A typically dumb movie for Stallone, which packs in all the usual clichés and characters into a shallow yet satisfying package. If you've ever seen any other prison movies then you'll know what to expect here: the gang of thugs, Stallone's loyal pals, the hero's stay in solitary confinement, beatings by the guards, and the guard who turns out to be an ally of the hero. Thankfully, this is a fast-paced movie which packs a lot of cheesy male-bonding, double-crosses, and action into the running time and at least turns out to be consistently entertaining for a mainstream movie.Stallone, as per usual, plays a squeaky-clean character who has to face up against the bad guys. Stallone's acting skills are perfectly suited for a lowbrow movie such as this and he fits in nicely. Sonny Landham (previously an adult star) is also very good, and hissably evil as a cruel inmate who is determined to make his life miserable. The supporting cast is unusually good for a film like this, a fact which makes Stallone's movie more enjoyable than Van Damme's prison offering, DEATH WARRANT. John Amos is a hard-as-nails guard with compassion in his heart, a young (and thin) Tom Sizemore is a wacky fellow inmate who becomes Stallone's pal, and the familiar Frank McRae is a huge but cuddly car-lover. To top it all off, a previously "big name" actor stars as the chief bad guy...it's none other than Donald Sutherland, who has had a nice thirty-five year career playing in horror and cult movies. Sutherland has a ball as the sadistic, ruthless, and slightly demented warden.Basically, the various scenarios throughout this film are just different ways to make Stallone suffer. He has to suffer holding his breath for over a minute in a poisoned cell, getting locked up in solitary, getting stabbed and beaten plus lots more. Of course, you just know that Stallone and his pals are going to turn the tables at the end in what is a pretty good, tense conclusion. LOCK UP is a film for Stallone fans, prison movie fans, or just casual viewers who want to switch their brains off after a hard day at work.

This film has like the best opening theme in a movie ever the music in here is so touching and sad that might even make you shed a tear. Can we also please accept what an amazing actor Donald Sutherland is? The dude plays the villain so well down just like he did in The Hunger Games Saga that you really want him to die although we never get that satisfaction here but we did get it in Mockingjay Part 2 anyways if you see the behind the scenes video of this film is truly great and you will see that Sonny Landham is actually not that great into filming fight scenes you will understand if you buy the DVD. Lock Up is a touching, funny but also good action movie from start to finish and Stallone gives his best!!!

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1989's Lock Up. Plot In A Paragraph: With only 6 months left of his prison sentence inmate Frank Leone (Stallone) is transferred from minimum security to maximum security by a vindictive warden (Donald Sutherland) who has a score to settle.Not dramatic or brutal enough to be considered a serious drama, without enough action to call it an action flick, it's somewhere inbetween the two, but if you can ignore the implausibility of the plot, 'Lock Up' is very enjoyable. I rate this as one of the better non franchise movies in Sly's career. A rare occasion where Stallone appears not to have meddled with the script, and the movie seems to be the better for it. Sly is back in underdog territory, the role that suits him best. Donald Sutherland looks to be having a great time as a pantomime villain, and John Amos (an actor I always enjoy seeing on screen) is as reliable and solid as ever. Tom Sizemore (in his breakout role) steals every scene he is in as Dallas, and if his role had been a bit better written, and more fleshed out, he would have walked away with the full movie. Frank McRae again pops up (This is the last time) with Sly after 'FIST', 'Paradise Alley' and 'Rocky 2' The score by Bill Conti (who else) is again another winner. Especially during the football match.

The movie surrounds the character Frank Leone (Sylvester Stallone) who is forced into another prison against his will and then bizarre and crazy things starts to happen and he need to help his friends and himself from trouble. The so called warden (Donald Sutherland) makes the prison life a living hell for Frank and it gets harder and harder to survive in prison. Now I have heard so many times people complaining about Stallone's acting abilities but I think he is such an underrated actor and I do not think he deserves all the crap he's gotten through the years and this movie sure proves that he can make the audience get emotions and care for his character (great acting!). When you get emotions towards the good guys and when you feel hatred towards the bad guys you know you've made a great movie. The movie takes the viewer on a wild journey and you're on your edge of your seat almost throughout the whole movie. The movie caught my interest immediately when I saw that Stallone and director John Flynn (who directed one of my favorite horror flicks "Brainscan")was involved. There's just something about prison movies in general, they almost never disappoint you. This is by far one of Stallone's best performances ever if you ask me. This movie gets an excellent rating of 10/10 stars from me.