Best Prison movies of 1990s that are award winners or nominees

Actors : Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins, Bob Gunton, William Sadler,
Directors : Frank Darabont,

Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.

Actors : David Morse, Michael Clarke Duncan, Bonnie Hunt, Tom Hanks,
Directors : Frank Darabont,

The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift.

Actors : Kate Winslet, Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine,
Directors : Philip Kaufman,

In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.

Actors : Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien,
Directors : Tony Kaye,

A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did.

Actors : John Malkovich, John Cusack, Nicolas Cage, Colm Meaney,
Directors : Simon West,

Newly paroled ex-con and former U.S. Ranger Cameron Poe finds himself trapped in a prisoner transport plane when the passengers seize control.

Actors : Frank Coughlan, Sean Kearns, Daniel Day-Lewis, Daragh Donnelly,
Directors : Jim Sheridan,

Young Danny Flynn is released from prison after 14 years after "taking the rap" for the IRA and tries to rebuild his life in his old Belfast neighborhood.

Actors : Obba Babatundé, Martin Lawrence, Nick Cassavetes, Eddie Murphy,
Directors : Ted Demme,

The story of wrongfully convicted men (Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence) who discover the value of life after serving 65 years in prison.

Actors : Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Jason Patric,
Directors : Barry Levinson,

After a prank goes disastrously wrong, a group of boys are sent to a detention center where they are brutalized; over 10 years later, they get their chance for revenge.

Actors : J.E. Freeman, Willem Dafoe, Laura Dern, Nicolas Cage,
Directors : David Lynch,

Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.

Actors : Peter Fonda, Patricia Richardson, Christine Dunford, Tom Wood,
Directors : Victor Nunez,

A reclusive beekeeper slowly pulls his dysfunctional family back together, but not without having to fight his son's previous dastardly cohorts.

Actors : Robert Prosky, Susan Sarandon, Raymond J. Barry, Sean Penn,
Directors : Tim Robbins,

A nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.

Actors : Nick Nolte, Juliette Lewis, Jessica Lange, Robert De Niro,
Directors : Martin Scorsese,

A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.

Actors : John Spencer, Ed Harris, Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage,
Directors : Michael Bay,

A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.

Actors : Al Pacino, John Leguizamo, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller,
Directors : Brian De Palma,

A Puerto Rican former convict, just released from prison, pledges to stay away from drugs and violence despite the pressure around him and lead on to a better life outside of N.Y.C.

Actors : David Morse, Anjelica Huston, Robin Wright, Jack Nicholson,
Directors : Sean Penn,

Freddy Gale is a seedy jeweller who has sworn to kill the drunk driver who killed his little girl.