a path back to Earth.
“Fortress 2: Re-Entry” is made to be enjoyed with a cold beer, a slice of pizza, and zero expectations on a Friday night. It’s a whole lot better than its direct-to-DVD status suggests it should be, producing high-stakes action and believable space special effects on a micro budget. Much of this is due to the stellar vision of the director, the late Geoff Murphy, who was also the second unit director for “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
2. Lockout
Release date: April 13, 2012 | Directors: Stephen St. Leger, James Mather | Cast: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, Peter Stormare
Fun fact: Luc Besson of “The Fifth Element” fame conceptualized this story, then co-wrote the screenplay with directors Stephen St. Leger and James Mather. Having said that, John Carpenter sued the filmmakers for plagiarising his “Escape” series, and the court actually ruled in his favour.
Set in 2079, “Lockout” sees CIA agent Marion Snow (Guy Pearce) wrongfully arrested. He’s set to be shipped out to the space prison MS One, where only the baddest of the bad reside – in stasis, though, where absolutely nothing can totally go wrong, right? Right? Before Snow heads off to serve his sentence, President Warnock (Peter Hudson) receives the news that his daughter, Emilie (Maggie Grace), who was investigating issues around MS One, has been taken hostage by the prisoners who have woken up. Shocker. So, the government cuts a deal with Snow: save Emilie for his freedom.
Snow wears his John McClane influences on his heavily ripped sleeve, quipping his way through the gun show and explosive exchanges with the NPC prisoner characters. It’s a pity that he doesn’t receive an iconic one-liner like “yippee-ki-yay” here, but he’s forgiven since in space, no one can hear you meme. “Lockout” borrows freely and heavily from other sci-fi flicks like “Aliens” and “The Fifth Element” (unsurprisingly), valuing fast-moving mayhem over originality. What it lacks in the story department, it more than makes up for in the non-stop sci-fi action, unleashing an all-out attack on the senses.
3. Alien 3
Release date: May 22, 1992 | Director: David Fincher | Cast: Sigourney Weaver, Charles S. Dutton, Charles Dance
An entire book could be written about the messy production of “Alien 3,” including a whole chapter dedicated to William Gibson’s rejected script. It’s obvious that it wasn’t an easy time for anyone involved, but does that mean it’s an awful film? No, not at all. It might not be the best “Alien” movie ever made, but it’s far from unwatchable. Quite the contrary.
There’s something immediately gleeful about the setup for “Alien 3.” Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) pod crash-lands on Fiorina “Fury” 161, a wasteland planetoid that operates as a correctional facility. Ripley’s pals from the past movie didn’t survive the trip, thanks to a pesky Xenomorph, so she needs to wait until Weyland-Yutani decides to pick her up. It isn’t only the fact that Ripley’s stranded with dangerous inmates around her, but the bloodthirsty Xenomorph with the killer smile is also on the loose. The only way to survive is to work together, but who can be trusted?
“Alien 3” doesn’t have the deft touch of “Alien” nor the bombastic appeal of “Aliens,” yet it catapults the franchise into new frontiers, especially in terms of the space prison planet setting and Ripley carrying an alien embryo inside of her. The trapped and isolated sensation never falters here, as the viewer chews off their fingernails and wonders how long it’ll take that blasted Weyland-Yutani rescue ship to arrive.
4. Dante 01
Release date: January 2, 2008 | Director: Marc Caro | Cast: Lambert Wilson, Linh Dan Pham, Simona Maicanescu
Where Paul W. S. Anderson’s “Event Horizon” introduced the concept of Hell in space, Marc Caro’s “Dante 01” uses it more as a metaphor. Clearly inspired by Dante’s “Inferno,” “Dante 01” poses many philosophical questions; It’s an unexpectedly ponderous tale that’ll mean something different to every viewer. Plus, it’s a French film, so that makes it even more so.
In the furthest part of space lies Dante 01, a detention facility that houses criminals who have committed the most shocking crimes imaginable. Operating more as a psychiatric asylum, the doctors experiment on the inmates — who actually volunteered to be a part of the program — with different treatments and methods.
A new doctor named Elisa (Linh Dan Pham) arrives with cruel intentions, alongside an unknown prisoner (Lambert Wilson) who’s dubbed Saint-Georges by the other inmates. Saint-Georges’ presence leads many to believe he’s an angel sent to liberate them from evil, especially after he appears to save them from death… but is Saint-Georges a saviour or not?
The film features sensational standout performances, especially from the likes of Wilson and Pham. And, even to this day, the dark and brooding aesthetic holds up beautifully. Sure, “Dante 01” may never be remembered in the same league as “Event Horizon,” but you don’t want to sleep on this one.
5. Incoming
Release date: May 4, 2018 | Director: Eric Zaragoza | Cast: Scott Adkins, Michelle Lehane, Aaron McCusker
Imagine this pitch as a studio executive: martial arts superstar Scott Adkins… in space! That’s it. That’s all you need. Forget about the script, director, and co-stars, because nothing else matters here. This should be an easy sell, but “Incoming” flew over most people’s radars when it dropped in 2018. Maybe it needed a better name, or a picture of a shirtless Adkins doing a Guyver kick on the poster? Regardless, this is a very underrated Scott Adkins gem that’s mandatory viewing for action and sci-fi fans.
Set in the distant future, the International Space Station becomes a secret space prison, because why not? On Earth, the dangerous terrorist group known as the Wolfpack attacks major landmarks, such as Big Ben. A few Wolpack members are locked up in space, so CIA agent Reiser (Adkins), medic Stone (Michelle Lehane), and shuttle pilot Bridges (Aaron McCusker) head out there to see what they can find out. What ends up happening is that the prisoners free themselves and plan to crash the Station, so guess who has to stop them?
“Incoming” comes alive when Adkins ups the intensity levels and shows off his outrageous combat skills. While the special effects teeter on the PlayStation 2 side and the script might be thinner than a wafer, as soon as Adkins steps into the scene, everything feels infinitely better. We need to start calling him Copperfield, because those educated feet of his possess real magic.
